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Terry Lyons

Wild Card Could’ve Been an Ace

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Red Sox Host Yankees in AL “One & Done”

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Oh what a difference eight games has made. Fresh in their minds, the Red Sox have the recent series loss of blowing two-of-three to Baltimore from September 28-30, but do you remember those three straight games lost to those same Orioles to start the season? Then there was the other recent would’a, could’a, should’a – the devastating three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees September 24-28. That’s eight games in the loss column right there.

The 2021 Boston Red Sox rarely lost three games in a row during the season, but when they did, they were clinkers, for sure.

Three losses to the rival Yanks (August 17-18) cost them dearly, as did dropping 12-of-15 in a mid-summer swoon from July 28 to August 10th. That midseason debacle included five losses in six games against the 100-win Tampa Bay Rays, the champions of the American League East.

In Major League Baseball, it’s the price you pay for losing important games during the season while still managing to win an impressive 92 games. Both the Sox and the Yanks finished 92-70 and earned the right to play a single-elimination game on Bill James‘ birthday.

The 92 wins bounced the powerful Toronto Blue Jays (91-71) and the September red-hot Seattle Mariners (90-72) from wild card contention. Those two teams will be looking back at the 162-game schedule and lamenting opportunities lost and saves blown. It is not the last we will hear from the young, talented and offensive juggernaut Blue Jays, that is for sure.

It could be worse, as the Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves in this one-and-done Fall Foolishness after winning 106 regular season games, one shy of the 107-55 San Francisco Giants, the surprise team of this year of COVID-19+2. Can you imagine? winning 106 games, second-most in the majors and being subject to the one-game boot, depending on the performances of LA’s Max Scherzer and St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright.

While contemplating all the ‘game of inches’ aspects of Baseball, a thought made famous by Hyman Roth in The Godfather, Part II, and said to myself, “This is the business we’ve chosen.” The rules were written in plain English before the start of the season and the results are clear.

Playing in a Major League Baseball wild card game could be replaced by dozens of other mechanisms to determine a true postseason participant. “Spin-the-Bottle” might be appropriate and quite easy to orchestrate if you had 18 players stand in a circle, the starting nine for each team alternating one by one. A sponsor, such as Bud Light, would eat it up, if MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred chugged a beer, put down the long neck and gave it a spin to decide if the Red Sox or Yanks would advance to a “real series.” Winner plays on Thursday night on FS-1, if you can find it on your dial.

Maybe the Bruins and Rangers could settle the wild card, competing in an NHL-style shoot-out on behalf of their brethren. After all, one-on-one breakaways to settle a hockey game is even more ridiculous than spin-the-bottle or a one-game elimination after 162 game season, isn’t it?

How about jump shots from the top of the key? Boston would pick Larry Bird to represent the Red Sox and the Knicks? Well, Charles Oakley, or even better, Ken “The Animal” Bannister, might do well for Go New York, Go New York, Go!

The fact of the matter is that these “One-and-done-tobers” might go the way of the “No Pepper” signs, as MLB is contemplating a 16-team postseason to be enacted as early as 2022. The future first round would be best-of-three series which seems a bit more reasonable, although not great. The problem at hand for MLB, the season can’t begin any earlier in March nor end any later into November, unless Canada Goose becomes the official uniform supplier.

The club owners and the television networks want more programming. The players want more money. The fans will get what MLB serves up, and chances are, they’ll like it. After all, it can all boil down to one pitch, one blown save, one Baltimore chop single, or one Steve Bartman fan-interference fiasco.

Baseball. It’s a game of inches and first pitch is 8:09pm (EDT) tonight.

 

While We’re Young (Ideas) – October 3

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The NBA began its 75th Anniversary celebration in typical NBA style, and that was to come out of the summertime hiatus and walk immediately into training camp with self-inflicted controversy. It happens more often than not. Instead of fans delving into the playoffs and NBA title contenders, the most promising rookies, blockbuster roster moves or coaching changes, the headlines go elsewhere. This season, instead of reminiscing about the league’s 75 best players of all-time, we’re talking the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

Although some 90-95% of the NBA’s rank and file players, plus all of the coaches, assistant coaches and athletic training staff are all vaccinated against the coronavirus with hope of fighting off COVID-19 and its Delta variant, the remaining five percent grabbed every NBA headline as the league conducted Media Days in every franchise city.

From Andrew Wiggins in Golden State to Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn to Bradley Beal in Washington DC, the unvaccinated few became the story. So be it.

The NBA forewarned the fact certain state and local government jurisdictions will have their own say on the matter and players will not be able to enter the very arena where the games are to be played, one being the Barclays Center in Brooklyn which would cut Irving’s season in half, right off the bat.

The league made matters known about foregoing paychecks for those games, the NBA Players Association, in transition at both the President (Chris Paul to CJ McCollom) and Executive Director (Michelle Roberts to Tamika Tremaglio) levels, are encouraging vaccinations and pointing out their Union membership is vaccinated at a much higher rate than the American public rates. Joining the NBA players, the NFL, MLB and NHL unions are also encouraging vaccinations while the NBA league is requiring all personnel who interact with the players at practices and games be fully vaccinated by this past Friday, October 1.

Players who choose not to be vaccinated will undergo extensive testing procedures throughout the season and teams will go to the length of securing separate transportation and dressing facilities, as best they can arrange.

What is an amazing juxtaposition on the issue? The fact the NFL was lauded as its season kicked-off and to some 93.5% vaccination rate for the players, yet the few NBA players are being criticized despite the slightly higher (up to 95%) rate of vaccinated union members. Go figure?

The voice of reason this week was the point of view of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the retired NBA legend, Hall of Famer and very high on the short list of the NBA’s all-time greatest players.

