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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Dec 19

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BOSTON – I’m dreaming of a “Wilt” Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain’s 59-point, 36-rebound Christmas Day performance for the Philadelphia Warriors in their 136-135 double-overtime loss to the New York Knickerbockers back in 1961. The game was one of a seven-game streak when Chamberlain scored 50-or-more points (Dec. 16-29). Chamberlain’s rebounding total remains a Christmas Day record. His scoring total stood as a Christmas Day record for 22 years before Bernard King’s 60-point game for the Knicks in a 120-114 loss to the New Jersey Nets in 1984. Both games took place at Madison Square Garden in NYC.

The NBA began playing games on Christmas Day in 1947, in its second year and this season, the league has scheduled five games on Christmas Day for the 14th year in a row.

Here is this Saturday’s NBA on Christmas Day schedule:

Noon: Atlanta Hawks at New York Knicks (ESPN): The Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks will meet on Christmas Day for the first time since the Hawks moved to Atlanta (which took place in 1968). The teams faced each other twice on Christmas Day when the Hawks were in St. Louis (1956 and 1965). This will mark the first time the Hawks have been scheduled to play on December 25th since 1989. The Knicks have played 53 times on Christmas, the NBA team high.

2:30pm ET: Boston Celtics at Milwaukee Bucks (ABC): The Celtics have played the third-most games on Christmas Day (34 entering 2021, trailing only NY and the LA Lakers) and the most road games on Christmas Day (29 entering 2021). Milwaukee will be hosting a Christmas Day game for the second consecutive year. The Bucks are (4-3) on the holiday with last year’s 138-99 stocking full of coal deposited on the Golden State Warriors.

5:00pm ET: Golden State Warriors at Phoenix Suns (ABC/ESPN Radio):The Suns are (12-6) on the holiday and the Warriors are (13-17). Phoenix’s last Christmas Day game came in 2009, a 124-93 win vs. LA Clippers. Golden State’s Draymond Green was the last player to record a triple-double on the holiday, and is one of six players to do so on Christmas Day: Draymond Green (2017), Russell Westbrook (2013), LeBron James(2010), Billy Cunningham (1970), John Havlicek (1967) and Oscar Robertson (four times: 1967, 1963, 1961 and 1960).

8:00pm ET: Brooklyn Nets at Los Angeles Lakers (ABC/ESPN Radio):The LA Lakers are scheduled on Christmas Day for the 23rd straight year. They have the most all-time victories on 12/25 with 24. Lakers center DeAndre Jordan holds the single-game record for most blocked shots on Christmas Day with eight for the LA Clippers against the Golden State Warriors in 2011. LeBron James ranks second in career points on Christmas Day with 383. He needs 13 points to pass the late Kobe Bryant (395) and become the all-time leading scorer on 12/25 when he has a (10-5) won-loss record which trails only Dwyane Wade’s (10-3) record. Meanwhile, the highest-scoring game by an active player on Christmas Day belongs to the Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant, who had 44 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Denver Nuggets in 2010. KD fell 16 points shy of Bernard King’s record.

10:30pm ET: Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz (ESPN): The nightcap will feature Dallas’ Luka Dončić against Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, all three named NBA All-Stars last season. Both franchises are relative newcomers to the NBA on 12/25 tradition, with Dallas (2-2) and Utah (5-2). The Jazz games on Christmas Day have all been played at home (including two as the New Orleans Jazz).

TIDINGS of JOY: The NBA’s first foray of Christmas Day game came in 1947 when the Baltimore Bullets defeated the Chicago Stags 87-70 at Baltimore Coliseum. The same day, the New York Knicks defeated the Providence Steamrollers 89-75 at Madison Square Garden and the Washington Capitols won at St. Louis Bombers 73-56 at St. Louis Arena. The 56 point effort is the all-time low for Santa. … The last time there was just a single game on Christmas was 2006 when the Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 101-85 at Miami’s American Airlines Arena.

CAMDEN TRADITION CONTINUES FOR the WAGNER FAMILY:Remember Milt Wagner, a former NBA star who made his name and game at Camden High in south New Jersey or at the University of Louisville? Maybe you remember Milt’s son, Dejaun, another Camden player who went on to play at Memphis and was the sixth overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft (to Cleveland). This past Friday, Milt’s grandson, Dejaun’s son, a high school junior, DJ, scored 25 points to lead Camden to a 67-64 come-from-behind win over Roselle Catholic at Camden’s brand new joint, the Clarence Turner Gymnasium. Heading into the game, Camden was ranked No 1 in the State and Roselle Catholic was No. 2 a ranking which proved correct as Camden won its 39th straight game. Camden is ranked as the No. 2 team in the USA by MaxPreps who holds Duncanville (Texas) as the No. 1 high school team with their (11-0) record. Simeon Wilcher, a North Carolina commit, led Roselle Catholic with 21 points and seven rebounds. Akil Watson, a junior transfer from Don Bosco Prep, added 17 points and seven boards.

