Terry Lyons

While We’re Young (Ideas) – August 1st

August 1, 2021 by Terry Lyons

Fond Memories from Olympic Games Past

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – It was one of those pictures that damn near jumped off the wall of the Main Press Center in Sydney, Australia on the second day of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad. I had to have a copy. In fact, I needed two – one for Australian basketballer, Andrew Gaze, and one to be a keeper.

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There is no higher honor in all of sport. To carry your country’s flag into the Olympic Stadium during Opening Ceremonies is the most significant treasure any sportsman (or woman) can ever imagine. When asked to do so on your home soil when your native land is hosting the Olympic Games takes it up another notch.

Every year there are MVPs named, Cy Young Awards awarded, and Hall of Famers enshrined. Once every four years, a player is asked by his fellow Olympic teammates to represent their country and be their flag-bearer. It doesn’t get any better or heavier.

Wizards forward Rui Hachimura of Japan had the honor this year as he led Team Japan into the Olympic Stadium, albeit a year later than planned.

Sue Bird of USA Basketball, along with baseball’s Eddy Alvarez had the honor for the USA just a week ago. The Tokyo Olympic organizers asked that both a male and female athlete be so designated by each country, when possible. Bird is in pursuit of her fifth gold medal for the Team USA women, and she, along with fellow-WNBAer star Diana Taurasi have walked the walk for women’s basketball and sports all over the world everyday of their careers.

Australia’s Patty Mills (aka FIBA Patty) had the honor for the Boomers this year, as did Tomas Satoransky of the Czech Republic.

Back in 2004, in Athens, Greece, Dawn Staley of USA Basketball had the honor of leading in Team USA at a memorable Olympics. Quite a few other NBA/Basketball connections have shared the honor over the years of this reporter’s attendance at the Summer Games. In 2008, when the Olympic Games were in Beijing, there was Yao Ming, all 7-foot-6 of him, carrying the Chinese flag into the Olympic Stadium only 758 miles from his hometown of Shanghai.

Pau Gasol of Spain (2012 in London), Dirk Nowitzki of Germany (2008 Beijing), Yi Jianlian of China (2012 in London) and Manu Ginobili of Argentina (2008 in Beijing) each had the honor, as did Utah Jazz standout Andrei Kirilenko of Russia (2008 in Beijing), Luis Scola of Argentina (2016 in Rio) and Puerto Rico’s Carlos Arroyo (2004 in Athens). Arroyo proceeded to light-up Team USA the next day.

The sport of basketball has been well-represented over the years. But, it was a moment frozen in time at the Sydney 2000 Olympics that tops this column of Olympic memories.

Upon seeing the Agence France Presse photo pinned-up on the outside wall of their office cubicles in downtown Sydney, this American flak wanted to get the photo into the hands of Andrew Gaze, who was staying at The Olympic Village just outside of the city. I asked AFP photographers – Jeff Haynes and Robert Sullivan – if they could bang out a couple prints overnight and I promised to hand-deliver them to Gaze with their regards.

Next stop was the Australia and USA (then USOC) media offices to get a special day pass and “interview” request arranged to see Gaze in the Olympic Village. It took a few hours, but the system worked like a Swiss timepiece and the next morning I was on a bus, package in hand, riding out to the village on a (very) hot Athens morning.

Upon meeting Gaze at our designated spot – he was just finishing an interview with Mike Wise of the New York Times – we sat down at a table (in the shade) and the Australian all-time leader in points scored – second in the Olympic scoring, only to Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt – asked me what I needed.

“This is the easiest interview you’ll do all Olympics, because we don’t need anything. In fact, I just have a present for you!”

Gaze looked on in curiosity and amazement. The AFP crew had packed the 11×16 photos very carefully and reinforced the edges so they would not bend in transit. we also grabbed a couple strong cardboard tubes to secure them for travel home. Inside the packages were the prints of Gaze waving the flag. Even though they were still photos, you could see a little motion to the flag and a look of pure pride and joy on Gaze’s face. They were spectacular.

Upon carefully pulling them out of their package, he saw the photo and his jaw dropped. No words were spoken and tears welled in two sets of eyes. The silence was, indeed, golden.

When the San Antonio Spurs won the NBA title in 1999, Gaze was on their roster as a reserve. When the Spurs won the title, he grabbed me on the court in sheer celebration and damn near broke my back with a hug as he lifted me into the air above the court at Madison Square Garden.

This time, I knew what was coming, and it was still a back-breaker of a hug. With it? A look of sincere appreciation from an Olympian who had the highest honor in sports the night before and now had the perfect keepsake to show his grand-kids, all made possible by the great photographers at AFP and a simple bus ride from the Paramatta, in the outskirts of Sydney to the Main Press Center to the Olympic Village in Sydney.

Time well spent.

HERE NOW, SOME MORE OLYMPIC MEMORIES: Last week, “While We’re Young (Ideas)” touched upon Olympic memories dating back to 1968 or 1972, among others. One of the fondest memories of Olympic Games Past was the very start, an April 1989 vote undertaken by FIBA’s World Congress. For that vote, we were fully aware the United States and Russia were both voting against the proposition of NBA players being made eligible for the Worlds (1990) and the next Olympic Games (1992). FIBA’s executive director and head honcho, the late Boris Stankovic, assured NBA Commissioner, the late David Stern and his deputy, Russ Granik, that the vote would be overwhelmingly supportive of NBA inclusion. But, truth be told, the 1986 FIBA vote went 31-27 against the inclusion of NBA players and you just didn’t know what to expect. … While the great Oscar Schmidt of Brazil could play and make millions in Italy then return to his beloved national team for international competition or the late Drazen Petrovic of Croatia could earn a cool $800-to-900 thousand a year playing for Real Madrid of Spain’s pro league- the ACB, then compete for Yugoslavia (1990) or Croatia (1992) in international play, it was only the 425+ NBA players who were singled out and ineligible to play. … The NBA was not invited to the 1989 vote, but we had a man on the inside in Turner senior executive, David Raith, who headed-up the Goodwill Games unit for Turner Sports. A small handful of us gathered in the NBA Commissioner’s office and Raith relayed the vote totals to me and we kept tally on a white board in Stern’s office. The final count? Yays outnumbered Nays, 56-13, with only Greece refusing to vote. Stankovic was right again, as he righted the wrong and paved the way for the sport of basketball to take a giant leap by 1992.

Stern quickly placed Granik in charge of the negotiations and the NBA, FIBA, and ABA/USA (the United States’ basketball federation) quickly decided to keep the plans for the “college kids” to rep the USA at the 1990 Worlds. By the way, Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s USA world team (6-2) took the bronze after losses to both Puerto Rico and Yugoslavia. It was the last basketball tournament when the Provences of the former Yugoslavia competed as one and they won the gold.

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics “got” next!

“The Rest of the World” Caught Up

July 25, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – On September 30th in the Year 2000, immediately after the United States men’s Olympic basketball team narrowly defeated Lithuania, 85-83, in the Sydney Summer Games, Randy Harvey of the Los Angeles Times wrote that “the rest of the world had caught up with USA Basketball.” He was not alone in that point of view. Today, on July 25th in the Year 2021, in the few hours since France upset the USA Basketball Olympic team, 83-76, in the opening game of Pool play of the 2020ne Tokyo Olympic Games, the Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, New York Post, NBC Sports, Deadspin, and countless other media outlets throughout America all wrote that “the rest of the world had caught up” with USA Basketball’s best, as if it were something new?