“The NBA should insist that all players and staff are vaccinated or remove them from the team,” Abdul-Jabbar told Rolling Stone (magazine/online). “There is no room for players who are willing to risk the health and lives of their teammates, the staff and the fans simply because they are unable to grasp the seriousness of the situation or do the necessary research. What I find especially disingenuous about the vaccine deniers is their arrogance at disbelieving immunology and other medical experts. Yet, if their child was sick or they themselves needed emergency medical treatment, how quickly would they do exactly what those same experts told them to do?

In its lengthy article (highly recommended by WWYI) Abdul-Jabbar said that players who remain silent about the (COVID-19) vaccine are no longer legitimate role models.

“They are failing to live up to the responsibilities that come with celebrity. Athletes are under no obligation to be spokespersons for the government, but this is a matter of public health,” Abdul-Jabbar detailed to Rolling Stone in an e-mail. The former LA Lakers’ team captain, Milwaukee Bucks superstar and UCLA all-time great remains especially disappointed in athletes of color: “By not encouraging their people to get the vaccine, they’re contributing to these deaths. I’m also concerned about how this perpetuates the stereotype of dumb jocks who are unable to look at verified scientific evidence and reach a rational conclusion.”

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: As stated, short of the vaccination controversy, this column would’ve begun with my personal list of the 75 Greatest Players in NBA History. As the league prepares to unveil its official list, I’ll list mine but will do so in groups of 10, holding back my Top 10 and my choices for No. 60-75.

NBA AT 75: You can plan to read about my Top 10 NBA Players of the first 75 years in next Sunday’s column. This week, I’ll start with my “Next Ten,” listed in alphabetical order, you’ll notice) and move along until I hit No. 60.

NBA at 75: Next 10 or No. 11-20:

Rick Barry

Tim Duncan

Julius Erving

Karl Malone

Moses Malone

Dirk Nowitzki

Hakeem Olajuwon

Shaquille O’Neal

Bob Pettit

Jerry West

And, the Next Ten: (21-30)

Charles Barkley

Steph Curry

Kevin Durant

John Havlicek

Allen Iverson

George Mikan

Scottie Pippen

David Robinson

John Stockton

Isiah Thomas

And, the Next Ten: (31-40)

Bob Cousy

Walt Frazier

George Gervin

Dan Issel

Sam Jones

Bob McAdoo

Kevin McHale

Willis Reed

Dwayne Wade

Bill Walton

Next Ten (which is my No. 41-50):

Ray Allen

Nate Archibald

Dave Bing

Dave Cowens

Artis Gilmore

Hal Greer

Elvin Hayes

Earl Monroe

Lenny Wilkens

James Worthy

The Next Ten: (51-60)

Paul Arizon

Billy Cunningham

Clyde Drexler

Alex English

Patrick Ewing

Reggie Miller

Jason Kidd

Wes Unseld

Russell Westbrook

Dominique Wilkins

WHO’S GOT NEXT? That leaves the naming of a relatively easy Top 10 list of NBA players and then the more difficult (No. 61-75) to be named in this missive next week. Joining the final list, I’ll also name a small group of players who will remain “On the Bubble.” Although they remain worthy of consideration and would make almost anyone’s Top 100, the challenging aspect of this celebration is drawing a line at No. 75.

I chose to list in groups of ten for a strong method of easy organization and an attempt at some level of talent grouping, but, in reality, I ask: Can anyone say whether Nate “Tiny” Archibald is better or worse that Elvin Hayes? Or whether David Robinson was better than Dan Issel, Bob McAdoo or Wes Unseld?

It’s impossible to factor in the changes in the game over the years, the comparison of point guards to centers or power forwards or whether the players made their teammates better or those who might’ve been void of talented teammates? Would Utah’s John Stockton be a lock at an all-time great if he didn’t have Karl Malone finishing at his side?

At the “NBA@50” celebration with the late, great Wilt Chamberlain at his side, Bill Russell casually explained to the assembled media that there are simply a lot of “ties” for best, asking no one, “Can you say Oscar Robertson was better than Jerry West or Elgin Baylor?” No. They’re all in a tie for first.”

In the past, the NBA celebrated its history with an NBA 25th, 35th and 50th anniversary teams.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Sept. 26

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes

BOSTON – Is there a chance this simple sports column can jinx the United States’ Ryder Cup team to go out this Sunday morning and lose to Europe despite owning an 11-5 lead after two days of foursomes and four-ball?

No Ryder Cup team has ever coughed-up this sizable lead and lost on the final day of the competition. Of the 12 singles matches played on Sundays in Ryder Cup tradition, the most points ever secured was 8.5 by the USA at the memorable 1999 event at The Country Club, here in Brookline.

Back then, Sting had just released “Brand New Day” and Enrique Iglesiastopped the charts with “Bailamos.” … Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam tennis title while Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and The West Wing made their television debuts.

Like the Summer Olympic Games, the 2020 Ryder Cup was delayed a full year with a no-brainer decision by the PGA of America. This week, Whistling Straits has been a jewel for the sport with a gorgeous setting near Lake Michigan in Kohler, Wisconsin – not far from Sheboygan.

Here’s the singles line-up which will begin at 12:04pm (EDT):

Singles Matches: (USA 🇺🇸 vs. Europe 🇪🇺)

Xander Schauffele vs. Rory McIlroy

Patrick Cantlay vs. Shane Lowry

Scottie Scheffler vs. Jon Rahm

Bryson DeChambeau vs. Sergio Garcia

Collin Morikawa vs. Viktor Hovland

Dustin Johnson vs. Paul Casey

Brooks Koepka vs. Bernd Wiesberger

Tony Finau vs. Ian Poulter

Justin Thomas vs. Tyrrell Hatton

Harris English vs. Lee Westwood

Jordan Spieth vs. Tommy Fleetwood

Daniel Berger vs. Matt Fitzpatrick

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: On a picture-perfect Autumn afternoon in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, big-time College Football was put on display yesterday when Missouri visited Boston College. The Southeastern Conference versus the Atlantic Coast Conference in a game of huge importance to both teams with the Missouri Tigers 0-1 in SEC play and the Boston College Eagles starting their day 3-0, overall, but yet to play an ACC opponent.