NBA VALUATIONS: This week marked Sportico’s second run at its NBA franchise valuations, and it underlined two important things in the sports industry. First, how time flies from one year to the next. Secondly, how the value of sports franchises accrue in a single year, regardless of the won-loss column.

Here’s the list of 2021-22 NBA Team Valuations, and we’ll discuss on the other side:

  1. $6.12 billion – New York Knicks (+13%)
  2. $6.030 billion – Golden State Warriors (+16%)
  3. $5.630 billion – Los Angeles Lakers (+10%)
  4. $3.610 billion – Brooklyn Nets (+6%)
  5. $3.530 billion – Chicago Bulls (+12%)
  6. $3.44 billion – Boston Celtics (+8%)
  7. $3.160 billion – Los Angeles Clippers (+20%)
  8. $2.790 billion – Houston Rockets (+1%)
  9. $2.740 billion – Toronto Raptors (+7%)
  10. $2.720 billion – Dallas Mavericks (+5%)

NOTES: The New Orleans Pelicans ($1.510b), the Memphis Grizzlies ($1.530b) and the Minnesota Timberwolves ($1.570b) were on the low end of the spectrum in NBA franchise value, according to Sportico. … Keep in mind, the Timberwolves were amongst the four 1988-89 NBA expansion franchises that bought in for $32.5 million while the Grizzlies, then in Vancouver and the Toronto Raptors’ expansion fees were a whopping $125 million.

Says Sportico: “The NBA’s pitch to incoming investors includes opportunities also available in other leagues—around gambling, streaming and digital. A key differentiator, however, is the international prospects, despite the league’s ongoing tension in China, where business has returned to pre-pandemic levels. In addition to the Bibigo investment in the Lakers, a Chinese electronic trading platform, Webull Financial, signed a sponsorship pact with the Brooklyn Nets worth $30 million a year, while Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten extended its $20 million-a-year patch deal with the Warriors at an increase.” … The newfound money as US States open up to full sports gambling on top of Fantasy Sports gaming is “just the tip of the iceberg,” according to New York’s MSG Sports president Andrew Lustgarten.

“The NBA is the dominant U.S. league in terms of international investor appeal,” sports banker Sal Galatioto said to Sportico. “People from all over the world want to invest in the NBA, and that’s a huge advantage.”

From the While We’re Young (Ideas) vantage point, I’d double-down on the vast international appeal of the NBA. There is one – often overlooked reason and that is the simple fact that the sport of basketball is played by both men and women all over the world. Nearly every person on the planet has played the game in some small form, not to mention that the rules of the game are pretty simple. That fact is a huge advantage over American Football and Baseball. Often noted is another sports fact. The truly global team sports are soccer (Futbol) and basketball. However, great Futbol players are spread-out, playing in leagues all over the world, from Brazil to Argentina to England to Spain to Germany. They play for their native countries in World Cup competition but during the “regular season” they’re all over the world. The NBA has all of the greatest players in the world playing in one league. That league is the only way a world class player can test his skills against the very best.

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  1. NOTES, NOTES, AND MORE NOTES: A year-long subscription to TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – While We’re Young (Ideas) is a perfect way to have the sports fan in your life look forward to an old-fashioned, weekly, notebook full of sports insights. Sign-up for this special offer: HERE
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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Dec 12th

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – Welcome to the Land of Confusion.

This week, we’re serving up the controversial happenings in sports, clearing the mayhem out before the Holiday Season, Peace on Earth, Goodwill Towards Men and Tidings of Comfort and Joy.

Instead, there’s a Land of Confusion, including:

  • Diplomatic Boycotting of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games by USA (with similar support from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Lithuania).
  • The Women’s Tennis Association suspending play in China in response to alleged sexual assault and disappearance of star tennis player Peng Shua
  • Celtics’ reserve center Enes Kanter Freedom campaigning on human rights issues in Turkey and China

Most likely, the Diplomatic boycott will have little to zero effect on the athletes at the games. It’s not like an Austrian skier is going to be thinking about the USA Chef de Mission while awaiting the downhill slalom ride of a lifetime. But let’s pose a few questions to see where this might go in a few weeks (February 4, 2022)?

(Getty Images)

Might the youth of the world collectively question the USA’s recent past in terms of suppressing voter rights, limiting women’s healthcare and upending a 50-year Constitutional decision, never mind issues regarding “rising climate and environmental concerns, growing financial and economic coercion,” noted a recent missive from the Council of Foreign Relations examining the previous US administration’s tendency to “increasingly invoke national security as a justification for restricting trade, while its prolific use of quotas, sanctions, tariffs, and the like threatens to destroy the rules-based economic order.”

