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Terry Lyons

While We’re Young (Ideas) – October 10

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TL Sunday Sports Notes – NBA @ 75

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Last weekend, I teased my personal NBA @ 75 list of the Greatest Players in NBA history. If you need a refresher, click HERE. In that column, I promised to reveal my Top 10 players and the Final 15 to go with the 60 players named in groups of 10 last weekend.

Here are my Top 10 (listed in ALPHABETICAL ORDER):

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Elgin Baylor

Larry Bird

Kobe Bryant

Wilt Chamberlain

LeBron James

Earvin “Magic” Johnson

Michael Jordan

Oscar Robertson

Bill Russell

For my NBA @ 75, I don’t feel compelled to list the group in order (1-75). To make the NBA @ 75 is an honor in itself and it shouldn’t be tainted by being No. 74 or 75. In fact, in this column, I plan to list a bunch of players I considered for the final five spots. Please note this columnist is NOT on the NBA’s voting committee for the honors.

For continuity sake, I’ll now pick-up with the 60 players listed in groups of 10 last week:

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

Next Ten: (21-30)

Charles Barkley

Steph Curry

Kevin Durant

John Havlicek

Allen Iverson

George Mikan

Scottie Pippen

David Robinson

John Stockton

Isiah Thomas

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 (aka No. 41-50):

Ray Allen

Nate Archibald

Dave Bing

Dave Cowens

Artis Gilmore

Hal Greer

Elvin Hayes

Earl Monroe

Lenny Wilkens

James Worthy

Next Ten: (51-60)

Paul Arizon

Billy Cunningham

Clyde Drexler

Alex English

Patrick Ewing

Reggie Miller

Jason Kidd

Wes Unseld

Russell Westbrook

Dominique Wilkins

Now, the most difficult part! Here are my Final 15:

Vince Carter

Kevin Garnett

Connie Hawkins

Tommy Heinsohn

Bernard King

Pete Maravich

Steve Nash

Robert Parish

Nate Thurmond

Jamaal Wilkes

The Final 5:

Giannis Antetokounmpo

James Harden

Kawhi Leonard

Paul Pierce

David Thompson

Those highly considered but fell short on my list:

Carmelo Anthony

Zelmo Beaty

Walt Bellamy

Adrian Dantley

Dave DeBusschere

Luka Doncic

Joe Dumars

Joe Fulks

Pau Gasol

Tom Gola

Gail Goodrich

Spencer Haywood

Grant Hill

Dennis Johnson

Gus Johnson

Bobby Jones

Nikola Jokic

Damien Lillard

Bob Lanier

Jerry Lucas

George McGinnis

Tracy McGrady

Chris Mullin

Calvin Murphy

Tony Parker

Chris Paul

Gary Payton

Dennis Rodman

Arvydas Sabonis

Dolph Schayes

Bill Sharman

Klay Thompson

Andrew Toney

Yao Ming

CONSIDER: Many voters contemplated their votes with both the NBA at 50 and the league’s 25th Anniversary team in mind. Can you drop members voted for the NBA at 50 team? For the 25th Anniversary team, a panel framed nominees, and then a team (by position) was selected.

Here was the 25th Anniversary Team: (December 1971)

Name, Career Years

Forwards

Paul Arizin*, 1950-1962

Joe Fulks*, 1946-1954

Harry Gallatin*, 1948-1958

Tom Gola*, 1955-1966

Vern Mikkelsen*, 1949-1959

Bob Pettit*, 1954-1965

Jim Pollard*, 1947-1955

Tom Heinsohn*, 1956-1965

Dolph Schayes*, 1948-1964

George Yardley*, 1953-1960

Centers

Neil Johnston*, 1951-1959

Ed Macauley*, 1949-1959

George Mikan*, 1946-1954, 1955-1956

Bill Russell*, 1956-1969

Maurice Stokes*, 1955-1958

Guards

Richie Guerin*, 1956-1970

Bob Cousy*, 1950-1963, 1969-1970

Bob Davies*, 1946-1955

Bob Feerick, 1945-1950

Sam Jones*, 1957-1969

Slater Martin*, 1949-1960

Dick McGuire*, 1949-1960

Bill Sharman*, 1950-1961

Bobby Wanzer*, 1947-1957

Max Zaslofsky, 1946-1956

NBA 25th Anniversary Team

List of honored players, sorted by position

F Bob Pettit

F Dolph Schayes

F Paul Arizin

F Joe Fulks

C Bill Russell

C George Mikan

G Bob Cousy

G Bill Sharman

G Bob Davies

G Sam Jones

Coach: Red Auerbach

Bill Russell was the only unanimous selection to the team. Furthermore, all nominees of the 25th Anniversary Team besides Feerick and Zaslofky were inducted into Naismith Basketball Hall Of Fame. You might note, Wilt Chamberlain was left off the 25th Anniversary all-time team as only two centers (Russell and Mikan) were selected.

To further complicate the process, the NBA celebrated and selected a 35th Anniversary team in 1980-81 and only four players from the 25th Anniversary Team were selected into NBA 35th Anniversary Team (Pettit, Cousy, Russell, and Mikan). However, along with them, four other players of this team (Arizin, Jones, Schayes, Sharman) were selected into NBA 50 Greatest Players of All-Time in 1996. Here is the NBA @ 50 list.

FEEL FREE TO COMPLAIN, ARGUE … BUT: If you are going to complain about any player left off the list, you are required to name the player or players that must be removed.