That’s a 20 year news cycle of “catching up.”

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“When you lose a game, you’re not surprised,” 2020 USA Basketball head coach Gregg Popovich told the assembled reporters covering basketball in Saitama Japan today. “You’re disappointed. I don’t understand the word ‘surprised.’ That sort of disses the French team, as if we’re supposed to beat them by 30. That’s a hell of a team.”

The wise guys in Vegas had it more like 12 points, not 30, and they were certainly influenced by USA exhibition game losses to Nigeria and Australia earlier this month when they set the point-spread. But, an upset is an upset and the disappointment is no longer a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to world basketball.

When Nigeria defeated the American team in Las Vegas, the headlines screamed “stunning, shocking and historic upset,” and one report went so far as to state, “Nigeria pulled off one of the greatest upsets in international basketball history on Saturday night by stunning Team USA in an Olympic exhibition game in Las Vegas, beating them 90-87. It was Team USA’s first-ever loss to an African nation. They had defeated Nigeria 156-73 in August 2012 at the London Olympics.”

There was some bickering over the margin of victory expected when USA Basketball suits up for an international game, no matter who the opponent. The 83-point margin of victory differential from 2012 didn’t mean a damn thing to the 12 Nigerian players who suited up vs USA on July 11, 2021. Half the Nigerian team had NBA experience and the head coach, Mike Brown, has a ton of NBA experience and three NBA championship rings (as an assistant coach) to prove his mettle.

Facing fact, the “fear factor” that the 1992 USA Dream Team had sitting on its bench was long gone by the time the 1996 Olympic Games were played in Atlanta. In 2000, longtime NBA executive, GM, and assistant coach, Donnie Nelson, was working as an assistant for his beloved Lithuanian team. Nelson noted that in pool play that year, maybe there were two players on the Lithuanian club who thought they “had a chance” against the Americans, but by the semi-final, some 10 players or more believe they could win. The 85-83 score reflected Nelson’s viewpoint.

The mechanism for USA Basketball assembling its teams has long been questioned. There seems to be a cyclical n nature to the Olympic team successes, if you examine the era of the ’92 team to the carry-over of some key players (Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Karl Malone), along with Coach Lenny Wilkens who assisted the ’92 head coach Chuck Daly. In ’94, with Shaquille O’Neal leading the way, the USA cruised to the World Championship in Toronto.

By 1998, NBA labor strife had tossed the national team upside down and, in 2000, the senior team was re-assembled after a successful Olympic qualification tournament in Puerto Rico. Rudy Tomjanovich and Larry Brown split the coaching duties and the Americans managed the gold in Sydney.

By 2002, the cycle had turned again, and the USA senior team failed miserably on its home turf of Indianapolis at the FIBA Worlds. It was downhill from there and the 2004 team was asked more about the players that weren’t on the roster than the players standing in the gym themselves. Coach Larry Brown “lost” the team while still practicing on American soil and the Olympic team staggered to a quarterfinal loss to a better Argentine team, yet the USA regrouped and showed some determination and class in gaining the bronze in Athens.

In 2005, USA Basketball and the NBA took a major step and turned the senior team program over to longtime NBA senior administrator and Phoenix Suns guru Jerry Colangelo, who had served as Chairman of the NBA Board of Governors until he sold the Suns to Robert Sarver for a then-record sum. Colangelo demanded autonomy and, at least, a three-or-four year commitment from the players who would sign-up and “change the culture” of USA Basketball.

The NBA hierarchy and Colangelo also made a very bold decision, and that was to allow the head coaching spot to be relinquished from an NBA coach to the great Mike Kryzyewski of Duke University, a longtime USA Basketball coach who assisted on the ’92 Dream Team but had stepped back as the NBA head coaches took over the senior national team. Colangelo and Coach K teamed-up like long lost brothers from Chicago and guided the program to unparalleled success and continuity.

If you remember, in 2006, they first faced adversity when a young USA team lost to Greece in the medal round of the 2006 FIBA Worlds, coincidentally in Saitama, Japan. But, from the bronze medal win in Japan right on through to the 2016 Olympic Games gold in Rio, the USA Basketball team dominated once again and Coach K went 88-1, including the three Olympic golds and two FIBA World Cup golds.

After Rio, blame it on a long period of time and service, Coach K passed the torch and many of the players in the program bowed out. Coach Popovich took over a new, talented and highly capable roster for the 2019 World Cup of Basketball in Spain but saw 19 players either withdraw, get injured or cut. The 2019 USA World Cup team finished a miserable seventh even though the program Colangelo had re-created had a roster of NBA All-Stars some 35 deep.

USA Basketball was re-loading once again, and suffice to say, the rest of the world hadn’t simply caught-up. They were better than the United States, whether they had NBA players on their roster or not (Greece in 2006).

Now, at the 2020ne Olympic Games, don’t knee-jerk to the 20+ year old cliche that the “rest of the world caught up” to the USA in basketball. And, don’t blame the roster of NBA players representing the USA in Japan, either.

Just face the facts and acknowledge, the United States was beaten by a better basketball team today, a French team that gave the 2000 Olympic team quite a run in the gold medal game 20 years ago. Coach Popovich has been on the losing side of the ledger in five of the last eight games he’s coached the national team, dating back to the 2019 Worlds and he is 17-9 in USA Basketball games he’s coached as an assistant or head honcho.

Bostonians must be aware, too, as Celtics forward Evan Fournier scored 28 points and hit the key three-pointer to ice the seven-point victory for his native France.

While We’re Young (Ideas): Sunday Notes and Memories of Olympics Past

July 25, 2021 by Terry Lyons

Memories …

May be beautiful and yet

What’s too painful to remember

We simply to choose to forget.

– by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Marvin Hamlisch for The Way We Were

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Choose to forget?

No Way!

Those of us roaming this Earth with the “Olympic gene” remember every second, In fact we measure time in increments of four years, as in – “We’ll do that after the Sydney Olympics. No. After the Athens Olympics.”

The concept of the “Olympic gene” was introduced by the great Bob Condron, the highly regarded and now retired member of the United States Olympic Committee who was in charge of everything to do with making the Olympic Games run smoothly, mostly from the perspective of the operating machine behind Team USA.

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Condron’s concept was quite simple. You either had the Olympic gene or you didn’t. While he was sure you’d always work hard to help the specific sport you might be attached to, he knew you had the Olympic gene when you jumped at a chance to attend the heats for 10-meter women’s platform diving with a moment’s notice, or ran to track and field to pitch in, or to bring some NBA players to watch the USA boxing team … (you get the point, right)?

The Olympic gene, by the way, is a dominant gene. If both you and your wife have the Olympic gene, your kids have it, one hundred percent of the time. That is the case in this reporter’s household. Summer Games, Winter Games – you name it.

HERE NOW, SOME OLYMPIC MEMORIES: Some of the memories are marvelous, some are just great, some are painful, but none are forgotten.

This writer has vivid memories of watching the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City and Winter Olympics in Grenoble. How could you forget the “Fosbury Flop,” performed by the great high jumper, Dick Fosbury? How could you forget the dominance, elegance and determination of downhill Alpine skier Jean-Claude Killy as he won the downhill, the giant slalom and the slalom within nine days in his native France?