In other words, will the USA Olympians have to pay a price for a 2017-to-2021 undermining of U.S. allies across the globe, or the decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord? (President Joe Biden re-joined the Paris Accord at recent COP26 summit).

On the flip side, can the USA and other countries utilize the global spotlight of the Olympic Games to pressure China on the allegations of torture, forced detention, sterilization, religious persecution and atrocities committed against the Uyghur people – a Muslim ethnic group in northwest China?

Some (including 180 human rights groups) have called for a full boycott of the games, but White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki defended the decision to allow American athletes to compete by saying that it would be unfair to “penalize athletes who have been training, preparing for this moment,” and adding that the diplomatic boycott “sends a clear message.”

Meanwhile the relatively small WTA stood-up to fight a mighty battle against China, one the International Olympic Committee would never broach as the Celtics’ scrub Kanter stands on his own vs. human rights issues, calling-out his native Turkey and now China. Kanter has even singled-out NBA superstar LeBron James and Lin-sanity himself in Jeremy Lin, 33, a former NBA player of Taiwanese-American descent. Lin now cashes a check, playing for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

All the while, the IOC claims to be non-political, and many sports fans claim they don’t want to mix politics and sports, but that ship sailed long, long ago.

The Sports vs. Political landscape is muddy. The answers will never come, unless you measure USA Nielsen TV ratings which is never a method that can be considered an exact science.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Hunt Auctions this week presented an amazing offering of game memorabilia and other artifacts from the personal collection of Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell. The auction items were owned and carefully collected by Russell throughout his life, chronicling his historic basketball career and seminal role as a leader in the Civil Rights movement in the United States, beginning in the 1950s.

Notable sales from the auction, held at TD Garden in Boston, included:

  • $1,116,250 – 1969 Bill Russell Boston Celtics professional model jersey worn in Game #7 of the 1969 NBA Finals, the final game of his NBA career
  • $1,313,500 – Cumulative total for Russell’s five MVP awards
  • $705,000 – 1957 championship ring, Russell’s first ring
  • $587,500 – 1956 Olympic gold medal
  • $558,125 – 1969 championship ring, the last of Russell’s 11 championships

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook – Dec. 5

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While We’re Young (Ideas) Looks at the Month of December

BOSTON – December is the deepest and darkest month of the year. The winter solstice fast approaching this December 21st and the Christmas season coming immediately after for those who celebrate the holiday. While I’ve written about the NFL Red Zone’s “Witching Hour,” I have not, until now, written about December in the NFL. In Red Zone terms, it is the “month when winners win and losers lose.”

NFL Decembers make me shiver. December in the NFL is when 12, 13 and maybe 14-win teams are made. Last December 6-8, three of the four AFC/NFL championship participants won their games with Tampa Bay on a bye week. The eventual Super Bowl champion Bucs won all three of their December games and posted a “W” in their final regular season hame, a 44-27 ear-slap of Atlanta. Overall, Tampa won their final eight games of 2020-21.

In 2019, the Kansas City Chiefs caught fire in December, scorching the Raiders 40-9. The Super Bowl champion Chiefs won their final nine games. You have to look back to 2018 when the New England Patriots lost a costly 34-33 game at Miami to see a difference in the trend, although the Patriots spanked Minnesota in NFL Week 13, 24-10 and that game was one of ten late season wins as the Patriots closed out their 2018 schedule, 10-3, to advance for a 13-3 Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Back in 2017, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles won their 11-12-13th games in December, but bookended the month with losses, including a 24-10 loss at Seattle on December 3 and a strange and meaningless 6-0 loss vs. Dallas on New Year’s eve. Philly won 12 of their last 14.

What will Week 13, December 2-6 bring to the NFL?

The Dallas Cowboys have already made their December to remember statement with an easy 27-17 win over an injury-plagued New Orleans team this past Thursday. Green Bay (9-3) has a bye week scheduled while the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots play Monday night.

Suffice to say, this weekend might separate the contenders in a league full of good but not great football teams. The (9-2) Arizona Cardinals have suffered injuries to their All Pro quarterback in Kyler Murray. Running back Chase Edmonds remains sidelined and All Pro wide-out DeAndre Hopkinshas been out since October 28, nursing a hamstring injury.

Tampa Bay (8-3) has been less than impressive, winning two of their last four. A divisional match-up at Atlanta awaits and we’ll see if Tom Brady and his Tampa teammates can shift into “Oh, What a Night” mode this December.

NFL POWER RANKINGS: With a long way to go and such mediocrity, eh – we’ll call it parity – in the NFL this season, I’m hesitant to do any meaningful Power Rankings. Injuries, including the inevitable COVID-19 outbreak or two, can upset the December applecart. But here’s a Top 10 in the NFL, all with a December to determine the contenders or pretenders.

