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While We’re Young (Ideas) with Sunday Notes on Fragile Sports World

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – We’re often reminded just how fragile the world of sports can be, whether it be via a career-ending injury to a player, a scandal to ruin a player, a franchise or an entire sport or this terrible, horrible global pandemic which took down the entire sports industry. Of course that included the 2020 Summer Olympic Games and still threatens the scope and integrity of the Tokyo Games, still scheduled for July 23-August 8 this summer.

To say the industry is skeptical about these upcoming Olympic Games is to say Michael Phelps can swim a little bit, as in very obvious. Some athletes (and teams) are beginning to arrive in Japan and utilize the Olympic Village while adjusting to the time zone change(s). You must wonder, though, with COVID-19 vaccinations relatedly low in many – make it most – countries around the world and outbreaks of severe COVID-19 variations requiring lockdowns in the likes of India, large portions of Latin America, Argentina and Malaysia, what will the melting pot that is the Olympic Games bring to Tokyo? And, what will the athletes bring back to their native countries?

Even the biggest fans of the Olympic Games must wonder if the top athletes might opt-out when the time comes to travel to Japan. That quandary is amplified by the most recent update from the Tokyo Games organizers with some 10,000 of an estimated 80,000 workers and volunteers called it quits just as the games are beginning from a logistical and “behind the scenes” sense.

Organizers claim that they expect 80% of the athletes to be fully vaccinated for the games but that is quite opposite of the estimated 2-to-3% of the Japanese public currently vaccinated. The fragile nature of the Games and the Coronavirus will be under the microscope every day of the Olympics, at every venue, airport, bus terminal and the Olympic Village itself.

To that end, one might wonder just who will take the Saitama Super Arena court when – on July 26th – Argentina plays the winner of the upcoming Olympic Qualifying Tournament to be held June 29-July 4 in the hometown of the great Arvydas Sabonis, Kaunas (Lithuania).

TALK ABOUT the FRAGILE NATURE of SPORTS: Thoroughbred Horse Racing, Boxing and Track and Field once ruled the roost of the sports world, back in the days of Man o’War (1917), Joe Louis and the Millrose Games. In fact, a fight between Louis and Germany’s Max Schmeling had the largest audience of any radio broadcast in history.

Fast-forward … and I mean … really fast! In 1973, the great Secretariatcaptured the imaginations of sports fans and horse racing fans alike with a Triple Crown win capped-off by the most amazing run in the history of New York’s Belmont Park.

Throughout the years, work stoppages, drug scandals, steroid usage, and doping accusations – usually proven out by positive drug tests – have resulted in damage to the credibility of various sports, notably to bicycling (Lance Armstrong and others), baseball, weight-lifting and other Olympic sports.

Gambling scandals and match-fixing have plagued many of the sports, including baseball (Black Sox/Pete Rose), pro tennis (as recently as this past week when the 765th-ranked Yana Sizikova of Russia and the WTA, was arrested in Paris for alleged match-fixing in September of 2020) and basketball – both college (multiple occasions) and pro (most recently with the conviction of disgraced referee Tim Donaghy in 2007).

Lately, there’s been so many cheating scandals in sports that the media have run out of “Gates” to tag them. Spy-gate to Deflate-gate to Orchids of Asia Spa Gate have all captured headlines – and that’s just in New England. Following suit, MLB suspended several members of the Houston Astros and their managerial/coaching staffs for sign-stealing and illegal actions. That included a one-year ban and the firing of Red Sox Manager Alex Cora – who was re-hired by the club when the suspension was served in full.

As the 153rd running of The Belmont took place this weekend, a horse doping scandal – once again – crushed the racing industry. Trainer Bob Baffert was suspended for two years by Churchill Downs as his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was twice-tested positive for betamethasone, a steroid used for therapeutic purposes in horses and often used in Kentucky to reduce swelling in a horse’s joints while treating pain and inflammation. Interest in The Preakness and Belmont dropped considerably because of the doping issue. Sadly, Baffert has had five horses test for illegal drugs this year.

Back to human conduct, as opposed to equine, the subject of player conduct – on and off the field of play – has caused major setbacks for sports leagues over the years, most notably the NFL with several murder and domestic violence cases (Rae Carruth, Aaron Hernandez, Ray Rice, and the case/trial of the century with O.J. Simpson).

In each instance, the governing bodies, leagues, players associations and sponsors quickly sort out the mess, many times with the sponsors cancelling multi-million dollar endorsement deals for the player(s) involved. From time-to-time, the sport takes a negative hit in television ratings and/or fan attendance but they’re usually forgotten in time by a very forgiving fan base – especially after work stoppages.

The North American sports leagues do their best to create solid, long-term and meaningful community relations programs to address many of the transgressions of their players or, maybe even, team owners.

Although the popularity of boxing, track and field and horse racing have waned, somehow the four major sports endure their many self-inflicted setbacks, all the while raising ticket prices, streaming/pay-per-view subscriptions and passing along the trickle-down effect of ever-rising digital television packages.

What’s a sports fan to do?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Just who is this “Perfection Line” you speak of with the Boston Bruins top offensive unit of center Patrice Bergeron between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak? Certainly to be admired by all hockey fans, friends and foe of the Bruins, the only possible “Perfection Line” in NHL history would need to have the names of Wayne Gretzky at center, Bobby Orr (converted from defenseman to left winger), and Gordie Howe on the right wing.

SPORTS PERFECTION: Aside from countless bowlers – pro and amateur – tossing games of 300, the only two instances of perfection in sporting – IMO – are the previously mentioned run 48 years ago by Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont and the perfect game thrown 65 years ago this Fall by New York Yankees pitcher Don Larson in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Larsen’s accomplishment came at his home field of Yankee Stadium, against the crosstown rival Brooklyn Dodgers.

DIAMOND DUST-UPs: Are mostly tributes in waiting.

PEDROIA SALUTE: The Boston Red Sox announced plans to honor recently retired second baseman Dustin Pedroia during pregame ceremonies at Fenway Park on Friday, June 25, before the 7:10 p.m. Sox-Yankees game. Pedroia, who played in 1,512 games with the club from 2006-19, announced his retirement from the Red Sox and the game of baseball on February 1, 2021.

KOOS: An announcement dear to the heart of While We’re Young (Ideas), the New York Mets announced this past Thursday that pitcher Jerry Koosman‘s No. 36 will be officially retired on August 28. The team had planned to have his number retired during the 2020 season, but due to COVID-19 they postponed the event. … Koosman will join Tom Seaver (No. 41) and Mike Piazza (No. 31) as the only Mets players to have their number retired. The Mets have also retired manager Casey Stengel‘s No.37, manager Gil Hodges‘ No. 14, and Jackie Robinson‘s No. 42 — as MLB did in unison in 1997. … Dating back to the Summer of 2019, WWYI called for the retirement of Koosman’s number by the Mets.