Here’s a brief look at the day – as a fan not a reporter – attending the game on the bucolic campus of Boston College.

11am – No plans for a “major” tailgate but meeting time was 11:30 at the Merkert Building parking lot. Traffic in Newton and Chestnut Hill was plentiful and cars were parked about as far away from BC’s Alumni Stadium as one could remember.

11:30am – Easy meet up with my hosts who furnished a delicious “New England Style” Chicken Salad sandwich, complete with cranberries. Cold water was the beverage of choice, although the beers and Bloody Marys were flowing like Holy Water all across the campus.

12 Noon – With the game to be televised as the opener on ESPN2, kick-off was prompt and we were in our seats in ample time, a slight overcast blocking strong sun rays that would peek-out all afternoon.

Right from the opening drive, everyone in the building knew we were in for a high-scoring affair. In 10 plays, Missouri marched down the field against a formidable BC defense and scored first 7-0.

In only four plays, Boston College tied the game when RB Pat Garwo III marched 67 yards for the score, 7-7. About two minutes later, Missouri’s Tyler Badie plunged for a four-yard TD, 14-7 Missouri after the first quarter.

12:30pm – The student section, located in the end zone and behind the BC bench in Alumni Stadium filled-in nicely, as the tail-gate beverages were guzzled down and the Bud Lights began to flow inside.

Boston College quickly tied the game, 14-14, as Jaden Williams caught a seven-yard pass from the Eagles’ QB Dennis Grosel who was doing an admirable job filling in for the injured starter Phil Jurkovec, who was standing on the sidelines with a small cast covering his right (throwing hand) wrist.

The teams traded field goals with Missouri converting a 28-yard kick and Boston College scoring on a 49-yard boot by Connor Lytton who is kicking in place of the injured five-year PK Aaron Boumerhi, who injured his hip.

Halftime – 17-17 and a new ballgame, as the Boston College marching band did a rendition of “Rocky.”

1:30pm. – The start of the third quarter coincided with Boston College taking control of the game, scoring 10 points to take a 27-17 lead in impressive fashion. Lytton came through with a big boot, again, hitting a 31-yard kick after a 16-play drive which ended with only :40 seconds on the quarter clock.

Missouri struck back, however, scoring 14 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter on nine-play and 11-play drives which made the score 31-27, Tigers.

With 6:18 remaining, Boston College was in control of their own destiny as they began to “matriculate” down the field. Fifteen plays later, Travis Levyscored from the five yard line and Lytton pounded the all-important extra point through the uprights to put Boston College up 34-31 with only 0:25 remaining in the fourth.

Missouri wasted no time and quarterback Connor Bazelak coordinated a final drive, undaunted. Five plays later, with time expiring, PK Harrison Mevis hit a 56 yard field goal to put the game into overtime. Bazelak would end the day 30-for-41 with 303 yards.

On the first possession of overtime, Boston College scored in five plays as WR Zay Flowers, nursing an injured hamstring, scored on a 10-yard pass from Grosel.

3:34pm – Boston College’s Brandon Sebastian made a game-ending interception when Missouri’s Bazelak tried to score on his first pass attempt in overtime. Seconds later, the BC student section rushed the field to celebrate the victory over a respected SEC opponent.

Boston College will now await possible inclusion in the College Football Top 25 rankings, and in doing so, they must take notice that North Carolina State, their next home opponent, upset Clemson and the Wolfpack enjoyed a storming of the field of their own yesterday in Raleigh, NC.

RUSHING THE FIELD: Boston College caught a fair amount of shade on social media as their students flooded the Alumni Stadium field after the game-winning interception by Brandon Sebastian. … Field rush and storming the court in basketball can be dangerous affairs and the NCAA legislates again the practice. … It’s one thing when a school upsets a Top 10 opponent at home, but, in yesterday’s case, Missouri is considered a “middle of the road” contender in the SEC. … What was not factored in in most media or social media accounts was the fact that Boston College’s 41-34 victory capped an emotional day and highly entertaining college football game, complete with the ebbs and flows of a playoff game. … For BC, it was also parents weekend and the plague of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to disappear for a few hours as the BC Alumni Stadium security staff double-checked for proof of vaccinations upon entrance. … It was the first time since March 2020 that the fans could let loose and it was the result of a win that might place the Eagles in the Top 25.

Mac Defeats Zach with Patriots’ Attack

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EAST RUTHERFORD – (Staff and Wire Services Reporting) – New England’s rookie quarterback Mac Jones and the Patriots prevailed in a battle of rookie quarterbacks as New England earned a 25-6 win over New York quarterback Zach Wilson and the Jets on Sunday afternoon. Jones, the No. 15 overall pick by New England in the 2021 draft, completed 22-of-30 passes for 186 yards en route to his first NFL victory. Damien Harris rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown and James White also had a rushing TD for New England (1-1), which bounced back from a season-opening 17-16 home loss to Miami.

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No. 2 overall pick Wilson was intercepted four times and threw for 210 yards on 19-of-33 passing for the Jets. Wilson has thrown five interceptions in his first two NFL games after tossing just a lone interception in the Jets’ 19-14 loss at Carolina last Sunday. New York (0-2) suffered its 11th consecutive loss to New England over a six-year span.

Nick Folk made all four of his field goal attempts for New England, eclipsing Stephen Gostkowski’s franchise record with his 32nd consecutive made field goal from 32 yards on his third of four attempts to make it 22-3 late in the third quarter. His final kick in the closing moments of the fourth quarter, from 26 yards out, made it 33 in a row.