  1. Buffalo Bills – The Bills will need to prove it Monday Night, but with a win over New England, they can place themselves atop the AFC, although a game at Tampa Bay and another match-up at divisional rival New England awaits.
  2. Kansas City Chiefs – Guess which NFL team has reeled-off four wins in a row, including a 13-7 win vs. Green Bay and a 19-9 win vs Dallas? Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense is tough to match-up against and the KC “D” is improving each and every game.
  3. Dallas Cowboys – After a disappointing 31-29 opening week loss to Tampa, Dallas won seven-of-eight, including a hard-fought, overtime win at Foxborough. Four of their last five regular season games are against NFC Least opponents.
  4. Arizona Cardinals – A league-leading (9-2) record with (6-0) on the road deserves praise but, as noted, the Cards need to get healthy in a hurry.
  5. Green Bay Packers – The Pack’s lost two of its last four, but had a much-needed and impressive 36-28 victory over the LA Rams on November 28. The Packers have a bye week to prepare for their final five regular season games.
  6. Baltimore Ravens – The (8-3) Ravens are the team no other AFC club wants to see in the playoffs. QB Lamar Jackson leads the offense, of course, but the key to the Ravens’ success (or not) will be on the defensive and special teams side of the field. The defense is stepping up over the past two victories over Cleveland and Chicago.
  7. New England Patriots – If December NFL football does one thing, it sets off the “Rookie Quarterback” alarm and QB Mac Jones, the favorite for Rookie of the Year, still qualifies for the alarm bell. For New England to be successful, the defense and special teams units will have to make big plays, force turnovers and win games. Jones can hold his own with the offense, especially if WR Kendrick Bourne continues his emergence.
  8. Tennessee Titans – You lose the best running back in the league (Derrick Henry) and you’re in trouble. The Titans lost their last two games (to Houston and New England). Previously, it was a six-game winning streak and eight wins over nine games. Can they run the ball against the NFL’s more elite teams?
  9. Cincinnati Bengals – Winning games follows QB Joe Burrow around even though costly losses to the Jets and Browns overshadowed pairs of wins coming three times in season, including victories over the Ravens, Raiders and melting Steelers (twice).
  10. In the NFC, only Washington FT and SF 49ers own three-game win streaks while AFC streakers include New England (six straight) along with KC and the Miami Dolphins as winners of their last four games. From some mix of Washington, SF, Miami and the LA Rams & Chargers comes the 10th best team. That said in this crazy and unpredictable 2021 NFL season, there’s a chance none of them qualify for the playoffs.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Talk about December football and the toughest of the tough and you have the annual Army vs Navy game, scheduled for December 11 at Met Life Stadium in the swamps of Jersey, rather than its usual home in sunny Philadelphia.

On the Sports Biz side, the folks at the Army-Navy game’s presenting sponsor, USAA, organized an impressive “Radio Row” facility at the Philadelphia Convention Hall pre-COVID-19 (Dec. 2019) but have moved the location to The Intrepid Air & Space Museum to preview this year’s game. … Nice back-drop for a number of national radio broadcasts and also the likes of: KNBR (SF), KILT (Houston), 106.7 the Fan (DC), KFAN (Minneapolis), WDAE (Tampa), KKFN (Denver), WFNZ (Charlotte), 97.3 the Fan (San Diego), 104.5 the Zone (Nashville) or ESPNSA (San Antonio).

BY PROVIDENCE: In keeping up with our coverage of, and intense interest in, the Big East Conference, we’ll note that Providence up-ended Rhode Island, 66-52, in the 131st battle between the two RI schools. Providence has now won 12 of the last 18 meetings. The Friars are also atop the Big East non-conference standings at (8-1) with their only loss coming at the hands of Virginia. Providence scrubbed Texas Tech (72-68) in their Big East vs Big 12 Battle earlier this week. UConn is also (8-1) with their Saturday win over Grambling (88-59). On Friday night at the new UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders of the NHL-and-AHL, wink, wink, The No. 8 rated Kansas Jayhawks drilled St. John’s by 25 (95-75) in the first basketball game ever played in the arena.

  1. NOTES, NOTES, AND MORE NOTES: A year-long subscription to TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – While We’re Young (Ideas) is a perfect way to have the sports fan in your life look forward to an old-fashioned, weekly, notebook full of sports insights. Sign-up for this special offer: HERE
  2. PGA TOUR BRUNCH AS CHAMPIONS RETURN OF THE TOUR:Plans are on-going to re-launch the popular PGA Tour Brunch newsletter when the pros tee-it-up at Sentry Tournament of Champions Jan. 5-9, 2022 at The Plantation Course in Maui.

SIGN-UP HERE FOR PGA TOUR BRUNCH.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – Nov. 28

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While We’re Young (Ideas) Gives Thanks

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – It’s Thanksgiving Weekend and time to STOP, THINK and THANK just a few people and REMEMBER a few things. The column comes complete with minimal BS, complaining, snark or sentimental goop while trying to avoid the negatives and all-to-often critical sniping. It does begin with a memorial dedication for 2020-21.