The ‘68 Games were highlighted by George Foreman taking the gold medal in boxing, by Al Oerter taking the gold in the discus throw, by Bob Beamonin the long jump and the previously mentioned Dick Fosbury in the high jump. But it was Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) who protested the racial injustices and stood on the medal stand with hands clinched in single black gloves to call attention to the civil rights movement to all the world as the Star Spangle Banner played to honor the medalists for the men’s 200m. That was 53 years ago and we still haven’t done right by Smith, Carlos or the entire issue of basic civil rights.

When the 1972 Winter Games rolled around, I can remember pleading with my seventh grade science teacher, Mr. Luciano, to put the Sapporo Games on the black & white tv in our home room each morning as the games were televised live – by satellite they told us – by ABC Sports.

Of course, that September of ‘72 would bring the evils of terrorism into living rooms around the world when a group of Palestinian Black September terrorists took 11 Israeli Olympians and coaches hostage in their village dorm rooms. I can still remember the horror and devastation of ABC’s Jim McKayreporting, “We just got the final word … you know, when I was a kid, my father used to say ‘Our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized.’ … Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They’ve now said that there were eleven hostages. Two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning, nine were killed at the airport tonight. They’re all gone.”

FAST FORWARD: As the years flew by, I nearly had to pinch myself as I was assigned (by the NBA) to assist in the league’s summer program to help prepare the 1984 USA Basketball Senior National team as it practiced for the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles.

The date was June 30, 1984 and I took an early morning “puddle jumper” from New York’s Fiorello La Guardia Airport to Providence, Rhode Island and was the lone NBA rep for the very first game of an eight-game series of NBA Stars vs the Olympic Team. It was the first and only time I’ve ever met and interacted with coach Bobby Knight. Here is the story:

As I jumped out of a taxi which transported me from T.F. Green Airport to the (then) Providence Civic Center (now Dunkin Donuts Arena), I entered the building at about 9:00am for the 1:00pm tip on ABC Sports. My first site was observing our country’s executive director for basketball Bill Wall draping a wrinkled ABA/USA banner over the scorer’s table. The federation was tagged ABA/USA as it represented “Amateur Basketball” and not the professionals. It was 1984, two full years before FIBA’s Borislav Stankovicwould begin his quest to have all players in the world eligible for the Olympic Games and Worlds.

At this point in time, the NBA was merely throwing together any players who could and would volunteer to play together for one game in their off-season. The next memory was Cleveland Cavaliers guard John Bagley (of Boston College) soon arriving with no gear and asking, “Hey, man? What size you wear?” Bagley eventually squeezed his large dogs into my size 11.5 Reeboks and joined a cast of NBA players, including Terry Cummings, Darryl Dawkins, John Garris (BC), Joey Hassett (Providence), Rick Mahorn, Reggie Theus, Darrell Walker, Gus Williams and Orlando Woolridge.

That morning, after some scrambling and typing up a roster of our NBA players and their uniform numbers, I was very anxious to go and visit the arriving Olympians and my St. John’s University bud, Chris Mullin, who had earned a place on the team.

I walked down the corridor to the Olympic team locker room as the players were lacing up their basketball shoes and had some quality time with Mullin. A few minutes later, as I was leaving the locker, I bumped into Knight and introduced myself, cordially, “Hi, I’m Terry Lyons and I work at the NBA league office but am here today helping out with our players. If I can do anything for you or “The Team,” please let me know.”

Knight responded with the only words I’ve ever exchanged with him, as he firmly stated, “If we need any help from you, we’re in real trouble.”

I smiled, turned around and walked out of the locker never to speak another word with Knight! (It’s his loss, right)?

‘88: The NBA assisted in similar fashion in 1988 and I was asked to do a number of games that summer. Although I took the gig for granted, and dealing with USA coach John Thompson via Georgetown, became as much a drag as it was with Knight, the friendly games were great and we enjoyed more time to get to know the future NBA players. Kansas center-forward Danny Manning stood out, as did David Robinson and Mitch Richmond, of course. One stand-out took the entire tour with the Olympic team but was a senior in high school. Yes, Thompson had Alonzo Mourning training with the team in preparation for his future career at Georgetown and Mourning held his own, and some. Mourning was the last cut after we played the final prep in Las Vegas. By that point, Thompson had “lost” a few of the players – including some of the best on the team – and I was not surprised when the USA lost to the USSR in Seoul.

GOMELSKI and COMPANY: What was truly amazing to this New York kid with his Olympic Dream-Gene was that by 1988, I knew the members of the Russian team almost as well as I knew my fellow Americans. The relationships built over the four-plus years included “a solid” – complete with late-night vodka toasts – friendship with the Soviet head coach, the late Alexander Gomelsky, and his assistant, Ivan Edeshko, the man better known for throwing the full court pass to Alexander “Sasha” Belov in the 1972 Olympics in Munich. It was the pass after the controversial and illegal re-setting of the game clock by FIBA administrator R. William Jones who came down to the court from his seat in the stands to rule for extra time (three seconds) to be placed on the clock after the United States team had already won the game (twice). It still pisses me off to no end.

DREAM TEAM: This all culminated with NBA players being allowed to participate in the Olympics and Worlds, beginning in 1992. Many believe it was the United States who pushed for that ruling, but the US actually voted against it when the FIBA-led ruling came down in April of 1989. Up to that point, every human being on the face of the earth was eligible to play Olympic basketball, unless you had an NBA contract. In essence, the 425+ best basketball players were the only ones not allowed to represent their countries. (Editor’s note: Be sure to read this: (CLICK HERE).

The stories of the Dream Team are an endless stream of amazing experiences which will be left for another column at another time, as will the reconstruction of the USA men’s program in 2005-2016. The bond formed with my colleagues at USA Basketball are among the most treasured of my quarter century of working at the NBA – both professionally and personally with the great people who run USA Basketball today.

BARCELONA TO TOKYO: Aside from the game’s invention, the ‘92 USA Dream Team experience was the most important and significant occurrence in the history of basketball. If you don’t agree with that statement, just ask Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki, France’s Tony Parker, and the 121 NBA and WNBA players dotting Olympic basketball rosters in Tokyo this week.

The NBA issued a news release this week that stated: “A record 121 NBA and WNBA players are featured on national team rosters for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The men’s and women’s 5×5 competitions will feature a record 49 current NBA players and a record 29 current WNBA players, along with 16 former NBA and 22 former WNBA players. The inaugural 3×3 basketball tournament features four current and one former WNBA player. The USA men’s 3×3 team(s) did not qualify for the tournament in Tokyo.

The previous records for current NBA and WNBA players in the Olympics were 46 and 26, respectively, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Outside of the U.S., Nigeria has the most current NBA players on its roster with eight, followed by Australia with seven and France with six. Eleven of the 12 teams competing in the men’s tournament have at least one current NBA player, and national team rosters include 13 players who have been NBA All-Stars. … Twenty-seven NBA teams are represented in the men’s 5×5 competition, with the Miami Heat featuring a league-high four players. The Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz each have three players competing. … In the women’s 5×5 competition, outside the U.S., Australia has the most current WNBA players with five followed by Canada and Spain with three each. Eight of the 12 teams in the women’s tournament have at least one current WNBA player, and 10 of the 12 WNBA teams are represented on national team rosters. The Phoenix Mercury and Seattle Storm lead with five players each, followed by the Minnesota Lynx with four players. … The inaugural women’s 3×3 basketball tournament is being held from July 24-28 and features five current and former WNBA players.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – July 18

July 17, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The organization dates back to 1784 and was originally known as the Society of St. Andrew’s Golfers. By 1834, King William IV recognized the club as Royal and Ancient and the name was changed to the Royal Society of St. Andrew’s Golfers and what is now known as The Old Course was proclaimed the Home of Golf.