Two plays after Wilson’s fourth pick of the game early in the third quarter, Harris carried four Jets defenders on his back while powering in for a 26-yard touchdown to put the Patriots ahead 19-3.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Sept. 19

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

By TERRY LYONS

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Aside from the amazing drone tour of the Dallas Cowboys’ training town in Frisco, Texas, this year’s version of “Hard Knocks” on HBO seemed a bit stale. … The answer? The Indianapolis Colts will be the featured NFL team during a special “in-season” edition of “Hard Knocks,” starting Nov. 17. The producers promise to “deliver the signature all-access coverage in the first show of any kind to document an NFL franchise in-season and in real time,” and to “follow the Colts as they navigate the challenges of an NFL season and battle for a playoff berth.” … The challenge for the creators of “Hard Knocks” will unfold when the Colts won-loss record is known to all following NFL week 10 on November 14th. Plans call for new episodes to premiere each Wednesday through the end of the Colts’ season which concludes January 9th at Jacksonville. … Here’s hoping they don’t screw up the best theme song on the current sports landscape with David Robidoux’s opus of excellence with THIS THEME.

DIAMOND DUST-UPs: In the category of “you heard it here first,” keep an eye out for San Diego Padres minor league prospect James Wood, the 62nd overall pick in the MLB Draft now playing for the Padres’ entry in the Arizona Complex League. Wood is batting .372 after a 3-for-3 Saturday (Sept. 18th) which included a home run. The left-handed hitting, righty throwing, 6-foot-7, 19-year old baseball prospect out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida caught some attention in July when he signed a $2.6 million signing bonus with the Padres. … Speaking of padre, James’ father is Kenny Wood, an East Hampton H.S. (‘89) and University of Richmond (1990-1993) basketball star who went on to play professional ball overseas. … James Woods’ uncle is Howard Wood, an East Hampton, Long Island basketball star who played at Tennessee and was a second round draft pick by the Utah Jazz in 1981.

IN THE COMPANY OF TED: Boston Red Sox 1B/3B Bobby Dalbec hit his 20th double of the 2021 season on Saturday. In addition, the Red Sox rookie has five triples, 23 homers, and 75 RBI this season. The only other Red Sox rookies to top 20+ 2B/5+ 3B/20+ HRs and 75+ RBI are: Ted Williams (1950), Walt Dropo (1950), Fred Lynn (1975), and Nomar Garciaparra (1997). … For Dalbec, as of September 18, 22 of his last 31 hits have gone for extra bases (8 2B, 2 3B, and 12 HR).

WHAT’s BREWIN? The Boston Bruins’ rookies open the 2021 Prospects Challenge with a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres’ rooks in Buff. … Stockholm, Sweden native Jesper Froden (two goals and an assist) and Samuel Asselin (one goal, two assists) led the Bruins in scoring. Asselin played 25 games with the Providence Bruins last season. The club plays a 1pm game against the New Jersey Devils’ rookie team September 19th.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: What is a sport without a Champions League? FIBA’s Champions League regular season draw has been set and Kalev/Cramo (EST), Nutribullet Treviso (ITA) and U-Banca Transilvania Cluj Napoca (ROU), and Prometey (UKR) advanced to the group stage of the regular season, starting on October 4. It is the first time Estonia will field a team. … The FIBA Champions League is not to be confused with EuroLeague Basketball, the more prominent and competitive European pro entity based in Barcelona.

ARE YOU READY for 2023? On the national team front, FIBA will begin staging its qualifying for FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 in a few months, with teams from each of the regions playing in six “windows of qualifiers” over 15 months. In a recent meeting, the Executive Committee for FIBA confirmed the return of the regular format of the qualifiers for each continent, but reserved the right to create “bubbles” in certain sub-regions due to the on-going global pandemic. … National teams will be busy prepping for the qualifiers, then competing in both 2023 (Worlds) and 2024 (Olympics).

IN-To-IT at INTUIT: We’re providing the 2024-25 LA Clippers’ season marketing slogan free of charge. Yes, they’ll be “In-to-It” at the Intuit Dome, the future home of the Clips which officially broke ground on Friday. The club’s owner, Steve Ballmer, who upped the ante for NBA franchise value when he dropped $2 billion for the Clippers, is now plunking down a cool $1.8 billion to fund the 18,000-seat arena which is expected to be ready for the 2024-25 NBA season.

NO REBOUND, NO RINGS: Long Island product Matt Doherty will head back to his root on October 7th to promote his new book, “Rebound: From Pain to Passion.” The former NCAA champion, NCAA (Notre Dame, UNC, SMU) head coach, Indiana Pacers’ scout and basketball ops head at the A-10 Conference, will do a full and surely inspirational Presentation and then allow time for Questions and Answers and book signings from 7-9pm at the popular Wantagh, NY Mulcahy’s concert hall.

EDITOR’S NOTE: While We’re Young (Ideas) usually posts the lead item and reserves the Notebook section for subscribers ONLY. This week, it’s the opposite.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Sept. 12

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

By TERRY LYONS

FLUSHING MEADOW – We’ve witnessed the likes of Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird burst into the professional sports scene to save the NBA from its downward spiral into obscurity in the late 1970s. Over the years, we’ve also enjoyed highly touted rookies in nearly every sport step up to make major impact in their sports, win Rookie of the Year honors and maybe earn a title. From Tiger Woods in golf to Wayne Gretzky in the NHL to LeBron James in the NBA to Venus and Serena Williams in women’s tennis, we marvel at the talent, determination and success displayed by these players at such a young age.

This weekend, at the 2021 United States Open tennis tournament, two young women opened a new chapter in women’s tennis as 18-year old Emma Raducanu of Great Britain defeated 19-year old Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the U.S. Open women’s final. It was the first time two teenagers squared-off in the final of a Grand Slam since 1999 when a 17-year old Serena Williams defeated world No. 1 in 18-year old Martina Hingis at the US Open.

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Teen-aged sensations in tennis come along Like a Hurricane in the Gulf Coast with a couple doozies each season. Flip back in the record books and you’ll see the likes of Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly who in 1953, at age 16, became the first woman to win the Grand Slam of tennis (Australian and French Opens, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open) in a single season.