First things first:

It’s 2021, and there’s a global pandemic screaming bloody murder, so we must first pay thanks to our health, if we are so fortunate to do so. Before we can give thanks, it’s time to pay respects to those who lost their lives to COVID or other crisis this year. Special note to the late Madison Dubiski of Houston who lost her life in the crush of the Travis Scott concert at Astroworld along with at least nine others. Madison’s father, Brian, is a good friend of the column and was just hanging at Fenway Park when the Astros dispatched the Red Sox in late October. Madison was 23 years old at the time of her passing away in the crowd at NRG Park/Stadium in Houston on November 5. Dozens and dozens of others were injured. May God Bless.

Let’s Go.

From the Cranberry-Apple-Orange sauce to left-over Turkey Breast sandwiches, Thanksgiving is a favorite of holidays for many of us. Thanks to the Seventy-seven days until pitchers & Catchers report, then Opening Day, then Patriots’ Day and the Boston Marathon, and the 11am start at Fenway. … Thanks for the E-Z Pass and Smart TVs. … Frank Zamboni and to the guy who cut out the bottom of the peach basket, the greatest rule change in basketball history. … Thanks to Bill Russell and Satch and thanks to the memory of Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, who we lost this past March 21, as we remember Press and Pistol Pete Maravich.

Thanks for The NFL Red Zone and avoiding 100 car insurance commercials as we watch the NFL. To the Witching Hour, when wins become losses and losses become wins on the Octo-Box. … Thanks for Justin and Jalen and Josh, for Lamar, Cam (before him), Aaron, Kirk and Dak. … Thanks for Jonathan Taylor and Austin Ekeler … and to Cooper, Davanti, Tyreek, Deebo, and Ja’Marr.

Thanks for the Iron Bowl and El Clásico with a sentimental kiss to The Mayor’s Trophy Game.

Thanks to Joe DiLorenzo, Duane Johnson, Stephen Riley, Tod Rosensweig, Jan Volk, Steve “Globie” Lipofsky, and Jeff Twiss, and to Brian and especially Heather – all Boston Celtics colleagues.

Thanks for the New England snow-mobiles, aka Suburu OutBack and Forester, that keep us safe in rain, sleet or snow. In Boston, the Mail Person drives a Suburu. … Thanks to Wood-Boy who brings us a Cord+ of hard wood each Fall and thanks for the fireplace that burns that wood and makes us feel cozy, warm and fortunate each cold, winter night.

Thanks to St. John’s men’s basketball for driving me crazy every season, dating back to 1968 or so, and certainly since 1978 when a full season ticket was about $43. … Thanks to Lou Carnesecca just for being Louie. Thanks to his one-time assistant coach John Kresse. Thanks to coach Mike Andersonfor giving it his all in a rock solid conference where winning a road game is like winning Game 7 every year. … Thanks to the BIG EAST and Val and Stu and John P. … Let’s hope all goes well and The Garden is packed for the tournament this coming March. … Thanks to FS-1 for televising every game, but, I’ll ask again, can you lose the John Tesh Roundball Rock music?

Thanks to Derek & Susan and to Mike Mattison and the whole TT Band. … Oh, how we miss Kofi. … Thanks to Bruce (H). and Bruce (S). for the Spirit Trail and my Spirit in the Night. … What a Ride.

Thanks to Jeff Kazee for playing his Living Room Lounge series of solo piano concerts, played every week until March 24th, a year after all hell broke loose. … Just for Jeff, root for the Cincinnati Reds. … Thank to Rich (P) and Will Lee and the Fab Faux. Missed seeing a 2021 show, first time in a along time.

Speaking of the Fab, thanks to and for Penny (Lane). She’s keeping me company, snoozin’ as this is typed. She’s just a little more than a year old and joined our family last Thanksgiving.

Thanks to Abe and Terry, not The Real TL, and all the crew at The Sports Business Daily and Journal and to Scott, Dick and Corey and the new crew at Sportico. They keep us informed, as does CBS News, Norah and Dana, Jeff, Glor and Anthony Mason, who just ROCKS when he does a piece on music – any genre.

Here’s to Nate Burleson, a regular on the sports scene as and NFL wide-out for the Minnesota Vikings but a budding superstar on the Morning News. Burleson is a natural. His sense of team with the CBS Morning anchors (Gayle King and Tony Dokoupil) is only surpassed by his sense of camaraderie with the productions staff.

HERE’s TO: John Caron, Dave Glucksman, Dana Roy, and Higor Trindade – the anchors of West End Johnnies (and Fenway, too). To Arty,Evan, Frank & Henry and everyone – Thank you. It was a tough, tough year to be in the restaurant business, but both joints made it through.