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While We’re Young (Ideas) – As Boomers, We’re All Going Backwards

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief

BOSTON – The Greatest Generation passed a baton to the post World War II baby-boomer generation, largely defined as “boomers” born from 1946-through-1964. Oh what a mess we’ve made.

Aside from the fact a certain past President of the United States of America was born on June 14, 1946, judgement on the overall state of the generation paved in mud by the front end of the “boomers” will be reserved for another time this Memorial Day weekend. Instead, the focus of today’s notes will be on the transgressions in sports we’ve witnessed just this past week and how it reflects so negatively on the low bar we’ve all allowed ourselves to live by.

ICYMI: Five spectators were given lifetime bans from NBA arenas for their behavior at NBA Playoff games on Wednesday, May 26. The incidents:

  1. After twisting his ankle and being helped to the locker room in the third quarter of the Washington Wizards’ 120-95 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Philly’s Wells Fargo Center, Wizards guard Russell Westbrook was pelted with popcorn as he exited the court. Westbrook had to be restrained by team and security personnel and the fan was ejected from the game and given an indefinite ban from attending future games.
  2. The Utah Jazz banned three fans on Thursday and team owner Ryan Smith issued an apology on Twitter to the Memphis Grizzlies and to Grizzlies’ All-Star guard Ja Morant and his family after racist and sexist comments resulted in an altercation. Morant spotted the incident from the court and asked Memphis team security to check on his family and friends in the stands at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
  3. While Atlanta guard Trae Young was inbounding the ball in the fourth quarter of New York’s 101-92 win in Game 2 of their first round playoff game at Madison Square Garden, a Knicks fan spat at Young from his second row seat. MSG security investigated the incident and issued a statement noting the fan was identified, was not a season-ticket holder but was “banned indefinitely” from attending events at The Garden.
  4. Here, in Boston, players – namely Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets – brought forth Boston’s history of racial injustices.

The aftermath came complete with the players rightfully stating fan behavior is out of control.

The NBA Players Association issued a statement that read: “True fans of this game honor and respect the dignity of our players,” the players’ union said. “No true fan would seek to harm them or violate their personal space. Those who do have no place in our arenas. And their conduct is appropriately evaluated by law enforcement just as if it occurred on a public street.”

After the Wizards vs Sixers game, Westbrook stated much the same.

“To be completely honest man, this (expletive) is getting out of hand, especially for me,” said Westbrook after the loss. “The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the (expletive) they want to do, it’s just out of pocket.

“I’m all for the fans enjoying the game and having fun. It’s part of sports, I get it, but there are certain things that cross the line and in any other setting, I know for a fact that a guy wouldn’t come up to me on the street and pour popcorn on my head, because you know what would happen. … In these arenas, you gotta start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does.”

In all three incidents, the venues took action after reviewing video and digital surveillance recordings.

Valerie Camillo, the head of business operations for the Wells Fargo Center, issued a statement Wednesday night and said the incident “has no place in our arena. This was classless, unacceptable behavior, and we’re not going to tolerate it at Wells Fargo Center,” she stated. “We’re proud to have the most passionate fans in the country and the best home-court and home-ice advantage around, but this type of behavior has no place in our arena.”

The NBA league office, via the Commissioner, issued a zero-tolerance statement of NBA policies and team and league personnel all made reference to the NBA’s “Fan Code of Conduct” rules put in place after an ugly incident at The Palace of Auburn Hills between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons in 2004.

“No one is going to get away with an act like that,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to NBC Sports Washington (DC). “You’re going to be caught. You’re going to be banned from an arena. In some cases there may be criminal prosecution depending if the conduct rises to that level of an assault or something that the police are going to take note of.”

The three separate examples of abhorrent spectator conduct all came at a time the country is reeling from an on-going global pandemic, piecing the economy and infrastructure back together after four years (2017-2021) of mass turmoil in the executive branch and in Congress, racial injustice and the need for much better police and immigration reform, all coming while the USA witnessed an all-out insurrection at the United States Capitol Building this past January 6. And, that’s the short list.

With those troubles in mind, don’t we all look to sports and sportsmanship in our games to be the light, the inspiration and the one place to cheer-on victory and move-on from defeat? A daily schedule of playoff games in ice hockey or pro basketball is combined with the relaxing, leisurely pace of Major League Baseball to create some peace of mind for sports fans around the world.

Leading into this Memorial Day, the HBO series “Band of Brothers” was on the menu of offerings to watch, as rainy day forecasts ran up and down the East Coast. The reminder of D-Day in Normandy, must be underlined by comments from Veterans of the Korean War, Viet Nam conflict, the Gulf Wars and all the troops (USA and Allies) still posted in the Middle East and Afghanistan – never mind those on watch on the North Korean border or at dangerous State Department or military posts the world around. They were the greatest, and we seem to be striving for the worst.

We wave flags and listen quietly as the National Anthem is played at arenas and stadiums. We respectfully remember our fallen soldiers and the true meaning of Memorial Day, while the grills is fired up along with it revelers filling their gut with Buds and Bud Lights at a backyard BBQs held this year, an event previously taken for granted until the pandemic shutdown everything a year ago.

But, as the light at the end of the tunnel of the pandemic glimmers with hope, we STILL don’t show respect to our fellow Americans.

As we celebrate and memorialize our fallen troops, we cannot ignore the fact that terrible fan behavior at our arenas of sport has hit unacceptable lows. Meanwhile, the behavior of our elected officials creating laws to suppress voting is even worse. The troops have fought to allow Americans to enjoy freedom and to reserve our abilities to vote without any unfair interference, assuring every citizen the rights Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776. He wrote, of course, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We’re going backwards.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While the main focus this week in the NBA was on fan behavior, and not basketball, Boston’s (injured and out-for-the-playoffs) Jalen Brown declared he had a “perspective to share.”

“I saw things floating around with Boston and the topic of racism,” he said this week, choosing to address off-court rather than on-court issues. “People around me urged that I should share my perspective. I have not talked to anyone — Kyrie, Marcus [Smart] or [Celtics GM] Danny Ainge — about my thoughts or my perspective, but I do think it’s a good conversation. I think that racism should be addressed, and systemic racism should be addressed in the city of Boston, and also the United States.