In 1897, the Society first recorded the rules of golf and the sport was soon to become popular throughout the world. Anyone who calls themselves avid golfers marvels at the thought of playing a round at what is now known as The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

The Royal moniker was bestowed upon golf clubs the world over. From Scotland to England to Wales to Ireland to Malta to South Africa to Australia and Hong Kong. This weekend The Open is being contested for fifteenth time at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England. In 2021, it has been splendid just as it was in 1894 when the golf club hosted its first Open.

As the game became more and more popular, the rules were solidified and – unlike most other sports – they are self-regulated. In golf, you keep your own score. You honor the game by not improving your lie of the ball. You only utilize 14 different golf clubs packed in your bag on any given round. The rules apply to golfers of all abilities and the respect given to the rules by golfers is much the same as their respect for the game itself.

In many other sports, competitors often try to cheat the system. In Baseball, it is not uncommon to attempt to “steal” signs (codes from pitchers/catchers or from the dugout/Manager to players). In Basketball, a quick travel with the ball, an illegal screen, a flop to draw an offensive foul is almost coming practice. In Football, a little extra surveillance of your opponent, or taking some air out of the ball brought scandals sized to rival Watergate. Athletes and organizations bend the rules in many ways, sometimes in any way they can. They hope not to get caught – by the referees, the league or the organizing body.

What about Golf?

In Golf – how dare you – as the respect of the game and its rules carries on to higher ground, as well. There is no other sport where sportsmanship is more highly regarded. As golfers, especially weekend hackers, we are really competing against ourselves with hopes of setting personal records, rather than competing in a match against the others in our foursome.

Picture a single golfer joining a threesome of friends on a late afternoon round at a public course. Immediately, the single has three cohorts helping (him/her) find an errant tee shot or high-fiving a great hole-out from a sand trap. The single golfer respects the space and lie of his newfound partners’ putting line. He is quiet and motionless on and around the tee until it is his turn. Honors go to the golfer who scored the best on the prior hole.

Golfers are taught the written and un-written rules in their first few rounds of their golfing lives. The sport of golf is a sport for your entire life and respect of the game is paramount.

Then along come Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka.

The two professionals – both among the very best the game has ever seen – have been feuding like school children out on the playground at recess. They bicker verbally, non-verbally and even electronically via Twitter. They’ve been bickering since 2019 when one slighted the other on “slow play” and the feud festered from that point onward.

This week, with the British media fueling the theatrics of such a “juicy” story, the questioning about Ryder Cup pairings of the two paved a landing strip for their duel to last all the way to Whistling Straits (September 24-26 in Wisconsin). It’s all become such foolishness – eye-rolling and all.

This week, some predicted it was all “made for tv” and the two would hold a grudge match – on pay-per-view, of course. Others fuel and wallow in the gossip like girls at an Eastside NYC private school.

Some of us have simply had it and urge the PGA, the R&A, the PGA of America (who oversee the Ryder Cup) to lock the two golfers in a room and call for them to cut it out – once and for all – as they are ruining the one sport we could all count on to abide by rules and decorum.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Whether you are a student of Greek Mythologyat the University of Texas – San Antonio, Seton Hall, Harvard, or just an NBA fan, the main focus of study in the past month or two has been a total analysis of the Greek god of Milwaukee, by way of Athens. The study of Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo … also admirably known as “The Greek Freak.”

An MVP-level player in the National Basketball Association, Antetokounmpo has led his Milwaukee Bucks team to the NBA Finals, a difficult task for any god of the hoop. Antetokounmpo, however, has now taken it to another level.

As the Bucks compete against the Suns of Phoenicia, a mighty group themselves, Antetokounmpo went all Freudian on us. He did so, in of all places, the NBA Finals media interview room where he dazzled all with his interpretations and his own philosophy on Ego & Pride.

In a setting common to The Finals, media inquiries delved into Antetokounmpo’s upbringing, family life, his practice habits, his state of mind, the pressures of the game at such a high level, and now, with even higher stakes, the god of a Great Place on a Great Lake had a way of explaining how he absorbs and synthesizes the pressure.

“Obviously, as I said, the ball gets heavy. But if you are only thinking about winning and you don’t think about what’s going to happen next, it can get heavy,” he explained. “Because you want to win so bad, you know?

“So it can get heavy. But if you go back and think about the specific three minutes of Game 2, Game 4, and it could go either way, now the environment kind of gets heavy. But at that specific moment, I wasn’t thinking about what’s going to happen at the end of the game. I was thinking about that specific play. How can I set a good screen for Khris (Middleton), how can I block a shot, how can I rebound the ball, how can I run, how can I get the easy layup, what can I do to help the team win?

“So my mind is so occupied by that that I don’t think about the pressure, all that.”

Certainly Antetokounmpo was not the first NBA player to philosophize on the methods to cope with pressure. Philadelphian philosopher Julius “Vocabularius” Erving was a master at post game analysis. But Antetokounmpo was going deeper.

At age 26, who was teaching him these coping mechanisms that years of study and advanced degrees in Psychology might not produce?

“I think I would say life,” he thought. “Usually, from my experience, when I think about – Oh, yeah, I did this, I’m so great, I had 30 (points), I had 25-10-10, whatever the case might be – you’re going to think about that.

“Usually the next day you’re going to suck, you know,” he said smiling? “Simple as that. The next few days you’re going to be terrible. I figured out a mindset to have that when you focus on the past, that’s your ego.

“I did this. We were able to beat this team 4-0. I did this in the past. I won that in the past.

“When I focus on the future, it’s my pride,” he noted. “Yeah, next game, Game 5, I do this and this and this. I’m going to dominate. That’s your pridetalking. It doesn’t happen.

“You’re right here. I kind of try to focus on the moment, in the present.

“That’s humility. That’s being humble. That’s not setting no expectation.

“That’s going out there, enjoying the game, competing at a high level. I think I’ve had people throughout my life that helped me with that. But that is a skill that I’ve tried to, like, kind of — how do you say – perfect it.

How can he continue to win while spreading and sharing such deep knowledge?

“I think it starts from the environment, the leaders, the message that they push back to the team, to everybody,” said Antetokounmpo. “But we’ve been down before. When we were down before, we didn’t act like it was the end of the world. We were like, Okay, we know what the deal is.

“We’re going to try to go and execute. We weren’t worrying about going and trying to win two games in a row. We didn’t worry about that. We’re going to try to go back and execute. Try to put ourselves in a position to win. Now, if it went our way, we’re extremely happy, but it could go either way. It could go the other way and we’d be back home right now and nobody would be talking about us. But I feel like as a team we’re really good at turning the page — the next one.