There’s a slight chance I missed a player and will be mortified if it’s a player we all know merits Top 75 selection. If so, I apologize in advance and will own up to the mistake. I just ask, please also indicate the player to be removed.

LAST BIT: Last week, I noted that my beloved NBA seems to have a knack for ruining a great story in the making by having a terrible, and usually off-court issue, make headlines. The NBA players who are choosing to forego anti-COVID-19 vaccination(s) dominated the news just as training camp began. Instead of stories about the players, the contending teams and exciting changes, a story about COVID stole every headline. Since then, Andrew Wiggins of Golden State decided to get the vax. Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets did not and he plans to miss all the Nets home games and many others played in municipalities which require proof of vaccination for entry. Somehow, the Nets were able to clear Irving for practices in their state-of-the-art Brooklyn practice facility, as it is a private building. His decision remained the dominant story in the NBA preseason season of 2021 until this week when we learned of 18 former NBA players being indicted for an illegal health care scheme. The players were allegedly filing fraudulent health and dental claims to their retirement benefit plan to the tune of $3.9 million in false claims.

The saddest part of this indictment is the fact the players are allegedly stealing from their own – the NBA – and it truly upsets the very essence of what the NBA and its players try to instill in its member players.

The Highs and Lows of MLB Postseason

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Red Sox to Face Tough Tampa Bay Rays in ALDS

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – When it comes to postseason baseball, when they go low – WE GO HIGH!

Before the Boston Red Sox eliminated the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card game, you might’ve heard about the New York Post rattling their once mighty sabres to taunt all things Boston with a column listing dozens of suggestions why “Boston Sucks.”

The reasons included gems like:

  • Incapable of making a good pizza.
  • Use the word “wicked” to describe everything other than witches.
  • The accent.
  • The people with the accent.
  • Bill de Blasio roots for you.

Besides the fact we’ll put the North End’s Regina Pizzeria up against Patsy’s any day of the week, the focus today is more a call-out of the ill-fated column’s sophomoric content and the old-as-time, typical New York trash-talking before any major league playoff series. One might harken back to 1994 when the Houston Rockets met the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals and the New York Post and the Houston Chronicle got into a trash-talking match which was led by then-NYP columnist Wallace Matthews going so far as to describe America’s fourth most populous city as “a steamy, bug-infested nondescript prairie town.” Matthews’ editors and headline writers took it from there with the memorable “This place is a hellhole” banner.

When the Houston Rockets took Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Chronicle shot back with: HELLHOLE 1, N.Y. 0.

That brief history lesson brings us to the present day and the upcoming ALDS series pitting the Boston Red Sox against the Tampa Bay Rays which starts tonight in Florida.

The so-called New England elite might begin to compare the two cities by citing the differences between Harvard, MIT, Tufts and Boston College against Tampa’s University of South Florida (which is not even in South Florida), but let’s not go there. As it says, New York went low, so we’ll go HIGH.

How can you rip Tampa in 2021 when the Tampa Bay Bucs are the reigning NFL Super Bowl champions? The Buccaneers maneuvered their way to acquire New England treasure and greatest NFL quarterback of all-time Tom Brady, along with our favorite knucklehead tight end Rob Gronkowski to build a football team than might even repeat as NFL champions.

On the skating rink, you’d think the Northerners would have the advantage, but … No … the Tampa Bay Lightning are the class of the National Hockey League and have three Stanley Cup titles to prove it. Since 2003, they’ve made more trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs than Patriots’ team owner Robert Kraft has made to the Orchids of Asia spa. The Lightning are the defending Cup champions as the new NHL season begins and there’s nothing on paper to think they won’t be standing in front of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman for another presentation in 2022.

Thank goodness, Tampa-St. Pete doesn’t field a franchise in the NBA or the vaunted Boston Celtics might be in big trouble.

The subject of SPORTS is not the only distinguished merits of the City of Tampa, although you might note Mets fireballer Doc Gooden and LA Dodgers great Steve Garvey are both from Tampa, along with scores of major leaguers and even a few pro wrestling greats (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, to name two).

Let’s discuss music, starting with the fact both the great Ray Charles and sax-man extraordinaire Cannonball Adderley hail from Tampa.

If you want to get real serious, the charming and amazing actress and model Lauren Hutton spent her formative years in Tampa and graduated from Chamberlain High School before attending UCF and later Tulane University.

Back on the music scene, you can’t overlook that alto saxophone superstar David Sanborn was born in Tampa and Ray Charles’ band played a huge influence on his life as one of the purest sax players in history. Do you like Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young? If you want to *teach your children well, Stephen Stills – the genius songwriter, musician and voice of the ’60s – grew up in Tampa and Gainesville, Florida.

Tampa has enough history and success stories to continue, but we’ll conclude with the fact that the orchestrator of the “Evil Empire,” the late New York Yankees team owner George Steinbrenner was born in Ohio and bounced around until settling down in Tampa in 2006 until his death there at age 80 (2010). ‘Nuff said about that, right?

Remember, we’re going HIGH except for one last “Big Dig.” New York, you can have Bill de Blasio.

The prediction: Sadly, Tampa in four games.

Note: *Teach Your Children was written by Stills’ CSN sidekick Graham Nash.

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.”

TO GET YOUR OWN FULL DOSE OF WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (Ideas): Click HERE.

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.

Embed from Getty Images

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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