“However, I do not like the manner it was brought up, centering around a playoff game. The construct of racism, right? It’s used as a crutch, or an opportunity to execute a personal gain. I’m not saying that’s the case. But I do think racism is bigger than basketball, and I do think racism is bigger than Game 3 of the playoffs. I want to urge the media to paint that narrative as well. Because when it’s painted in that manner, it’s insensitive to people who have to deal with it on a daily basis.

“The constructs and constraints of systemic racism in our school system, inequality in education, lack of opportunity, lack of housing, lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable health care, tokenism, the list goes on. So I recognize and acknowledge my privilege as an athlete. Once you get to the point where that financial experience overtakes the experiences people deal with on a daily basis, I want to emphasize that as well.”

NAOMI OSAKA: Tennis star Naomi Osaka earned a cool $55 million this year, with approximately $5 million coming from on-court prize money and the rest from endorsements, ranging from Nike, to Beats, to Louis Vuitton to Levi’s to Tag Heuer (wrist watches) to salad/food retailer Sweetgreen among the two dozen brands she’s partnered with for marketing endorsements. … The Tokyo Olympics offered her additional marketing opportunities with Sportico reporting her newfound deals with ANA (Airline), Nissin and Google, all official Olympic sponsors/partners. … Yet, with tennis, PR and marketing all on the line, Osaka this week announced via a social media post that she would be skipping media sessions at the French Open (Roland Garros). … “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,” she wrote on Instagram. “We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.” … At major tennis competitions, fines can range up to $20,000 for missing media obligations. … While players’ mental health is of utmost importance of course, sometimes the players might look at the other side of the coin and accept the fact that the reporters who cover tennis might have assignments that involve interviewing the players, and the pressure and mental health of a reporter is equally important. … Access and a healthy give-and-take, review-and-preview, praise-and-critique is among the most important aspects of the tennis tour. … Unlike team sports, tennis and golf put the media focus on one single athletes, and the pressure to endure that spotlight is intense. That said, the players surely know what they are signing-up for the tennis tour and when cashing first place prize money cheques of $1,694,710 planned for the men’s and women’s champions at Roland Garros 2021. … That first place prize pool, by the way, is down 12.5% from 2020. … The French Open first place prize in 2019 was $2,710,315.

If you want to read more, check out While We’re Young (Ideas) by Terry Lyons on Substack.

Finalists for 2020-21 NBA Awards

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NEW YORK – The NBA announced the finalists for six awards that honor top performers for the 2020-21 regular season: NBA Coach of the Year, Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Kia NBA Most Improved Player, Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, Kia NBA Rookie of the Year and Kia NBA Sixth Man.


The three finalists for each annual award, based on voting results from a global panel of sports media and sports/game broadcasters, are listed in alphabetical order below:

NBA Coach of the Year

Quin Snyder, Utah Jazz
Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks
Monty Williams, Phoenix Suns

Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers

Kia NBA Most Improved Player

Jerami Grant, Detroit Pistons
Michael Porter Jr., Denver Nuggets
Julius Randle, New York Knicks

Kia NBA Most Valuable Player

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets

Kia NBA Rookie of the Year

LaMelo Ball, Charlotte Hornets
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings

Kia NBA Sixth Man

Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz
Derrick Rose, New York Knicks

The NBA on TNT studio and game crew will announce the winner of each award during coverage of the 2021 NBA Playoffs.

Shockwaves From Failed Super League

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By CHRISTOPHER GUMINA, Column Contributor

Just as fast as it arrived, the Super League disappeared. All six of the English clubs (Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool) pulled out just days after the announcement, and most of the other teams followed. Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid are the only clubs remaining, and given the current situation it seems impossible that they will be able to maintain their membership much longer.

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On April 21st, after most of the teams had already withdrawn, the Super League released a statement reading: “Given the current circumstances, we shall reconsider the most appropriate steps to reshape the project, always having in mind our goals of offering fans the best experience possible while enhancing solidarity payments for the entire football community.”
Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez, who was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the league and would have served as its chairman, claimed that the league was merely on “standby,” as all the clubs had signed binding contracts and couldn’t leave so easily. It appears at the moment as if the clubs that did leave are willing to risk potential legal action in order to avoid further infuriating their fanbase.

Each of the six English clubs apologized in one manner or another – Arsenal and Chelsea released open letters, while Liverpool team owner John Henry – also co-owner of the Boston Red Sox of MLB fame – recorded a short video – both to their fans and to the other 14 Premier League clubs that had not been included in the plan. Man United executive Ed Woodward, who had been at the club since its takeover by the Glazer family in 2005, resigned almost immediately. It was reported that this was due to differences with the ownership group over the ESL, but has been more broadly intimated that Woodward was a supporter of the league from the start and was simply attempting to save face.

Either way, each of these clubs has suffered immensely in the wake of the ESL’s collapse. Monetarily, this came in the form of a 15 million Euro “donation,” with the money going to support grassroots soccer, and a “Club Commitment Declaration,” supported by UEFA. This declaration included the aforementioned “donation,” as well as an agreement to forgo 5% of the revenue the teams would have received from European competition in the 2021-22 season and to a 100 million Euro fine if they ever attempted to play in an “unauthorized competition” ever again.

However, where these teams truly suffered was with their fans. The amount of vitriol directed at these clubs, by their own supporters and supporters of other teams, in the wake of the ESL was truly shocking. Rarely does the Twitterverse entirely agree on one topic, but there was almost universal condemnation of the Super League. For the teams left out of the competition this opposition was obvious: those included would become richer at the expense of those excluded. Smaller clubs already reeling from the pandemic would falter and fail.

However, at first glance the opposition from supporters of clubs involved in the competition makes less sense. Each team would benefit financially, allowing them to sign the best players and improve the overall quality of the soccer on display. For these fans, the money did not matter. Instead it was about the history, the “cold, rainy nights in Stoke” as some fans like to say.
These fans don’t want to watch Arsenal vs. Barcelona or AC Milan vs. Real Madrid on a weekly basis, with a playoff structure similar to that of American sports. They want to watch the old rivalries and compete for the old trophies. To these fans the spirit and authenticity of their clubs matters far more than winning a meaningless competition. Because to them, that’s really what the Super League is. There are no stakes, no threat of relegation. A Super League team could lose every game of the pitch and suffer no consequences, while raking in millions off it. This is antithetical to everything soccer has stood for over the centuries it’s been played.

It now seems as though teams are finally recognizing the error of their ways, although it could just as easily be a PR campaign to make sure fans still buy jerseys and tickets next season. Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham are currently in talks over a pre-season Charity Cup instead of the typical pre-season tours which take teams all over the world to play exhibition matches against different teams. All the money would be donated directly to charity, in the hopes of winning back fan support.