Like those hurricanes – every 10-to-15 years or so, more frequently of late – along comes a Category 5, a “Katrina,” a “Sandy” or an “Ida,” or “Maria.”They are storms that devastate and dominate and blow through at 125+ mph, soon to dissipate out in the wilderness or North Atlantic Ocean.

In tennis, just like those hurricanes, they’ve been known by their first names to fans all over the world. They called them Chrissy (Evert), Martina(Navratilova and Hingis), Gabriela (Sabatini), Serena and Venus (Williams sisters), Lindsay (Davenport), Jennifer (Capriati), Tracy (Austin), Steffi(Graf) and Monica (Seles). More recently, it was Maria (Sharapova), Sloane(Stephens) and Naomi (Osaka), who all burst onto the world tennis scene, some to remain for a decade or more but some to burn out like a discarded rocket engine falling back down to earth.

As of September 11, 2021, we can add two new names in Emma (Raducanu) and Leylah (Fernandez) who made their way to the women’s finals at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center in Queens, the tremendous site of the United States Tennis Association (USTA’s) premier event. The two young women, Fernandez un-seeded in the draw, and Raducanu advancing as a qualifier, won over the tough New York crowds and thanked them profusely and genuinely for their support as they marched to the finals. Raducanu defeated her new peer and rival 6-4, 6-3 in the final to close out 10 consecutive matches – three in qualifying and seven in the Open – without losing a set.

Her only previous Grand Slam tournament appearance came in her native land, at this year’s Wimbledon, where she disqualified during the fourth round because of trouble breathing.

Aside from their financial success – Raducana pocketed $2.5 million while Fernandez cleared $1.25 million for the U.S. Open fortnight – the two players showed poise, composure during adversity, graciousness, respect for their sport and those who played before them, such as Raducanu’s appreciation for Virginia Wade – the last U.K. women’s champ at the US Open (1968). For Fernandez, her composure after the final defeat was a sight to see, and her post semi-finals on-court speech, singling out her admiration and appreciation for Canada’s most decorated baller – Steve Nash, the coach of the Brooklyn Nets to take time to watch her play – was equally impressive and endearing.

The end result is the sport of tennis – in particular the Women’s Tennis circuit (WTA) – enjoyed a jolt of newfound interest and enthusiasm for the sport these last two weeks. It is not a statement of hyperbole to say future duels between “Emma” and “Leylah” might rival matches of “Chrissy” vs “Martina” of yesteryear, or start a resurgence of interest in tennis the way Olga Korbutor Nadia Comăneci fueled a generation of women’s gymnastics wanna-be’s that gave us Shannon Miller, Mary Lou Retton and a legion of medalists in recent Olympic Games.

The previously mentioned tennis legend, Chris Evert, ranked No. 1 in US junior tennis at age 14 and who made her Grand Slam tournament debut at age 16 at the U.S. Open in Forest Hills, was near tears in her post match analysis of EMMA vs LEYLAH I. Evert surely envisioned and stated out loud that the 2021 U.S. Open finalists could enjoy a decade of on-court and off-court competition, often the secret of superstars. Evert won singles championships in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1981 but had Navratilova to push her throughout.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: We’re “Ready for Some Football” and the timing was perfect for our friends at Sportico to release their NFL Franchise Valuations. While the Dallas fell to the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL season opener this past Thursday night, the Cowboys reign supreme in NFL team value at a whopping $6.920 billion.

The Top 10 in the NFL: (billion) by Sportico

  1. Dallas Cowboys – $6.920
  2. New England Patriots – $5.350
  3. LA Rams – $4.680
  4. NY Giants – $4.630
  5. SF 49ers – $4.270
  6. Washington FT – $4.250
  7. NY Jets – $4.080
  8. Chicago Bears – $4.000
  9. Philadelphia Eagles – $3.870
  10. Houston Texans – $3.840

PICKS: While franchise valuations take in everything from the team’s actual value to business operations to venue ownership and overall revenue generation, the bottom line in the NFL – and all of sports, really – is Wins and Losses.

Here are the 2021 NFL picks for While We’re Young (Ideas):

  • AFC East – Bills of Buff
  • AFC North – Ravens
  • AFC South – Titans
  • AFC West – Chiefs
  • AFC Wild Cards: Browns, Colts, Chargers
  • AFC Champion – KC Chiefs

In the NFC:

  • NFC East – Cowboys
  • NFC North – Packers
  • NFC South – Buccaneers of Brady
  • NFC West – LA Rams
  • NFC Wild Cards: 49ers, Saints, Vikings
  • NFC Champion – Tampa Bay Bucs

In the Super Bowl:

  • KC Chiefs over Tampa Bay Bucs

If another play is possible? Tampa Bay over Buffalo

While We’re Young (Ideas) – August 29

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – At Christmas time in 1963, the great crooner Andy Williams released “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” a chart-topping, holiday favorite. He sang of parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, jingles belling, and caroling out in the snow. The song was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle and they make a bundle every year as its played on Holiday radio stations, in shopping malls and at homes all over the world.

As August turns to September, I might suggest Pola and Wyle pen another version to salute the sports world. Right here, right now, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Let’s take a look at what we have to look forward to on the 2021-22 sports calendar approaching.

Via ways of streaming consciousness, (not order of preference nor chronology, I give you the menu of sporting events:

  1. Major League Baseball’s regular-season home stretch to the Postseason.
  2. The start of College Football (Illinois 30, Nebraska 22).
  3. The start of NFL Football.
  4. PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup
  5. U.S. Open Tennis.
  6. NHL Training Camp and start of the season.
  7. NBA Training Camp and start of the season.
  8. MLB Playoffs.
  9. World Series.
  10. The start of College Basketball.

There will be some other wonderful sporting events sprinkled in, too. The Boston Marathon will be run on October 11th. The Breeders’ Cup will be run on the first weekend in November. Fans of auto racing and other motor sports will have dates circled on their calendars and local Boston fave, “The Head of the Charles,” will be staged October 22-24. … The Revs and the MLS will be revvin’ and the World Cup contenders will be qualifying. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of other great sporting events all around the world.