Thanks to Ken Adelson, Len Deluca, Stacia Fritchie – my cohorts and colleagues. To Dinn Mann – cohort to be. Bob Delaney, Dave Scheiber and Philip Turner, cohorts past, present and future. To NBA friends and colleagues far and wide, Brian, Matt, Spy, Chris, Rick, Russ, AG and RL + far too many more to list. To Ed Desser and John Kosner, thanks for guidance as we gear-up for 2022.

Here’s to, too: Kevin Doyle, Abby and everyone at Fenway. Gonna miss official scorer Mike Shalin so, so much – gone far too soon. Also gonna miss seeing Dan Lyons who retired from the Sox and Tom Keegan, former columnist for the Boston Herald, caught in the grind of the pandemic and back to the Midwest. See you in springtime, Fenway Fam.

Thanks to Berj and the Patriots. To Harold and the Mets. Jimmy J and Pat LaFontaine and Companions in Courage. Special thanks to Craig Miller,currently working his final international basketball tournament as the head of communications for USA Basketball. From 1992 to 2022 is a nice, little run – working every level of basketball, men’s and women’s, gold and glory, defeat and misery.

Best in the Biz Greetings to Scott Rosner and LJ Holmgren at Columbia University’s Sports Management program with special thanks to CUSP-man and PR Joe Fav who teams up with Tom Richardson on said CUSP Show(podcast). It’s always a pleasure to speak at Columbia for Joe Fav, but this year, we were forced to Zoom video, as we did a year ago. … Joe Fav took a different dive come Thanksgiving and provided us with thoughtful reminder of life in 2021.

Finally, to family – immediate and extended – and to friends all over the world – many made through sports and music – (add food, water, air and SHAKE, NOT STIR for life – Thanks for being you.

Do I hear there’s an AFC/NFC Championship gathering ahead?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Riddle me this? Which sport’s overtime is more ridiculous and unworthy of deciding the outcome of a regular season game?

  • The NHL: After three periods and a deadlocked regular season game, the normal five-on-five (plus a goalkeeper) becomes three-on-three for a single five-minute stanza. After that, it goes to a shoot-out for three rounds, most goals wins. If tied, sudden death shoot-out determines the outcome. In the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s five-on-five for 20-minute intervals (periods) until a team scores. It’s the best, most exciting playoff in sports, especially in a Game 7.
  • MLB: Extra innings now call for a runner (last man at bat in the previous inning) to be placed on second base. Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that the “man on second” rule and 7-inning double-headers are probably a thing of the past.
  • College Football: Where do we start?
    • At the end of regulation, the referee will toss a coin to determine which team will possess the ball first in overtime. The visiting team captain will call the toss. The winner gets to choose to either play offense or defense first or chooses which side of the field to play on. The decision cannot be deferred.
    • The teams that loses the coin toss must exercise the remaining option. They will then have the chance to choose first from the four categories in the second overtime and subsequent even-numbered OT periods. The team that wins the toss will have the same options in odd-numbered OT periods.
    • In each of the first two overtime periods, teams are granted one possession beginning at the opponent’s 25-yard line, unless a penalty occurs to move them back. The offense can place the ball anywhere on or between the hash marks.
    • Each team is granted one timeout per overtime period. Timeouts do not carry over from regulation nor do they carry over between overtime periods.
    • Each team retains the ball until it fails to score, fails to make a first down or turns the ball over.
    • Beginning with the second overtime period, teams must attempt a two-point conversion after scoring a touchdown.

You might as well have the teams all gather in a circle and play “Spin the Bottle” to decide a winner.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook – Nov. 21

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – There are very few things that burn me up more than calls for a boycott of the Olympic Games. I tend to side with the athletes who’ve spent their lives training for a relatively short window for competition against the youth of the world who assemble every four years to compete in the Summer or Winter Olympic Games.

In 1980, the United States with 65 other countries and territories boycotted the Summer Games in Moscow to protest the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. In 1984, the Russians and 14 other (mostly Eastern Bloc) countries returned the idiocy and boycotted the Los Angeles (USA) Games.

Nothing was accomplished by the two boycotts and nothing will be accomplished with the current discussion of a new kind of boycott – a “diplomatic boycott’ – by the USA of the Beijing Winter Games, scheduled for this coming February ‘22.

This week, news coverage of the potential USA diplomatic boycott surfaced again as US President Joe Biden conducted a three-plus hour virtual summit call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Biden said Thursday he is considering a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which would deliver a “stinging rebuke to China over its alleged human rights abuses,” according to news reports by Reuters.

It’s “something we are considering,” Biden said when asked about a U.S. diplomatic boycott of the Games, although the summit was “aimed at reducing tensions between the two countries, which have flared over the COVID-19 pandemic, trade policies, Taiwan and other flashpoints.,” said Reuters.