“Okay, on this page – this, this, this, this – is what we got to do in order for us to be in a position to have a chance to win games down the road. I think the team has a great mindset in that. Hopefully we are going to keep doing it moving forward.”

Which takes us right back to Antetokounmpo’s birthplace – Athens and the Greek goddess of Athena – the goddess known for knowledge, a calm temperament and a huge understanding of others.

TESTING: The NBA and its players (and the WNBA, too) have managed the COVID-19 health crisis about as well as any organization on the planet – sports, business or other. As we’re going to post this Saturday evening, Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo entered the NBA Health and Safety Protocol and missed/will miss (depending on when you are reading this) Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night. Antetokounmpo, the older brother of two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, was not listed on the league’s early afternoon injury report but was noted Saturday evening at 5:30pm.

Recent break-outs of COVID-19 – largely due to a delta variant to the original virus – hit Major League Baseball hard, causing the cancellation of a post All-Star break Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees game at The Stadium. All-Star Aaron Judge was among six Yankees players sidelined under the MLB protocols for COVID+ testing and a number of their teammates have been battling nagging injuries. Of note, 1B Luke Voit returned to the MLB injured list.

Crosstown from The Bronx to Flushing, Queens and the New York Mets are tending to pitching ace and Cy Young favorite Jacob deGrom and his right forearm tightness. deGrom will miss his planned start Monday.

DIAMOND DUST-UPS: After the MLB All-Star break, Jarren Duran was selected to the Boston Red Sox major league roster from Triple-A Worcester. Duran is likely to be the fifth player to make his MLB debut this season with the Red Sox (Bazardo, Sawamura, Whitlock, Wong). But, if he plays in the weekend series, he’ll have one other distinction. The last Red Sox position player to make his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium was the great Mookie Betts (6/29/14). … The Red Sox earned their fourth shutout win of the season Friday night and their first against the Yankees since June of 2018.

ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION in ANAHEIM: LA Angels second baseman David Fletcher notched two hits and extended his league-leading hitting streak to 25 games. He’s now tied with the great Rod Carew for the second-longest in franchise history. The Angels play the Mariners (July 17) at 9:07pm (EDT). Keep an eye on that boxscore.

FASTER, HIGHER, STRONGER DEFICTS: (With an emphasis on the higher) – The Tokyo Olympics will cost an estimated $28 billion (3 trillion yen), say media outlets Nikkei and Asahi, far exceeding the organizing committee’s claims. The decision to ban spectators will cost nearly $1 billion in ticket revenue. Ouch.

Looking back, the International Olympic Committee granted the USA broadcast rights across all media platforms, including free-to-air television, subscription television, internet and mobile to NBC Universal (call it Comcast, too). The agreement runs from 2021 to 2032 and it’s valued at $7.65 billion, plus an additional $100 million bonus to be used for promotion of Olympic ideals.

JAPAN HOOPS to COMPETE in TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES: There will be a number of NBA players dotting the rosters of most men’s Olympic team rosters when the basketball tournament tips off July 25th. Japan-Forward previews the Olympians from Japan and there’s a few names you’ll recognize, notably NBA forwards Rui Hachimura (Washington Wizards) and Yuta Watanabe (Toronto Raptors). Japan’s men’s national basketball team last competed in the Olympic Games in 1976 in Montreal.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – July 11

July 11, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – As NBC Sports prepares to cover the Tokyo Olympics, it is also minimizing its coverage in other areas, as noted below with NBC ending their 16-year run with the National Hockey League. One area taking a hit, not only at NBC Sports but seemingly everywhere on the sports dial is the area of remote production and studio-based play-by-play and color commentary, rather than the on-site coverage we’re so accustomed to as viewers of North American sports. … At most of the big time sporting events, a “World Feed”is produced – side-by-side – with the primary coverage by one of the “big” networks, a la NBC, CBS, FOX, or ABC/ESPN. NBC Sports’ coverage of this week’s Open Championship from Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England will carry the World Feed, rather than its own.

WHILE WE’RE AT IT: There is absolutely no intention to turning While We’re Young (Ideas) into a sports media column, but this week’s general sports news included a TON of sports television controversy, none of it more headline-grabbing than a New York Times expose on ESPN/The Jump’s Rachel Nichols and her selfish/clueless/unjust proclamations brought forth in a Kevin Draper by-lined story last Sunday. … Unbeknownst to Nichols, ESPN servers were rolling on her comments, seeking to mark her turf around ESPN’s coverage of the NBA. … Said Nichols (on videotape) a full year ago: “I wish Maria Taylor all the success in the world — she covers football, she covers basketball,” Nichols said. “If you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity — which, by the way, I know personally from the female side of it — like, go for it. Just find it somewhere else. You are not going to find it from me or taking my thing away.” … The timing of the story, dropped between the final game of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals and Game 1 of the NBA Finals, was obviously chosen to maximize exposure for the New York Times. It’s mainstream coverage included the fact it was addressed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at his annual NBA Final media availability session, held prior to Game 1. Said Silver upon being asked to address the topic that was certainly distracting from the NBA basketball games to be played: … “It’s disheartening,” he said. “I’m really not in a position to speak too specifically about what goes on at ESPN because so much of my information came from your newspaper’s (NYT) reporting and others, so I am not privy to much more beyond that. I will say, apropos of my earlier comments, I think it’s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other. You know, I know that both Rachel and Maria [Taylor] are terrific at what they do, they work extraordinarily hard. As I said, I think just from the league’s standpoint, while we recognize well, ESPN’s operations are independent of us, I feel we’re all part of a family here in terms of what we do around our sport.” … “I think part of the problem is, that as I said earlier, when people can’t get in a room and talk through these issues, this seemingly has fostered now for a full year. I mean, this is an incident that happened, I guess when Rachel was in the bubble a year ago, and I would have thought that in the past year, maybe through some incredibly difficult conversations, that ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it. Obviously not.

Silver continued, “I should also say, too, that these issues are not unique to ESPN. As I said, the league is working on its own issues in terms of doing a better job with diversity. It’s not just in sports, but in companies around America, there’s a reckoning going on. I think part of it and what we’re seeing in ESPN, it’s one thing to talk about the principles around diversity and inclusion, it’s something else when it comes to somebody’s specific job and how that’s handled. What I’ve learned from dealing with these issues in the NBA is that they are incredibly complex, there’s no magic bullets here, and they require a very labor-intensive effort of getting people in the room and working through these issues by talking a lot about them, and then talking even more about them, and creating a climate where people are comfortable saying what’s on their mind, where people are given the benefit of the doubt, especially long-term employees that are in good standing, that when they do make comments, that people recognize that people make mistakes, that careers shouldn’t be erased by a single comment, that we should be judging people by the larger context of their body of work and who they are and what we know about them.

“So, I have confidence in the leadership of ESPN and of course in my Disney colleagues, and so they will work through this, but I’m sure this is a very difficult time for them and it’s really unfortunate what we’re seeing in sports,” said Silver as he address several topics facing the NBA, including significant loss of revenue over the past year because of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

A lesson taught years ago by former head of NBA Properties and recently retired Golden State Warriors team president and Hall of Famer Rick Weltsfits this situation perfectly. “Conflict is good,” said Welts, “but un-resolvedconflict is not good.” … In fact, it sucks.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Amongst the topics addressed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver at his pre-NBA Finals media session was whether the NBA would return to the international stage and plan for its Global Game series of exhibition games staged in cities around the world. … “Thanks for your question,” said Silver. “I think most realistically not — well, it’s clear it’s not going to happen this fall, but it’s my hope it will be the following year. Again, of course this is a global issue, COVID, and so it’s not just conditions here in the United States but the places at least where we have traditionally played and in Europe, Asia and in Latin America. We would need COVID rates to come way down there as well … But it is my hope that as we can move – in the U.S. – back to something that looks very close to normal next year (2021-22 season) and then the following seasons we’ll return to our international activities.”