Let’s all look forward to the events ahead and when they’re completed we’ll focus on another “Wonderful Time of the Year,” when March Madness leads into the start of Baseball, the NHL and NBA Playoffs.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Let’s get this right out of the way … Just in case you were wondering, the George Wyle mentioned above is the same guy who wrote the theme song to “Gilligan’s Island.” … Whew.

TAKE A SHOT: Taking a good shot took on another meaning for the National Basketball Association this week when the NBA issued a pair of memorandums, one dropped in the lap of the Associated Press on Friday. The league notified its teams that all team personnel who will be near players and NBA game officials must be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus this season. A day later, the NBA and its referees agreed on a vaccination pact with an addendum to add any possible “booster” shots to be recommended in the future. … This agreement was a win-win,” the Refs’ Union said in a statement. “It will support the NBA’s objective of creating a safer on-court environment and continuity of play while protecting the health and well-being of the referees.” … The NBA-NBRA agreement noted, “that all referees must be fully vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption. The referees have also agreed to take any recommended boosters. Any referee who does not get vaccinated and is not exempt will be ineligible to work games.”

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – August 22

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief

BOSTON – “And, now a word from our sponsor.”

For any sports fan, those are the most cringeworthy words of a broadcast. Throughout the rise of commercialism in sports, newspapers and magazines printed advertisements with their coverage of the big games, big stories and bigger-than-life personalities. Radio ran its commercial spots and television crammed every second of downtime for commercials and promo spots to the point where “tonight on 60 Minutes” was just as much a part of the Sunday afternoon CBS Sports broadcast of the NFL as were the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots.

Game Day is “brought to you by Allstate” … Starting line-ups … “brought to you by Budweiser,” … Halftime “brought to you by American Express” … and “stay tuned for the postgame show, “brought to you by Geico.”

Yes, we’ve all become quite accustomed to the in-game promo reads and rolling graphics. We’ve chalked it all up $1 million ads at every break “to pay the bills.” The repetitive advertisements drive us to hit “mute” on the remote or even change the channel at times.

With all of that a fact of life for a television viewing sports fan, what’s my beef?

A CAPITAL OFFENSE.

What marketer thinks they have any right to ask us to write THE NORTHERN TRUST this weekend when we are covering the PGA TOUR? Why can’t we simply tell the stories of the Northern Trust as part of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs? Just a few years back, the same exact golf tournament was The Barclays and a year or two before that, it was the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Sponsors come and sponsors go. Banks merge and golf-loving CEO’s move on. It’s all a part of the game. But what in the name of the E. W. Scripps National Spelling Bee do marketers have with the ALL CAPS stuff?

Although it is hard to confirm in the Sports Marketing record books, the belief is that the Miami HEAT started this mess. Not long after, the STAPLES Center came along and editors around the country started to balk.

It’s one thing to do a “first mention” sponsor drop-in for a story on say, “The Rose Bowl, presented by Northwestern Mutual,” but it starts to get dicey when publishers of sports pages are asked to plug, the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl or the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl or the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone.

That brings us back to the CAPS.

The PGA TOUR is the main culprit. Aside from THE NORTHERN TRUST, the pro golfers also stage THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and the ZOZOChampionship. They refuse to write PGA Tour in their news releases and opt for the PGA TOUR, instead.

Other brands, trying to be clever and stylish, have gone the other way with lower case company names and logos. adidas, yahoo, xerox, at&t and target have all gone small while NIKE, IKEA, VISA and the likes of IBM, BMW and CNN stay large. Some say the ALL CAPS seems a bit revolting in the TXT message world which depicts ALL CAPS as SCREAMING or a RANT.

Lastly, we the journalists are all too often subjected to the use of extremely poor grammar within many a company logo or advertising motto. Remember: got milk? (Dairy Farmers) Or, Think Different (Apple)? Leggo my Eggo (Eggo brand waffles, by Kellogg’s)?

Where’s the AP Style Book (or is it the Associated Press’ style book)?

Nevermind.

The lone exception for acceptable use of a grammatically incorrect slogan was the 1996-97 WNBA’s use of the marketing phrase “We Got Next” when the league was about to launch in the summer of ‘97. The universally-utilized term to call for the next game on the playground basketball courts fit perfectly for the then-brand new women’s pro basketball league. Of course, the WNBA will soon celebrate the 25th anniversary of the league and WNBA@25 was not cool enough. Instead, they messed with the proper use of Roman numerals and went with:

The WNBA logo, for most Roman numerologists would go down as WNBA XXV but the strike-through was approved by Pythagoras himself. … So Be It.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Last week, the major injuries to Major League Baseball stars was underlined, noting that Ronald Acuna Jr., Mookie Bettsand Jacob deGrom to name a few. This week, it’s the U.S. Open tennis tournament that’s looking like M*A*S*H. … The great Rafael Nadal posted to his social media account(s) that he would miss the U.S. Open and the rest of the 2021 season due to a left foot injury. … Previously, Roger Federerannounced he had to skip The US Open due to the scheduled third surgery on his right knee. Add to the fact, defending men’s champion Dominic Thiemwithdrew due to a right wrist injury as the 2021 U.S. Open’s luster in the men’s draw has been defeated 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

USA 3×3: Tokyo 2020ne was the inaugural 3×3 basketball tournament at the Olympic Games and was viewed as quite the success in the international basketball world as the the outdoor 3×3 vibes hope to duplicate for basketball what beach volleyball did for the traditional indoor volleyball game. On the homefront, there was an exception as the United States failed to qualify for the men’s basketball 3×3 competition at the just completed Tokyo Games. … Time to right the ship? … Nope.