Human rights advocates have increasingly lobbied the White House to call for a full-scale U.S. boycott of the 2022 Games. “The decision not to send an official American delegation to the Games would fall short of that dramatic step, but would still represent a major snub,” noted Reuters. “The U.S. traditionally sends a roster of high-profile dignitaries, often led by the sitting President or Vice President or first lady, to attend Olympic events – including the opening ceremonies. First Lady Jill Biden led the U.S. delegation to the most recent Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

What does the USOC (now USOPC) think?

“We strongly believe that the governments of the world, including our own, and the respective diplomatic teams and experts should lead the conversation about international relations,” USOPC chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland said.

Where does @WhileYoung(Ideas) come down?

Sports diplomacy is a huge and highly effective and efficient mechanism to bridge gaps, share ideas and literally use the sport(s) as a guiding light to many of the same values all nations face in these terrible times of the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The athletes themselves become the focus and example-setters. The diplomats – if they are not childish – don’t compete for athletic medal counts but go out of their way to welcome and contribute to discussions which can lead to concrete, mutually beneficial and substantive improvements for all nations.

In China alone, we’ve improved relationships through “Ping Pong Diplomacy” in the late ‘70s all the way to “Yao Ming Diplomacy” in the early 2000s. While the sports side (aka the Toy Store) might not solve the most troubling issues (Human Rights to all political differences), it can begin the discussion on common ground to help build the relationships that can lead to more important discussions, with the youth of the world providing the example for their older world leaders.

Too often, an ineffective sports boycott costs a young athlete the ability to compete for an Olympic medal or simply earn the title of Olympic competitor. Politicians, instead of facing the issue at hand, try to deflect the attention by implementing a sports boycott, rather than multi-lateral talks and negotiations. In every instance, the boycott goes by and nothing is accomplished except the disappointment of the athletes.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: On August 9, 2008, Air Force One had yet to clear US air space when my mobile phone range with the White House Director of Communications on the other end of the line. “Sorry, T, but because of normal security reasons, I couldn’t call earlier but we’re on our way to Beijing and I need your help. As you can probably tell from the background, I’m on Air Force One with the President. Your on speaker phone, too, okay?

“We’re thinking of attending both the USA Basketball men’s game against China and the Women’s first game, too. They play the Czech Republic at 8pm. How can I make it work best?”

While I had just waved good-bye to the US Men’s National team when they departed a few days earlier, NBA and USAB services completed, and was now officially a TV spectator of the Summer Olympics for the first time since 1988, it was obviously time to think fast.

“It’s easy,” I said. “If you’re at a USA women’s game, be sure the President is seated next to Val Ackerman and/or Jim Tooley (head of USA Basketball Federation) and at the men’s games, have the President with Jerry Colangelo and Jim. They can take care of EVERYTHING you might need and will know all the “go-to” people.”

“Thanks, TL.” (Click).

SPEAKING OF USA BASKETBALL: Veteran NBA and international tournament players Justin Anderson (Fort Wayne Mad Ants/Virginia) and Isaiah Thomas (free agent/Washington) were added by USA Basketball to its November 2021 USA World Cup Qualifying Team. The pair were added to the USA roster after an injury forced DaQuan Jeffries (College Park Skyhawks/Tulsa) to withdraw, and after Frank Mason III (South Bay Lakers/Kansas) was not cleared for full participation.

Anderson and Thomas join USA team members Jordan Bell (Santa Cruz Warriors/Oregon), Brian Bowen II (Iowa Wolves), Josh Gray (Long Island Nets/LSU), Shaq Harrison (Delaware Blue Coats/Tulsa), BJ Johnson(Lakeland Magic/LaSalle), Luke Kornet (Maine Celtics/Vanderbilt), Chasson Randle (free agent/Stanford), Zavier Simpson (Oklahoma City Blue/Michigan) and Emanuel Terry (Stockton Kings/Lincoln Memorial). … Former NBA head coach Jim Boylen will serve as head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team while former USA Basketball coaches Ty Ellis and Othella Harrington will serve as assistant coaches. … The USA squad will train Nov. 20-25 at the University of Houston and will participate in the first competition window of the 2021-23 FIBA World Cup Qualifying games, which will be played in a bubble format in Chihuahua, Mexico starting November 28. … The 2023 FIBA World Cup for Basketball will be staged in Japan-The Philippines-Indonesia.

On Saturday, Nov. 20, USA Basketball added NBA G League forward Haywood Highsmith (Delaware Blue Coats/Wheeling) after Orlando Johnson (free agent/UC Santa Barbara) was not available to participate.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: The Boston Celtics’ acquisition of superstar forward-center Kevin Garnett began on the night of the 2007 NBA Draft (June 28) when the Celtics did two things to make a future move for Garnett possible. … Although Ray Allen and Garnett would later be at odds over Allen’s post championship departure to Miami, that late June 2007 night, the Celtics acquired Hall of Fame sharp-shooter Allen in a multi-player deal with the then-Seattle SuperSonics, shipping a package of point guard Delonte West, small forward Wally Szczerbiak and forward Jeff Green to the the Sonics in exchange for Allen and center Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

The two steps taken by then-Celtics head of basketball operations Danny Ainge?