NBA FINALS ON THE FRONT BURNER, TOKYO ON THE BACK: With three Olympic Men’s Basketball team members playing in the NBA Finals and unavailable, USA Basketball announced that seven members of the 2021 USA Select Team would remain with the National Team for the five exhibition friendly games upcoming from July 10-18 in Las Vegas. … Added to the national team roster for the domestic exhibitions were: Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons/Villanova); Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers); John Jenkins(Bilbao Basket, Italy/Vanderbilt); Keldon Johnson (San Antonio Spurs/Kentucky); Josh Magette (Darüşşafaka Tekfen, Turkey/Alabama-Huntsville); Dakota Mathias (Philadelphia 76ers/Purdue) and Cam Reynolds (Houston Rockets/Tulane).

Those seven players join U.S. Olympic Team 2020 members: Bam Adebayo(Miami Heat), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), Jerami Grant (Detroit Pistons), Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), Zach LaVine (Chicago Bulls), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Kevin Love (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics). … Because of their involvement in the 2021 NBA Finals, Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks) are unable to join the USA squad during the upcoming exhibition games.

88s: Eighty-eight players asked the NBA to remove their names from the list of “early entry” players eligible for selection in the NBA Draft 2021.

MAKE A LIST: Pro golfer Luke List is seeking to become the fourth consecutive player to make the John Deere Classic his first PGA Tour title as he seeks his first Tour victory in his 193rd start.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – July 4th

July 4, 2021 by Terry Lyons

WE’RE SICK OF NAME, IMAGE, LIKENESS AND IT HASN’T EVEN STARTED

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – With all due respect to Hamilton – The Musical, let’s hope they don’t throw away their shot.

They fought for it.

They wrote about it.

They talked about it.

They protested over it.

They sued for the rights to it.

Yes, they were young, scrappy and hungry and on Thursday the NCAA finally caved and folded the deck on the issue of “Name, Image and Likeness” (NIL) as their hand was forced by the clock striking midnight leading into July 1st.

The NCAA directives, this week, came after the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled (9-0) Monday in favor of student athletes and as at least 10 States had adopted laws or were ready to enforce executive orders (of State Governors or Governments) to allow student-athletes the right to “make money” from their Name, Image or Likeness (NIL).

The decisions tossed the collegiate sports world into a land of uncertainty with no clear guidance from the law or the NCAA.

First, the NCAA noted that schools in States that have passed laws related to NIL would be “responsible for determining whether” athletes’ NIL activities “are consistent with state law,” their statement said.

The statement also called for athletes (and schools) in States without an NIL law, athletes would be able to engage in NIL activities without violating NCAA rules that so far have heavily limited those activities. The areas to be fair game now include having endorsement deals, leveraging social media for pay, and making money from coaching or signing autographs and autographed memorabilia.

Sports marketers didn’t “exactly” jump into the fray, but one deal – struck by Fresno State women’s basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder, hoop-it-up twins who’ve built up an impressive, hard-earned following and rocked their social media channels and TikTok, in particular – received quite a bit of attention with a timely Boost Mobile endorsement to open an NCAA NIL Pandora’s box.

Hanna Cavinder @CavinderHanna

ON A BILLBOARD IN TIME SQUARE 😭 WHAT IS LIFE… blessed❤️

By September, another 15 States are expected to have NIL legislation in place and the remaining States will then be pressured to act as soon as possible. Somewhat like sports gambling, their is no Federal guideline and the entire category for sports marketers has fast become “the Wild, Wild West” of yesteryear, with administrators making up their rules on a case-by-case basis and totally on the fly.

“With the variety of State laws adopted across the country, we will continue to work with Congress to develop a solution that will provide clarity on a national level,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert in a statement. “The current environment – both legal and legislative – prevents us from providing a more permanent solution and the level of detail student-athletes deserve.”

Somewhat like the ambiguity caused by the lack of Federal guideline on the issue of legalized sports gambling, the colleges, their administrators, the student athletes, marketers and marketing agents have been left to figure out the non-existent rules as they go along. Certainly, the unscrupulous underworld of collegiate sports will rear it ugly head to bend the rules or blasts through them – one-by-one. Leniency in one State can provide an advantage to the recruiting practices of schools in that particular State over their neighboring and sometimes rival State.

It’s almost unfathomable that the legal system and the NCAA have allowed the issue to remain unresolved, as the 2015 O’Bannon case started the boulder rolling downhill. To refresh your memory, in 2016 the Supreme Court of the United States failed to take up an appeal to a 2015 Ninth Circuit Court ruling in favor of former UCLA men’s basketball player, Ed O’Bannon, now a retired NBA professional. In the ruling, the three-judge Ninth Circuit panel – consisting of Judges Sidney Thomas, Jay Bybee and Gordon Quist – found that certain NCAA amateurism rules violate federal antirust law.

Surely, there was time to put Federal guidelines in place. Now, the Feds have too much on their plate and the June 28th SCOTUS ruling – while just and correct – dumped a whole load of problems – TikTok – onto the laps of college sports administrators who all knew they were coming.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: USA Basketball is cranking up the engines and the men’s U-19 team, competing in the FIBA U-19 World Cup in Latvia started the summertime activities off in a big way. The USA team posted an 11-0 run to start their first game, and never looked back en route to their decisive, 83-54, victory over Turkey (0-1) Saturday in Riga. … After opening the game with that 11-0 run, the Americans closed the first 10 minutes with a 15-2 surge that covered the final 4:13 of the quarter. Jaden Ivey (Purdue/Mishawaka, Indiana) scored 10 of the USA’s last 15 points in the first period which led the USA securing a 20-point lead (29-9) going into the second quarter. … The USA U-19 squad will continue with preliminary round July 4, at 1:30 p.m. (EDT) versus Mali and will wrap-up the round robin play on Tuesday, July 6, at 1:30 p.m. EDT vs. Australia.

HOOP, HOOP, HOO-RAY: The USA men’s senior national team will soon dress as Olympians but before they do, they’ll practice against a newly named USA Select team that includes some of the NBA’s brightest young stars. The Select roster will include:

Saddiq Bey (Detroit Pistons/Villanova)
Miles Bridges (Charlotte Hornets/Michigan State)
Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves/Georgia)
Darius Garland(Cleveland Cavaliers/Vanderbilt)
Tyrese Haliburton (Sacramento Kings/Iowa State)
Tyler Herro (Miami Heat/Kentucky)
John Jenkins (Bilbao Basket, Italy/Vanderbilt)
Keldon Johnson (San Antonio Spurs/Kentucky)
Josh Magette (Darüşşafaka Tekfen, Turkey/Alabama-Huntsville)
Dakota Mathias (Philadelphia 76ers/Purdue)
Immanuel Quickly (New York Knicks/Kentucky)
Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves/LSU)
Cam Reynolds (Houston Rockets/Tulane)
Isaiah Stewart (Detroit Pistons/Washington)
Obi Toppin (New York Knicks/Dayton)
P.J. Washington (Charlotte Hornets/Kentucky)
Patrick Williams (Chicago Bulls/Florida State)

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra will serve as head coach of the 2021 USA Select Team, The assistant coaches will be Gonzaga University head coach Mark Few, who served as an assistant coach with the 2019 USA Select Team and head coach of the 2015 U.S. Pan American Games Team and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley, who served as an assistant coach at the 2018 USA National Team minicamp.