Only time will tell if this gesture proves effective. At the moment, each of these teams still has serious ground to cover before they achieve the level of fan support they had before this debacle. Even if/when things get fully back to normal, soccer fans won’t forget that these 12 clubs put money over their fanbases, something that will leave scars for years to come.

Kentucky Derby: Essential Quality?

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LOUISVILLE – After the draw for starting positions for this Saturday’s horse race, three-year old fave Essential Quality was placed as the 2-1 favorite to win the 147th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

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Essential Quality will run out of the No. 14 post “on the first Saturday of May” in a 20-horse stampede at the traditional timing for the first race of North America’s Triple-Crown. A No. 14 start hasn’t been a successful starting point in the Kentucky Derby. Middle Ground (1950) and Carry Back (1961) are the lone two horses to emerge victorious from that position at famed Churchill Downs.

Essential Quality won the recent 2021 Southwest Stakes and claimed the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2020. The colt is trained by Brad Cox, who aims to become the first Louisville native to win the Derby.

Rock Your World, who won the Santa Anita Derby earlier this month, is listed at 5-1 odds and will start from the No. 15 post, the starting gate that served for Authentic, who won the 2020 Kentucky Derby last November when the race was postponed from May to the Fall because of the global pandemic.

 

While We’re Young (Ideas) April 25th

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – One of the most amazing “fails” in the history of sports took place over the past few weeks and it will go down in the sports history books as something even worse than the XFLs (2001 & 2020) or the USFL.

The proposed European “Super League” of Futbol (Soccer for the Americans in the crowd) began and ended within a few days. The timeline was short and surreal:

  • Sunday, April 18th – Super League announcement doled out.
  • Monday, April 19th – The pushback from European fans became intense.
  • Tuesday, April 20th – The Super League began to fall apart
  • Wednesday, April 21st – The Super League was vanished, banished and apologies were issued to fans by team ownership and team presidents of the rogue Futbol clubs.
  • In the time it takes to clear waivers, the Super League and zillions of dollars of potential revenue for players and teams alike, became the Stupor League – a punchline for sports start-ups forever.
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As we know, or maybe for American fans – pretend to know – there are more leagues, cups and competitions in European Futbol that UFC fights on Pay-Per-View TV. They have Premier Leagues, they have FA Cups, they have Bundisligas, they have Spanish Liga, they have Copa del Reys, they have Italian Serie A and Coppa Italia, they have First Divisions in the Netherlands and Portugal and everywhere else, they have Scottish Premierships and they have UEFA Champions and UEFA Europa League.

There were Cup Winners Cups and even a Cup of Cups. Suffice to say, there are more Cups than in the Montreal Canadiens’ trophy case.

The creation of the European Super League would’ve been like skimming-off the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, KC Chiefs, New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and LA Rams and creating a mini-American Football (not Futbol) League of the perennial champs.

Except for what?

The fans of the Dallas Cowboys live and love their match-ups with the Washington FC and Philly Eagles. The KC Chiefs and their fans loath the Oakland Raiders and await each and every regular season match-up. The Packers live for the Black & Blue Division games between the Pack and Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.

That’s just what happened in Europa, as fans of Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal and Tottenham went ballistic at the idea of siding up with Real Madrid and a few of the others hand-selected.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez told Diario As of Spain the Super League “must have done something wrong” with the announcement of the project – never expecting the fans’ violent/protest reaction and the ultimate pushback from football’s governing bodies, politicians and industry sponsors. The last wiper was Perez claiming the founders will take “some weeks to reflect” on their next steps.

They’ll also need to ponder potential lawsuits and penalties from the various Leagues, UEFA, and FIFA – plus the double-down from UEFA and FIFA to bar rogue players from national competitions in the near future if they so dare to compete for an upstart new league, potentially disrupting the Futbol Gods.

For now, the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan – and the “as nyet” withdrawn Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan – all have retreated to their corners, slouched corrected by a strong union of European futbol fans who all despise American club ownership and influences (see Liverpool and John Henry/Fenway Sports and Arsenal’s Stan Kroenke as Exhibits 1-A & B).

Of note in the failed Stupor League was the fact PSG of Paris was not in the mix and the league failed to try for an American franchise to join the club, much to the MLS’ delight, for sure.

One mea culpa came from financier JP Morgan who issued an all-out apology, saying that it “regretted supporting soccer clubs in launching a breakaway European Super League after the plan collapsed earlier this week amid intense criticism from fans and politicians.” A rep for the bank said, “We clearly misjudged how this deal would be viewed by the wider football community and how it might impact them in the future. We will learn from this.”

Yeah, until the next $Billion-Dollar deal comes along.

PGA TOUR BEWARE: The one North American-based sport totally open to the formation of a new “Super League” is the PGA Tour and the method to infiltrate is on display this weekend at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the only match-play “team event” on the PGA schedule. Of course, the PGA has the hammer and could expel players who broke away, so the concept is a dream, but consider the fact a strong group of “Super Players” could break-away and form a Super Match League for pro golf. They would need to carve out five weekends a year (quarterly) and then one for the title (Thanksgiving in USA). Each match play tournament would be run much like the Zurich Classic this week. The four tournaments would create a “Final Four” of Match Play qualifiers (once you win a place for the Final Four, you no longer compete in the next tournament). The Super League/Final Four would be played on Thanksgiving Weekend at Pinehurst.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The NBA and NBA Players Association introduced the cryptocurrency pseudo-owning highlight phenomenon of Top Shot and the rest of the sports world is plotting how to follow along. … While never one to begrudge the new tech, whether it was glossy cards with authentic uniform strips inserted within instead of a strip of sour-tasting bubble gum, or the latest Air Jordans, there is ONE and ONLY ONE sports highlight I would choose to “own” and that would be Secretariat’s run at the 1973 Belmont Stakes. Everything else is playing for second place.

QUARTER CENTURY: It was 25 years ago (April 24, 1996), the NBA Board of Governors voted to create the WNBA. Not long after, Val Ackerman – currently the Commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference – was elected President of the WNBA, reporting to then-Commissioner of the NBA, David Stern. As the USA Basketball women’s senior national team prepared for that summer’s ‘96 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the WNBA signed Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo as its first three players and league ambassadors. … The league tipped-off June 21, 1997.