San Juan (Puerto Rico) won their first-ever FIBA 3×3 World Tour event since t2012 when they won in Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend (August 20-21). … Just one day after losing their opener against Ub (Serbia) by nine points but winning their ticket to the knock-out stage with an overtime win, San Juan planted their flag on the 3×3 court with wins against the Riga (Latvia)) team that featured three Olympic gold medalists, and then the No. 1 ranked team in the world Liman (Serbia). San Juan then defeated the same Ub team in the final (21-13) to take honors. The USA? The two teams placed sixth and ninth. Here were the standings from this weekend:

LAUSANNE MASTERS STANDINGS

1. San Juan (PUR)

2. Ub (SRB)

3. Antwerp (BEL)

4. Liman (SRB)

5. Riga (LAT)

6. NY Harlem (USA)

7. Aachen Der Stamm (GER)

8. Graz (AUT)

9. Princeton (USA)

10. Novi Sad (SRB)

11. Lausanne Sport (SUI)

12. Gagarin (RUS)

13. Moscow Inanomo (RUS)

14. Alexandria (EGY)

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Alabama Crimson Tide Ranked No. 1

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NEW YORK – (Wire Service and Staff Report) – Defending national champion Alabama will open the 2021 season in the same position it ended last year – at No. 1.

Embed from Getty Images

The Crimson Tide are the favorites to repeat, receiving 47 first-place votes in the Associated Press preseason college football poll. Oklahoma is No. 2 with six votes and Clemson is third, also with six first-places votes. No. 4 Ohio State (one vote) and Georgia (three) round out the top five.

Alabama opens the season Sept. 4 against No. 14 Miami in Atlanta as the Tide seek a seventh national championship under coach Nick Saban. Clemson and Georgia will meet that day, as well, in Charlotte, N.C.

Texas A&M, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and North Carolina round out the top 10. The Cyclones match their highest national ranking ever. The Aggies and Fighting Irish finished No. 4-5 in the final poll of 2020.

The poll features five teams each from the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Pac-12, three from the Atlantic Coast Conference and three from the Big 12.

The Sun Belt Conference has two teams in the AP Top 25: No. 22 Coastal Carolina and No. 23 Louisiana.

The rest of the list:
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Florida
14. Miami
15. Southern Cal
16. LSU
17. Indiana
18. Iowa
19. Penn State
20. Washington
21. Texas
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Louisiana
24. Utah
25. Arizona St.

TL Sunday Sports Notebook – August 8

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The PGA Tour took a break in their schedule for the Tokyo Olympics and Xander Schauffele enjoyed the trip to Japan the most, returning to the USA with a Gold medal for men’s golf while Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) played as a “ringer” for Slovakia and took home the Silver and C.T. Pan won the Bronze for his native country.

This week, the PGA Tour is going double barrel with the tour’s longest all-time title tourney in the World Golf Championship-FedEx St. Jude’s Invitationalin Memphis and the Barracuda Championship in Tahoe.

It’s all back to normal for the PGA Tour, except for ONE THING!

The players on the J.V. tournament in Tahoe are using the dreaded Modified Stableford scoring format, the first PGA Tour event to use the format since The International was staged out in Denver in 2006. Players are allocated points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole with the goal of achieving the highest overall score.

Points Scoring Method:

Albatross +8

Eagle +5

Birdie +2

Par 0

Bogey -1

Double bogey or worse -3

Confused? Nah. Just think of it as the “Elam Ending” of Golf, except it’s used for the whole tournament, not just the ending.

Speaking of Elam ending and changing the games we play, maybe we should say ‘Screw it’ to Dr. Naismith and his rules for the game of basketball – a la one point for a free throw, two points for a field goal and three points for taking a shitty shot from 26+ feet (ABA gimmick, not Dr. Naismith’s fault).

With that in mind, we introduce the Modified Stableford Scoring for Basketball, sponsored by Ford Motor Company, of course, would be the …

Basketball Scoring Method:

Great pass that leads directly to a bucket – (+3) + the basket

Blocked shot – (+3)

Steal – (+2)

Taking a charge – (+2)

Slam Dunk – (+3)

Successful free throw – (+1) or field goal – (+2)

Successful shot from “Downtown” – aka beyond the arc – (+1) except in last 2:59 of game when it counts for (+3)

Turnover – (-1)

Bitching to a ref – (-1)

Getting “posterized” – (-1)

Technical Foul – (-2)

Personal Foul – (0) until after player’s fifth PF, then (-1); In last 2:59, a team can choose to simply inbound ball rather than shoot FTs.

Team Fouls – (0) until after seventh in each quarter; then start to shoot.

Flopping – (-2)

Tapping hands or high-5 or fist-bump to teammates and leaving position in lane after a made free throw – (-2)

Tapping hands or high-5 or fist-bumps with teammates after missed free throw – (-3)

First team to 100 wins.

ONE SIDE CRACK: When we all get to the Pearly Gates, you just “gotta hope” we weren’t all playing by the Modified Stableford system instead of the 10 Commandments.

HERE NOW, SPORTS BIZ NEWS: A shareholder of the Chicago Bulls is currently shopping a 5% stake in the NBA franchise at a valuation of $3 billion. That is $300 million less than current Forbes listing of $3.3 billion for the entire franchise, one of the league’s most iconic. The minimum purchase, according to financial industry sources is a 1.25% stake.

Speaking of franchise values …

FORBES FOOTBALL VALUES: Forbes released its annual listing of NFL franchise valuations and the Dallas Cowboys lead the pack again. In fact, the publicly held “Pack” trails the NFL’s Star franchise by a whopping $3.025 billion. Keep in mind, these are guesstimates and the true value is in the number that a buyer i9s willing to pay. Since NFL franchises don’t go on sale very often, the numbers get ridiculous.

Currently, only the Denver Broncos ($3.75b) are on the market and they might draw some $5b on the open market.