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PGA Tour: Thompson Leads at Rocket Mortgage Classic Golf

July 2, 2021 by Terry Lyons

UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, play was suspended from 12:15pm to 3:30pm (EDT), a delay of 3 hours, 15 minutes. Due to darkness, the first round was suspended at 9:02pm (EDT) with 27 players left on the golf course and will resume at 7:15am (EDT) today. As they are finishing, the second round will have begun as scheduled at 6:45am this morning.

DETROIT – Tournament leader Davis Thompson is competing on a sponsor exemption. In the opening round, Thompson tied the tournament 18-hole scoring record with a 9-under (63) with the previous (63s) all came in 2019: Nate Lashley/R1, J.T. Poston/R2, Lashley/R3).

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Thompson’s previous low score in 16 prior rounds on Tour was a 4-under (66) as an amateur in the final round of 2019 The RSM Classic (T23/PGA Tour debut). He made his seventh career start on the PGA Tour and third since the University of Georgia product turned professional in June.

Thompson’s professional results: T-35/Palmetto Championship at Congaree, MC/Travelers Championship).

Brandon Hagy is currently in second place. His 7-under (65) was his first par-or-better first-round score in his last eight individual PGA Tour stroke-play events.

Matthew Wolff, the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic runner-up, recorded a 5-under 67, highlighted by an eagle at the par-5 17th and is T-7.

Kevin Chappell withdrew before his round with a back injury and was replaced in the field by Josh Teater.

Leaderboard After 18 Holes:

Davis Thompson 63 (-9)

Brandon Hagy 65 (-7)

Tom Lewis 65 (-7)

Joaquin Niemann 65 (-7)

Seamus Power 66 (-6)

J.J. Spaun 66 (-6)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Red Sox Come From Behind (Again)

June 29, 2021 by Terry Lyons

BOSTON – Simply put, this season the Boston Red Sox are winning games they are not supposed to win. Monday night against the Kansas City Royals, the Sox trailed 5-1 entering the bottom of the 2nd inning before scoring one run in the 2nd inning, three runs in the 4th, and another run in the 6th inning. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe homered twice, including the game-winning blast to spot the Red Sox their 6-5 come-from-behind victory. It was the club’s 26th such win this season.

Embed from Getty Images

The victory, combined with a weekend sweep of the New York Yankees, allowed Boston a “W” in each of the last four games and lifted the club to a season-high 17 games above .500 (previous: 15 games, 3 times).

Renfroe led the way, going 2-for-4, with two runs scored, the two HRs, three RBI. He hit a two-run HR in the 4th inning, cutting the Sox’ deficit to 5-4, then hit a go-ahead solo homer in the 6th inning. It was his 13th career multi-HR game and what made Monday night special was the fact the HRs had projected distances of 439 feet (4th inning) and 434 feet (6th inning). Overall, his 11 HR this season have averaged 419 feet (4,608 total feet).

Kiki Hernandez went 2-for-3 with a run scored on his lead-off homer. He hit a solo HR to lead off the bottom of the 1st for the second consecutive game, his ninth career leadoff homer and his third in 2021.

The Royals lost their 6th straight game and are (1-6) to start the current 10-game road trip.

Boston closer Matt Barnes converted his 17th save of the season (20 save opportunities, 85%), retiring all three batters faced in a scoreless 9th inning.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – June 27

June 27, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – If there’s one thing the Boston Red Sox organization does better than any other franchise in sports, it’s the pregame ceremony and tribute. With things returning to a post-pandemic normal in the Fens, the Red Sox got back to business with a well-deserved tribute to the career of retired team captain and MVP second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

During recent years, the Red Sox franchise has lived the highs and lows of life in Boston. They’ve hit the high notes when they paid tribute to the likes of David “Big Papi” Ortiz and they’ve grieved with the community, helped victims of the Boston Marathon bombing mourn and strengthen their resolve through the very memorial services right on the baseball field.

It might sound “cliche” but the Red Sox bind the fabric of greater New England like few other sports franchises. The Sox share that honor and responsibility with the NFL Patriots, the NBA Celtics and the NHL’s Bruins in amazing fashion. Yes, like franchises elsewhere, the civic pride surfaces much more when the teams are winning but, in New England, winning became habitual, especially since the year 2000.

Since that turn of the century, Boston sports franchises won 12 tittles. The Patriots claimed an amazing six Super Bowl victories with Tom Bradyleading the way for wins in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018. The Red Sox won in 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018 while the Celtics took the NBA title in 2008 and the Bruins won the NHL’s Stanley Cup in 2011 with near misses against the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and a heart-breaking loss to the St. Louis Blues in 2019.

For each of the winners, the Boston faithful rallied around one, or maybe two, players to guide the team towards a highly demanding excellence. As noted, Brady led the Patriots who marched to the drum beat of team GM and coach Bill Belichick. The Celtics lifted the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy in ‘08 and competed mightily for a number of others while Paul Pierce led the way in scoring and Kevin Garnett set a new standard in the Cs locker room. For the Bruins, team captain Zdeno Chara set the tone while his defensive partner, Dennis Seidenberg, personified team building and the atmosphere in the Bruins’ dressing room. As with all winning ice hockey teams, they all rallied around their goalkeepers, as in two-time Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas(2009 and 2011) and 2014 Vezina winner Tuukka Rask.

On the baseball diamond, it was Pedroia who led the Red Sox. While Ortiz provided the power, the pitching staff – both starters and relievers – stepped-up in a big way with Jon Lester, Jake Peavy and John Lackey in 2013 and the 11-man crew, led by David Price and Chris Sale got the job done in 2018, it was the leadership of Pedroia that provided team strength and chemistry, especially through adversity.

And, adversity might as well be Pedroia’s middle name from 2016-17-18 (played only three MLB games in ‘18) to 2019 (played only six MLB games) when he suffered severe left knee injuries and underwent multiple surgeries. Pedroia went from a career high 160 games played and an amazing and league-leading 724 plate appearances in 2013 to three games and 13 at bats in the 2018 season.

After fighting through evaluations, rehabilitation, set-backs and even total rest to heal his sore knee, Pedroia finally announced his retirement from the Red Sox and the majors this past February 1st, ending his 14-year MLB career. Unlike Tom Brady and Zdeno Chara, (and recently golf’s Phil Mickelson), Dustin Pedroia put another “W” in Father Time’s win column.

The Red Sox Friday night tribute and the way the sport of baseball can do like no other, reminded us of all that was good when Pedroia was playing at his Rookie of the Year (2007) and MVP levels (1st in 2008, 9th in 2011 and 7th in 2013). The tribute and video messages Brough the tough-minded Pedroia to tears, as did the “in-person” appearances of many of his former teammates.