DIAMOND DUST-UPs: Not-fer-Nuthin’ but the MLB injured list is getting out of control, and its still April. In NO particular order, the following players have been hurt, on the IL and sidelined this season: Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts, Christian Yelich, Eloy Jimenez, George Springer, Luke Voit, Lance Lynn, Ketel Marte, Jose Altuve, Max Kepler, Johnny Cuerto, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Santander, Miguel Cabrera (no surprise), Juan Soto, Starling Marte, Anthony Rendon, Trevor Rosenthal, and Max Fried. That list places the likes of Chris Sale, Noah Syndergaard , and Justin Verlander on another page, as their injuries were documented well before the season or they’re recovering from surgery.

The Houston Astros are the only club to be hit hard by the COVID-19+ tests, and Altuve remains on the IL. Earlier, the Astros placed second baseman Altuve, third baseman Alex Bregman, designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, catcher Martin Maldonado and reserve infielder Robel Garcia on the injured list due to MLB protocol.

HOOP-HOOP, Hoo-RAY: Forward Michael Foster Jr., a five-star prospect, has signed to play with NBA G League Ignite next season, NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim announced today. Foster, ranked by ESPN as the No. 7 prospect in the Class of 2021, is the first player to sign with NBA G League Ignite for its second season. … “I’m super ready to learn the NBA game and train like an NBA player from NBA guys while playing for NBA G League Ignite,” said Foster of his decision to “go pro” rather than take the collegiate route. … A 2021 McDonald’s All-American, Foster spent his last two high school seasons at Hillcrest Prep in Phoenix, where he averaged 32.2 points and 18.4 rebounds as a senior and 26.3 points, 13.4 rebounds and 6.1 blocks as a junior. In his first two high school seasons, Foster led Washington High School of Information Technology in his native Milwaukee to back-to-back Division 2 state runner-up finishes. He earned All-State and All-Area First Team honors as a sophomore.

COMMERCIALS: Here at While We’re Young (Ideas), we’ve had enough of the “I’ve got the brains, you’ve got the looks, let’s make lots of money,” spot. Plus, The Pet Shop Boys called, and they want their tune back. … Secondly, the nice Mom who helps her adopted daughter through her first serious break-up was a nice idea for Adopt US Kids, but if there’s another airing of the “plus, he’s tagged in 400 posts,” we’re apt to toss War & Peace through the TV screen. “Good bye, Dave.”

COMMERCIALS II: In the New England region, local furniture shoppe “Jordan’s Furniture” is again offering free furniture to customers who purchased goods if any pitcher on the Boston Red Sox pitches a “No Hitter,” between August 3rd and October 3rd. If so, everything is free. … The odds are on Sox starters Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez at the moment, but the chances for free stuff would improve significantly if Sox ace Chris Sale were to return in his Cy Young Award form.

A NEW SIGN of the APOCALYPSE: ESPN and Marvel announced a “groundbreaking collaboration” to launch the first-ever Marvel-inspired alternate presentation for the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game on Monday, May 3. The exclusive alternate presentation, NBA Special Edition Presented by State Farm: Marvel’s Arena of Heroes, will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes with the traditional game telecast on ESPN.

The latest development in Marvel and ESPN’s long history of sports content collaboration, the telecast will integrate elements from an original Marvel story and iconic characters including Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Black Widow, and Doctor Strange throughout the live game, including 3D virtual characters, custom graphics and animation packages.

From the press release: “After a narrow victory over an invading alien army, the Avengers receive an ominous threat from the enemy who vows to return in greater numbers and force. The Black Panther and Iron Man quickly realize they will need more help and form a plan to expand their ranks to fight this impending threat. Recognizing the superior physical abilities, agility, and tenacity of Earth’s greatest athletes, the Avengers will hold a series of contests where the winners earn the right to train and fight alongside them as Marvel’s Champions! The Avengers will begin their recruitment with the NBA elite and observe the battle between the Warriors and the Pelicans, focusing on three star players from each team.”

That said, we LONG for the days of the late Rudolph “Spider” Edwards sweeping the Boston Garden parquet in his trademark “fedora’ hat as the lone “entertainment” for a game.

WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY: The 2021 IIHF Championship tournament, scheduled in Nova Scotia with a start date of May 6 has been canceled due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Canada. The IIHF is looking into a new date to play the women’s tourney this summer. … Makes you wonder about the Tokyo Olympic Games?

CFP PREDICTING ALL SYSTEMS GO: “It was quite a year,” said the great Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the CFP. “Given all the challenges presented by the pandemic, teams were fortunate to have played as many games as they did. It’s a real testament to the student-athletes, commissioners and their staffs, athletics directors, coaches, the schools’ staffs, medical personnel, and, frankly, everyone who loves this game. Satisfaction with the CFP remains high, and we can’t wait for what we hope will be a more typical season this fall.” … Hancock said the CFP intends to return to the traditional pageantry of college football for the CFP games this year. “We are planning to have marching bands, cheerleaders, mascots and the rest of the wonderful traditions at the CFP games. We are optimistic, but, of course, everything will depend on the circumstances this fall.”

HUDDLE-UP: According to newsletter, Huddle Up, sports media company Overtime almost broke the internet when they announced the launch of Overtime Elite (OTE), a professional basketball league that will pay high school-aged players $100,000 or more. That is along the lines of what the NBA and its G-League are doing with their Ignite franchise. … The key issue for Overtime was the cash needed to jump-start a pro-type league amidst the pandemic. According to the report, Overtime Elite raised an $80 million Series C round that values the business at more than $250 million.

The round included investors:

  • Jeff Bezos
  • Drake (musician/rap; ambassador to Toronto Raptors)
  • Alexis Ohanian
  • Devin Booker
  • Pau Gasol

Furthermore, Sapphire Sport and Black Capital led the Series C round, with more than 25 current and former NBA players participating.

EXIT NIKE: Both gymnast Simone Biles and the estate representatives for Kobe Bryant (headed by his widow Vanessa) exited the Nike family this week. Biles signed-up for a new apparel partnership with Athleta that she says more closely “reflects her values.” Biles told the WSJ: “I felt like it wasn’t just about my achievements, it’s what I stood for and how they were going to help me use my voice and also be a voice for females and kids,” she said. “I feel like they also support me, not just as an athlete, but just as an individual outside of the gym and the change that I want to create, which is so refreshing.” … Meanwhile, a Nike spokesperson stated: “Simone Biles is an incredible athlete and we wish her the very best,” and that “we will continue to champion, celebrate and evolve to support our female athletes.” … As for Kobe Bryant, ESPN reported that “sources” noted, “Bryant and the estate had grown frustrated with Nike limiting the availability of Kobe products during his retirement and after his January 2020 death in a helicopter crash. There was also frustration with the lack of availability of Kobe footwear in kids’ sizes, according to sources.” … Vanessa Bryant added: “My hope will always be to allow Kobe’s fans to get and wear his products,” Vanessa Bryant said. “I will continue to fight for that. Kobe’s products sell out in seconds. That says everything. … I was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband’s legacy. We will always do everything we can to honor Kobe and Gigi’s legacies. That will never change.”