NFL Franchise Valuations (Year-over-Year % Change)

Dallas Cowboys: $6.5 billion (+14%)

New England Patriots: $ 5 billion (+14%)

New York Giants: $4.85 billion (+13%)

Los Angeles Rams: $4.8 billion (+20%)

Washington Football Team: $4.2 billion (+20%)

San Francisco 49ers: $4.175 billion (+10%)

Chicago Bears: $4.075 billion (+16%)

New York Jets: $4.05 billion (+14%)

Philadelphia Eagles: $3.8 billion (+12%)

Denver Broncos: $3.75 billion (+17%)

Houston Texans: $3.7 billion (+12%)

Seattle Seahawks: $3.5 billion (+14%)

Green Bay Packers: $3.475 billion (+14%)

Pittsburgh Steelers: $3.43 billion (+14%)

Miami Dolphins: $3.42 billion (+18%)

Las Vegas Raiders: $3.415 billion (+10%)

Baltimore Ravens: $3.4 billion (+14%)

Minnesota Vikings: $3.35 billion (+14%)

Indianapolis Colts: $3.25 billion (+14%)

Atlanta Falcons: $3.2 billion (+11%)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $2.94 billion (+29%)

Kansas City Chiefs: $2.93 billion (+17%)

Los Angeles Chargers: $2.92 billion (+12%)

Carolina Panthers: $2.91 billion (+14%)

New Orleans Saints: $2.825 billion (+14%)

Jacksonville Jaguars: $2.8 billion (+14%)

Arizona Cardinals: $2.65 billion (+14%)

Tennessee Titans: $2.625 billion (+14%)

Cleveland Browns: $2.6 billion (+11%)

Detroit Lions: $2.4 billion (+14%)

Cincinnati Bengals: $2.275 billion (+14%)

Buffalo Bills: $2.27 billion (+11%)

DRAFT KINGS and BBJ REPORT: The Boston Business Journal reported that Boston, Massachusetts-based Draft Kings Inc. “has received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which is investigating a report about DraftKings published by short-seller firm Hindenburg Research LLC.

Said the BBJ: “The online sports betting operator (Nasdaq: DKNG) disclosed the news in a public document filed Friday as part of its quarterly report. The SEC subpoena seeks documents concerning certain allegations over “black-market gaming” and money laundering raised by New York City-based Hindenburg in June.”

In an e-mailed statement to news outlets, Draft Kings said it is not uncommon for the SEC to investigate allegations in short-seller reports, according to the BBJ report online. “The SEC inquiry does not suggest any wrongdoing or agreement with the short-seller allegations, and we intend to cooperate with the SEC inquiry,” the company said. … In the quarterly report, Draft Kings said it received the SEC subpoena on July 9. “Despite the potential for significant damages, the Company does not believe, based on currently available information, that the outcome of this proceeding will have a material adverse effect on Draft Kings’ financial condition, although the outcome could be material to Draft Kings’ operating results for any particular period,” Draft Kings noted.

The Hindenburg report claimed, among many other negative points: “Draft Kings trades at a ~26x last twelve months (LTM) sales multiple and a ~20x estimated 2021 sales multiple despite (i) no expectation of earnings for years, (ii) intense competition, and (iii) regulatory risk. The company posted net losses of $844 million in 2020 and $346 million last quarter. … Insiders have dumped over $1.4 billion in stock since the company went public a little over a year ago, with SBTech’s founder leading the pack, having personally sold ~$568 million in shares.

Despite the SEC inquiry analysts were somewhat bullish on Draft Kings for the long haul, stating, “Recent legalization momentum is increasing the likelihood that more States will launch online sports betting around the start of the football season, including Arizona, Louisiana, and Maryland,” they said, also noting recent legislative progress in the company’s home state of Massachusetts.

This week, most of the mainstream sports business media focused on DK deal with Genius Sports. The two companies signed a new multi-year supplier agreement that will give Draft Kings a full range of data and live video content from Genius, including products it has built around its new pricey NFL rights. … Under the deal, DraftKings will gain access to official data and live feeds from more than 170,000 events per year. That covers major leagues like the NFL, NASCAR and English Premier League, but also Genius’ suite of smaller partners, like Argentine, Peruvian and Colombian futbol, which will expand DraftKings’ broad and international appeal, according to multiple media reports, including Sportico.

One thing is for sure with the history of Draft Kings and all Fantasy Sports companies going ‘all-in’ on sports gambling, the lawyers are the busiest guys in the industry and the only people making money.

ROW, ROW, HYDROW YOUR BOAT: The National Basketball Retired Players Association will collaborate with Boston-based Hydrow, and offer NBRPA members special access to the luxury, at-home rowing machine and private one-on-one virtual coaching sessions with Hydrow coaches. … Hydrow is a state-of-the-art interactive rowing machine that allows users to row on virtual waterways the world over from the comfort of their own homes through Live Outdoor Reality. Hydrow provides a low impact, full-body workout, engaging up to 86% of the body’s muscles. … “The ability to offer our Legends a one-of-a-kind, at-home workout option that exercises the whole body, is great for the heart and easy on the knees was a no-brainer,” said Scott Rochelle, NBRPA President & CEO. … “Working with Legends of Basketball is an incredibly special opportunity for us, as it allows us to support these elite athletes throughout the next chapter in their careers,” said Bruce Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Hydrow, Inc. “Hydrow offers a dynamic, low-impact cardiovascular workout, and the fact that you’re able to work out with others mimics the teamwork these athletes have known their entire lives. We’re proud to be able to work with these players who have given us so much joy throughout their illustrious careers.” … Earlier this year, WNBA Legend Ruth Riley and NBA Legend José Calderón of Spain were introduced as Hydrow influencers. Fans can follow along as Riley and Calderón document their Hydrow experiences on their Instagram pages. … Riley recently completed a Hydrow workout with the U.S. Rowing Team. “Nothing like a row with the U.S. Rowing Team to get you into the spirit for Tokyo 2021! I love how Hydrow makes you feel like you are in the boat training with them,” said Riley.

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