With his family looking on, the Red Sox made special mention of the many charity activities Pedroia supported throughout his career and even brought the specific family members he helped during the marathon crisis. The ceremony was classy, succinct and poignant and Pedroia’s speech concise, meaningful and memorable.

The Red Sox invited marathon victim Jane Richard (who lost her young brother Martin and her leg from the bomb explosion in 2013) to sign the National Anthem and then had Pedroia toss a ceremonial first pitch to his former teammate and now Red Sox Manager Alex Cora.

It was also announced that the Sox will waive the customary waiting period and will induct Pedroia to the club’s Hall of Fame this year. … Only the surprise appearance of wrestling great Ric Flair – one of Pedroia’s all-time favorite celebrity athletes – could put an exclamation point on the tribute and, indeed, it did.

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HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The likes of Dustin Pedroia, Tom Brady, Zdeno Chara and many of the other Boston greats who captained and led their teams to victory calls for a non-comprehensive listing of some other sports icons who were the rallying point for their title teams. Here are a few that come to mind:

Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees
Jackie Robison, Brooklyn Dodgers
Bill Russell, Boston Celtics
Maurice “Rocket” Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Willis Reed, New York Knicks
Jean Béliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Franz Beckenbauer, Bayern Munich/Team Germany
Stan Mikita, Chicago Blackhawks
Tug McGraw, New York Mets
Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates
Jack Lambert, Pittsburgh Steelers
Thurman Munson, New York Yankees
Mike Eruzione, 1980 Team USA Hockey
Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers
John Elway, Denver Broncos
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants
Mia Hamm, Team USA
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders
Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons
Mark Messier, New York Rangers
Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens
Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings
Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
Sue Bird, Seattle Storm and Team USA
Christian Laettner, Duke University
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts/Denver Broncos
Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins
Simone Biles, Team USA Gymnastics
Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Without a doubt, there are dozens and dozens of others, especially in world sports (Futbol), college sports and women’s sports. Feel free to add your suggestion(s) in the comments section or on Twitter @WhileYoungIdeas

While We’re Young (Ideas) – June 20

June 20, 2021 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – A very Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there.

This column – when featured on Digital Sports Desk – has written about Father’s Day before. Memories of Father’s Days past, from the viewpoint of a son and that of a father, too. It was always bittersweet to write of the memories of my Dad, may he Rest in Peace.

Today, this column resurrects a memory, only two years back. It’s a memory of a simple day, of going out to CitiField and enjoying a Mets game with a buddy on a hot summer afternoon, soon to return to my family – including my two daughters – and a lovely Father’s Day dinner. It was just a wonderful, normal day.

Last year, while we all enjoyed Father’s Day together, it all seemed surreal, as we were still on the front end of the global pandemic, getting mixed messages from our government and no clear sign of relief and an end to the situation. There were clouds hanging over all aspects of normal life, but the sight of two daughters was comforting and was a sign of the future and hope. You could see it. The future would be bright because their future was bright. It was just a matter of time.

Being a “Girl Dad” has been the highlight of my life. Blessed are we who have not just one but two brilliant daughters who strive for high goals, who’ve excelled in their education, jobs and daily living. It’s so much fun to watch them grow and to experience just a few of the experiences they encounter throughout the years. I’m proud to be a “Girl Dad,” and look forward to so many great days ahead.

This column, however, is going to highlight another Dad, a friend of the NBA, Peter Fink. Peter is a “Swim Dad,” who watched his son, Nic, grow up to become a world class swimmer. Peter was always quiet and humble but when asked about Nic and his pursuit of a place on the United States Olympic Swim team, Peter would light up and tell us of the many meets and trials. Having attended four Summer Olympics myself, I knew of the grueling test of the swimmers and divers.

Nic earned a swimming scholarship to Georgia and – over the many years, so many meets, practices, disappointments measured at one-tenth of a second – this week, Nic qualified for the United States Olympic Swim team and he’ll be heading to Tokyo to compete as he earned his place in the 200m breaststroke.

Nic’s Dad is a superstar, too. We met when he was a dedicated worker in the NBA Special Events department. Talk about Tokyo? Nic’s Dad staged dozens of NBA Japan Games, USA Basketball friendlies, USA Basketball World Championships and hundreds of other events – and that’s just in Japan. He did the same in China, Australia, Europe, South America and hundreds of events in the United States and Canada. While Peter Fink was organizing events, Nic Fink was doing laps in the pool.

This week, it all came together, and this is a salute to a great Dad who witnessed his son grow to be a man while constantly chasing a dream of being and United States Olympian. Practice, perseverance, and all out dedication to the sport. No one can ever take the glorious title of Olympian away – ever.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While We’re Young (Ideas) has noted a considerable number of lists and “mosts” created by our friends at Sportico. This week, with the U.S. Open taking center-stage at Torrey Pines, Sportico released a list of the highest paid golfers of 2021. There was no surprise who was on top! Here’s the listing:

Highest Paid Golfers of 2021:

Tiger Woods – $62.2m ($191,000 on course, $62m off course)
Phil Mickelson $46.1m ($4.1m/$42m)
Dustin Johnson $40.8m ($24.8/$16m)
Rory McIlroy $32.8m ($4.8m/$28m)
Jordan Spieth $29.6m ($4.6m/$25m)
Justin Thomas $20.3m ($13.3/$7m)
Bryson DeChambeau $17.9m ($8.9m/$9m)
Xander Shauffele $17.3m ($10.3m/$7m)
Jon Rahm $16.9m ($10.9m/$6m)
Hideki Matsuyama $15.4m ($5.4m/$10m)

TRAVEL ON: While the U.S. Open gathers all the eye-balls this week, New England’s only PGA Tour event will be held this week in the ‘burbs of Hartford. The Travelers Championship announced its full player field for the 2021 tournament, which will feature five of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, 25 of the top 50 and 10 previous winners of the event. The tournament will be held June 24–27 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Psst, don’t tell anyone: Past champion Bubba Watson looked good at the U.S. Open and LOVES the TPC River Highlands course.

HOOP, HOOP – HOO-RAY: The USA Basketball Men’s Olympic basketball team is beginning to take shape as a handful of NBA stars took it upon themselves to announce they were committing to play in Tokyo this summer. Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was the most recent to stake his claim to a place on the roster. Previously, Boston’s Jayson Tatum said he was planning to participate, along with Portland’s Damien Lillard, Washington’s Bradley Beal and Golden State’s Draymond Green. … On the nay side, LA Lakers star LeBron James and Miami’s Jimmy Butler both indicated they would pass on the opportunity this summer. Both have served USA Basketball in the past. James is a three-time Olympian and two-time gold medalist (Beijing and London) and also played with the 2006 USA world Championship team in Japan. … The five player commitments leave seven roster spots for the Tokyo Olympic team to play under the guidance of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich. … Obviously, Team USA will need a few commitments from “bigs” who can grind and rebound against the large and physical international frontlines. The current USA roster lists the likes of Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen, DeAndre Jordan, Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin, Brook Lopez, Kevin Love, Javale McGee, Mason Plumlee, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Myles Turner, Christian Wood and the injured Anthony Davis and LeMarcus Aldridge as viable big men for consideration. USA will also need a pair (or three) true – pass first – point guards.