CONDOLENCES: Condolences are in order for the family of Boston basketball prospect Terrence Clarke, a 19-year old from Roxbury who died in an auto accident in Los Angeles on Thursday night. He was in California for work-outs and auditions to prepare for the NBA Draft. Clarke played ball at Roxbury’s Vine Street Community Center, then for The Rivers School, Brewster Academy and then the University of Kentucky.

Parting Words & Music

Suggested by a column contributor. The Waterboys.

Top European Soccer Teams Announce Creation of New “Super League”

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By CHRISTOPHER GUMINA

NEW YORK – Monday, April 19th, 2021, is a date that will go down in soccer history. This was the day that saw the announcement of a new European Super League, which would be the largest reordering of European soccer since the 1950s. There will be at least two more standard seasons before the inaugural season of this league occurs, and obviously a lot can change in that time. There will be legal challenges to overcome, but even if the league were to fail for some reason the fans would not soon forget that their teams ignored them in favor of a financial windfall.

(Photo by Getty Images)

Twelve clubs – AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Tottenham – were announced as founding members of the new Super League. These 12 teams are expected to be joined by an additional three, bringing the total to 15. According to Fabrizio Romano, the Woj or Adam Schefter equivalent in soccer, the remaining three teams could be Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, and Porto, although nothing is yet decided.

This would leave the league without French representation, calling into question its status as a “European” Super League. Paris Saint-Germain would be the most obvious team to fill this gap. It is somewhat surprising that they were not involved in this project from the beginning, as they have become the most obvious example of new owners taking over a team and spending seemingly limitless money with little regard for the fans themselves. However, their president, Nasser al-Khelaifi, sits on the UEFA board and leads beIN Media Group, which has paid significant sums of money to broadcast Champions League games, and obviously has the incentive to keep the top teams in that competition.

The format of the league would be far more similar to the NFL/NBA/MLB than the current domestic soccer leagues. Each year there would be 20 clubs in the league – the 15 founders along with an additional five teams. The 15 founders cannot be relegated from the league, meaning that only the 5 additional clubs would change year to year. It is unclear at this point how these would be chosen. The Super League website calls them “annual qualifiers” but does not give specifics. Obviously the domestic leagues would not allow any of their teams to join the Super League for a season then come back and reclaim their spot.

The 20 teams would be split into two groups of 10, who would play home and away games throughout the year. At the end of this group stage, the top 8 teams would progress to a knockout tournament, which would eventually yield one winner.
The clubs themselves can (and will) attempt to justify the creation of the league by claiming that it will increase the quality of the product on the field, pitting the best teams against each other on a weekly basis. However, there is one obvious factor guiding this decision: money.

The 15 founding clubs will receive an upfront payment of €3.5 billion ($4.19 billion US) that will be divided equally. The entire venture is to be bankrolled by J.P. Morgan, who will distribute $6 billion in loans to the teams.

The announcement has been met with near universal disgust from the soccer community. It has been panned by casual fans on Twitter (“Disgraceful,” “Money,” “RIP Football,” and “Greedy” were all trending throughout the day) and pundits alike, with former Manchetser United star player Gary Neville saying, “I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted. I’m disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool the most. Liverpool say they’re the people’s club, ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,’ the fans’ club. Manchester United, 100 years, born from workers around here, and they’re breaking into a league without competition. That they can’t be relegated from. It’s a disgrace.”

This announcement seems even more distasteful coming on the heels of a year marked by tragedy and uncertainty, one in which communities pulled even closer together around their soccer clubs. Arsenal stand out, given that they laid off 55 employees in the midst of the pandemic while simultaneously discussing a new Super League with an initial €3.5 billion bonus.

FIFA, UEFA, and the domestic leagues are also universally against the Super League. FIFA had previously stated that any players who play in a breakaway league would be banned from the 2022 World Cup. Given that nearly all of the best players in the world feature for the 12 teams already included (Messi, Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Pogba, Suarez, etc.) this would dramatically reduce the quality of the World Cup. One also cannot help but think about how the players themselves feel about the unknown scenarios which can play out.

For many playing in and winning the World Cup is a dream. Will they be comfortable losing the ability to compete for their country in order to line the pockets of their domestic team’s owners?

FIFA is not the only organization that has the power to bar players and teams, however. UEFA released a statement that read:

“UEFA, the English Football Association and the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have learned that a few English, Spanish and Italian clubs may be planning to announce their creation of a closed, so-called Super League.

“If this were to happen, we wish to reiterate that we – UEFA, the English FA, RFEF, FIGC, the Premier League, LaLiga, Lega Serie A, but also FIFA and all our member associations – will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.”

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

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While We’re Young (Ideas) of March 28

By TERRY LYONS 

BOSTON – The price tags of each NBA expansion franchise over the last 40-plus years are etched in the mind of this NBA-lifer gone fishing’ in New England back in 2008. Yes, this column construction worker began as an intern at the NBA league office in 1980 and a lot was going on. Namely:

  1. It was the same year Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird began their (paid) NBA internships as league rookies.
  2. It was the same year the NBA adopted the “gimmicky” Three-Point Field Goal made popular in the ABA.
  3. It was the same season the New Orleans Jazz became the Utah Jazz.
  4. It was the same year that Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Los Angeles Lakers and The Fabulous Forum from Jack Kent Cooke.
  5. It was the same year that the late, great Darryl Dawkins broke two glass backboards.
  6. It was the same year David Stern was promoted to Executive Veep – Business and Legal Affairs, under Commissioner Lawrence F. “Larry” O’Brien.
  7. And, it was the same year the NBA laid the foundation for the Dallas Mavericks to become the NBA’s 23rd franchise, beginning the following season – 1980-81.

The purchase price for the Mavericks was a cool $12 million.

When it came time to expand again, in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic gained entrance to the NBA at the cost of $32.5 million.

The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies bought in as expansion teams in 1995-96 at the cost of a then-whopping $125 million.

The Charlotte Bobcats joined the NBA party for a cool $400 million in 2009-10.

It seemed ridiculous until the Los Angeles Clippers were sold by disgraced team owner Donald Sterling to an anxious to join the club Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in the summer of 2014. That franchise purchase (not via expansion) changed everything across every professional sports franchise.

Nowadays for the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver is floating a $2.5 billionexpansion fee as a starting point for discussion. Undoubtedly, someone will pay it, most likely to replace the Seattle SuperSonics in the Emerald City.

Now! Sit down for this!

Embed from Getty Images

Our good friends at Sportico issued franchise valuations for the Major League Baseball this week. Read it and weep if your family name isn’t Steinbrenner, Angelos or Illitch.

Here’s the Top 10:

1 New York Yankees – $6.75 billion

2 Boston Red Sox – $4.80 billion

3 Los Angeles Dodgers – $4.62 billion

4 Chicago Cubs – $4.14 billion

5 San Francisco Giants – $3.49 billion

6 New York Mets – $2.48 billion

7 Los Angeles Angels – $2.46 billion

8 Atlanta Braves – $2.38 billion

9 St. Louis Cardinals – $2.36 billion

10 Philadelphia Phillies – $2.28 billion

(Note: The New York Mets were just purchased by Steve Cohen for a record $2.475 billion.)

Sportico last did the NFL franchise valuations for the 2020 season.

Here was the Top 10 of American Footy:

1. Dallas Cowboys – $6.43 billion

2. New England Patriots – $4.97 billion

3. Los Angeles Rams – $4.10 billion

4. New York Giants – $4.00 billion

5. New York Jets – $3.70 billion

6. San Francisco 49ers – $3.63 billion

7. Washington Football Team – $3.58 billion

8. Chicago Bears – $3.41 billion

9. Philadelphia Eagles – $3.35 billion

10. Houston Texans – $3.34 billion

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It’s Time!

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By TERRY LYONS

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BOSTON – These are the most important things in modern-day life in these United States.

  1. Health
  2. Family (and their health and safety)
  3. Shelter
  4. Friends and Good Neighbors
  5. Time
  6. Happiness
  7. Ambition and vision
  8. Fulfilling or rewarding work
  9. Money
  10. Luck

For the sake of this column, let’s assume nine of the 10 things listed are correct and each person can order them in any fashion they’d prefer. In some cases, the list may vary depending on a persons’ current situation and circumstances and where they were born and live. In other cases, the list and its order can change from day-to-day.

Of course, if one is born into poverty in the USA or many foreign lands and “third world” countries, all bets are off.

There are a few things on my list that don’t change for anyone on this earth. One of them is TIME.

Many of the sporting games we play and spectate are measured by time. Some are not.

Those measured by time, include:

  1. Football
  2. Futbol (and they hide the damn clock)
  3. Basketball
  4. Ice Hockey
  5. Lacrosse
  6. Many of the Olympic sports like swimming and downhill skiing
  7. You get the picture!

Other popular sports are not measured by time and, theoretically, you could play a single game forever and ever and ever. They include:

  1. Baseball
  2. Golf
  3. Tennis
  4. Just to name a few!

The past year (almost to the date of this column) taught us about the concept of time. The value of time was taught suddenly and with significant impact, probably more than any of the years of our lifetimes. For many, time was lost, along with jobs, money, happiness and other things we might’ve previously taken for granted.

The profound question and uncertainty?

How much TIME do we have? And, that is so over our full lifetime or in the case of athletics, maybe just over a relatively short career-length.

How do we manage TIME? What do we prioritize in our daily lives?

To start off the terrible Year of 2020, on January 1 – nonetheless – NBA Commissioner David Stern passed away. His time had come and so many were deeply effected by his incredible life and sudden death after suffering a brain hemorrhage in mid-December, 2019. During his time on this earth, in the words of longtime NBA front office guru and current President of the Golden State Warriors Rick Welts said Stern and his loyal staff pulled off the Sisyphus Act of all-time by pushing the giant boulder of the NBA uphill in very difficult times. The difference in that period of TIME, unlike Sisyphus, for the most part the rise of the NBA to its global prominence in sport was a joy-ride of hard work with th benefit of watching GREAT basketball, working with terrific people and having fun while we did it.

Stern was a master of TIME and enjoyed his career at the NBA so much that he named his post NBA private investment company, MicroManagement Ventures. It was a wonderful joke made together with his lawyerly friends put it underlined one of his own management mantras. “Everything is a priority.”

Stern’s passing was a sign of the time to come, although none of us quite understood it on January 1, 2020 or even at his service, held at Radio City Music Hall on January 21st. We were about to endure a year of crisis, botched crisis management, and then a full shutdown.

TIME would tell and the world and the sports industry pushed onward.

It started with a terrible game of televised and remotely produced H-O-R-S-E, then a golf tournament, called “The Match,” played in driving rain with Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods joining up with Phil Mickelson and former New England Patriots QB Tom Brady. After he struggled through his round of televised golf, who knew that by 2021, Brady would be hoisting the NFL’s Vince Lombardi Trophy once again?

Like that boulder going uphill, sports began to mark time and move forward, step-by-step.

PGA Tour Golf led the way, then some NASCAR, thoroughbred horse racing, the NFL Draft, and Korean baseball all filled vacant airtime. We coveted live sports action to pass the TIME.

Then, the big time, major sports made plans that took hold. The NBA built its bubble in Orlando, thee NHL situated itself in Toronto and Edmonton in Canada, and Baseball picked about labor issues before they finally opened up “Summer” training. We watched the New York Yankees take batting practice on the YES Network and eventually, on July 23, 2020, it was TIME to Play Ball!

Through the year, we wondered:

  1. How much TIME does Tom Brady really have to perform at such a high level?
  2. There’s the same question for Serena Williams in tennis and it was a question that was answered abruptly for the NBA’s Vince Carter when the shutdown ended his final year.
  3. We were shocked that a terrible helicopter accident took the lives of Kobe Bryant and his young daughter and their friends. TIME had come for Kobe and we only wish we could’ve Turned Back Time to warn him of the deadly disaster awaiting.
  4. The biggest sports story of the year came when the 2020 Summer Olympic Games were postponed. Hopefully, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad will be played in Tokyo this July. Once again, only TIME will tell.

How often have you asked for more time, wished we had more time, checked the time, cursed the time. Hell, we just lost an hour, right?

If you could only stop the clock, take time and get organized, prepared and be able to focus without the day-to-day distractions from such a busy lifestyle, created with smart phone devices, instant messaging, global business, real-time decision making at the speed of light. Try to get TIME on Your Side.

Yet, as TIME was stopped the past year, were any of us able to fully take advantage of the extra time?

Some found more time for family as young adult children returned home. Some were separated from family, especially concerned about the risk of exposing parent and grandparents to the deadly and contagious COVID-19 and now its emerging variants. we finally wised up, to some degree (ahem Texas, Mississippi and some other dim-witted, misguided States), and we began wearing masks.

TIME marched on.

Did we accomplish anything of note?

Some did, some didn’t. Some stayed safe and some of our loved ones passed away.

There is still TIME.

Signs of Spring are in the air and with them, growing optimism of three different and effective vaccines to ward off serious illness from COVID-19. with that and remaining guidelines for safety, State governments are gradually easing restrictions, as the Federal government purchases more and more of the vaccine doses with hopes to have the vast majority of Americans vaccinated by May or June. There’s a nice list of things to look forward to as March and its lioness windy ways turn to April showers and flowers.

Here are a few things to ponder for the near future:

  1. This weekend, Daylight Savings Time begins in most places and an extra hour of much-needed sunlight will inject some “Spring Fever” into our lives.
  2. The baseball bats are cracking line-drives in Florida and Arizona. Opening Day nears in Major League Baseball stadiums across the nation.
  3. March Madness will be staged once again, after the 2020 hiatus.
  4. The NHL and the NBA are pushing forward and their arenas are seeing partial capacity for live spectating.
  5. We’re all hoping Tiger Woods recovers from the terrible auto accident in LA.

It might take a few more months, and hopefully, there will be no more major setbacks (see Italy and Brazil, by the way), but THE TIME HAS COME.

Time Has Come Today to get our lives prepared for a new renaissance and re-opening. We’ll have struggles ahead, physically, mentally, and financially, as so many businesses were forced to close down- some temporarily and some for good. Remember as we go up against this virus in its second full year against us, we’re only as strong as our weakest links, whether those links are in our hometowns, Texas or Brazil.

But, we can and we will bounce back. It’s just a matter of TIME.

Deserving a Second Chance

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By TERRY LYONS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BOSTON – Who amongst us, doesn’t deserve a second chance?

During the 1980s, NBA All-Star guard Michael Ray Richardson was thrown-out of the league for failing to adhere to the NBA’s anti-drug program but was later given another chance. A decade later, Richardson thanked the late David Stern who as Commissioner of the NBA was credited by the wayward star for saving his life by providing the tough love, then rehabilitation from a serious drug problem.

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In the ‘70s and ‘80s, substance abuse problems and the need for second chances became common place, unfortunately. New York Mets stars Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry each fell into drug dependency and abuse asa they were being built up by Mets fans as long-awaited superstars. They were given second chances by Baseball and New York fans and turned it around.

Former Celtics guard Chris Herren falls into the same category and now counsels youth against the pitfalls of substance abuse, as does basketball’s Vin Baker, who admitted to his fight against alcoholism and worked his way back, first taking a job as an assistant high school basketball coach in Connecticut in 2014. Afterward, he worked as a Starbucks coffee store manager in 2015, and now is back in the pros, working as an assistant coach with one of his former NBA teams, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Not all stories of rebounding for a second chance stem from drugs or alcohol abuse. Olympic speed-skater Dan Jansen was primed for possible medal contention in the 500 and 1,000 meter speed skating races at the 1988 Winter Olympics when – on the day of the 500 meter event – he received a call from his family home in Wisconsin that his 27-year old sister (Jane Marie Beres) was dying from leukemia.

Jansen attempted to speak with his sister by phone, but she was not able to respond. He was later informed of her death and he tried to compete but fell in the 500, distraught. Four days later, in the 1,000 he began with record-breaking speed only to fall again. Jansen left the ‘88 Games in Calgary with no medals and found himself unable to medal at the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville.

Jansen made good on his third chance, when he trained and won a World Championship in 1993 then took the gold in the 1,000 at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer in one of the most heartwarming and remarkable stories of USA Olympic Games history.

Again, along the lines of the remarkable is the story of Seabiscuit, one of the greatest thoroughbred race horses of all-time.

“In 1938, the year’s No. 1 newsmaker was not FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. Nor was it Lou Gehrig or Clark Gable. The subject of the most newspaper column inches in 1938 wasn’t even a person. It was an undersized, crooked-legged racehorse named Seabiscuit,” wrote Laura Hillenbrand in Seabiscuit, An American Legend.

In 2003, Seabiscuit’s story was transformed into an Academy Award nominated film (Best Picture), based on the best-selling book by Hillenbrand. Directed by Gary Ross and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, among others, Seabiscuit is in my personal Top 3 and it is my No. 1 favorite “sports” motion picture of all-time.

As we’re delving into “second chances,” Seabiscuit leads the pack when you study the true-life story of an undersized and overlooked thoroughbred whose unexpected success made him “the people’s favorite” and a true sign of hope for the masses in the USA during the Great Depression.

Seabiscuit is also the story of how three men — Charles Howard, Tom Smith, and Red Pollard — overcome personal limitations, demons, and tragedies, as well as economic hard times to bring about Seabiscuit’s thrilling and inspiring victories. The horse was sold to Howard for $8,000 at a Saratoga auction after being trained to lose to would-be greater racehorses. And, lose he did to the point where he was disregarded and discarded.

“You don’t throw a whole life away because he’s banged up a little,” Seabiscuit’s owner Charles Howard said, echoing Tom Smith, then adding later: “Sometimes all somebody needs is a second chance. A lot of people out there know what I mean.”

“You know, everybody thinks we found this broken-down horse and fixed him,” said Pollard, the over-sized jockey played by Tobey Maguire in the film. “But we didn’t. He fixed us; every one of us. And I guess in a way, we kinda fixed each other too.”

That brings us to the 2021 Boston Red Sox baseball season and the second chance being provided to Sox Manager Alex Cora.

There’s “no rooting in the press box,” of course, but even “Tick Tock McLaughlin” would be making his “Lazarus of Bethany” references as it pertains to the vaunted Sox organization placing new trust in Cora after his dismissal and one-year suspension for his center stage effort in the Houston Astros cheating scandal.

In January 2020, the Red Sox and Cora mutually agreed to parting ways after the Astros scandal cost the jobs of Houston GM Jeff Luhnow and team Manager A.J. Hinch. In the COVID-19 limited 2020 season Ron Roenickefilled in nicely for the Sox, but on November 6, 2020 – not long after Mookie Betts and the LA Dodgers were crowned World Champs – Cora was re-hired and signed to a two-year contract by Boston.

While a 108-54 record with the Sox this season is not to be, Red Sox fans and the few veteran players left from the record-setting 2018 season will be supporting Cora in a big way.

The reason?

While Americans enjoy building up heroes then knocking them down, the story isn’t complete and a fan isn’t satisfied until that broken hero gets his/her second chance.

That’s the case this season with Cora and the Sox, although he must now help rebuild the club, rather than rejoice in 100+ wins alongside the likes of Betts, David “Big Papi” Ortiz, Chris Sale and Xander Bogaerts.

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