  1. Obtaining another scoring threat in Allen to form a “Big 3” needed to win.
  2. Moving Szczerbiak, a former teammate of Garnett’s he was none too fond of in previous exposure.
Kevin Garnett (Showtime)

The “Anything Is Possible” journey to the 2008 NBA title took a giant step that night. Garnett’s story is currently being told via a Showtime sports documentary entitled, (You Guessed It): ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. … The story is good. KG’s personality shining through is great. The language is filthy.

Co-directed and produced by Eric Newman and Dan Levin, along with producers Mike Marangu, Marc Levin and Brian Bennett—KG’s partner at his production company, Content Cartel—the documentary is a look at KG’s past, delving heavily into Garnett’s youth, his progression as a high school player and astonishing talents displayed at Chicago’s Farragut Academy.

The story winds its way to the fact Garnett became the fifth overall pick of the 1995 draft with team GM Kevin McHale and the Minnesota Timberwolves taking the gamble on the 6-11 high school phenom. Until then, only a sporadic few (Moses Malone, Bill Willoughby, Darryl Dawkins and a small handful of others) had made it to the NBA (or ABA) via high school, not college.

The documentary explains the successful start of Garnett’s NBA career in Minnesota seemingly opened the floodgates for other high school talents to jump right to the NBA, namely Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, LeBron James, Rashard Lewis, Tyson Chandler, Amare Stoudimire, Dwight Howard, and Tracy McGrady.

As you would expect with anything and everything Garnett does, the story is true, it’s raw and it is produced by  circle of people Garnett allowed into his tight inner sanctum, a place he guards 24/7.

Another take-away for seasoned NBA observers is the undeniable similarities between Garnett and NBA/Celtics’ All-Time great Bill Russell, both very guarded and well-aware of the circle of madness that is fame and the NBA. Both very conscious to keep their privacy – private and families secure.

The documentary is currently running/streaming on Showtime after its November 12th release date. Interviews of the likes of Doc Rivers, KG’s championship coach with the 2008 Celtics, and former teammate Sam Cassell, examine the complexity of Garnett – a player with serious work ethic, intensity on and off court, humor, loyalty to those he trusts, keen observation of the fast-moving world surrounding him and a disdain for anything and anyone who disrupts his normal routine.

Said Eric Newman to Variety: “I don’t think the younger generation realizes the overall impact he had, which we obviously do our best to convey in the film. It’s going from high school to the NBA when no one had done it for 20 plus years and the circumstances in which he did it. It’s the pre-salary cap NBA when he got that contract which changed the financial structure of the sport. It’s transforming this physical, intense power forward position where he adds this dynamic skill set on both ends of the floor. And then of course it’s forming the Big Three with the Celtics. We tried to weave these four pillars in without being too in your face about it, but find another — forget basketball, find another athlete who had this kind of impact on their sport. There’s not many.”

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Nov. 14

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TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – DIGGIES for Best Sports Town

BOSTON – One of the most popular sports columnists in the whole shooting match, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, got a hold a sports survey by a financial service firm, called Wallet Hub. The site named Boston as the No. 1 sports town in the USA.

Wallet Hub reporter Adam McCann, a 2017 graduate of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, penned the report and crunched some numbers to determine his listings. As Mr. McCann graduated with a Hopkins’ degree in Writing Seminars (one of the toughest majors, aside from Hopkins’ famed medical school and science degrees) AND International Studies, we’re here to applaud his efforts. Here’s a few other McCann columns archived on Muck Rack). Way to be Adam and Go Hop!

But, this TL Sunday sports notebook zigs when others might zag, so there will be a new version of the popular DIGGIES Awards with our very own 2021-22 @DigSportsDesk – Best Sports Towns listing.

In case you weren’t onboard for previous Digital Sports Desk DIGGIES,here’s an example of a prior listing. Click HERE for The Influencers. Or, click HERE for an archived 2018 DIGGIES on Hot Sports Properties to Watch. Sadly, with a Pandemic Purge of our prior Digital Sports Desk archives, there were dozens of other DIGGIES that are on a Cloud computing device somewhere. Exactly where, we do not know.

Getting back to the efforts of Mr. McCann for Wallet Hub and Mr. Ryan’s take on the listing for the Globe, the methodology of the report was quite in-depth and it started with the Global Sports Media Report of 2014. The seven-year-old report was then supplemented by scores of data, collected from and cited properly by Wallet Hub. Ready? … They used: The U.S. Census Bureau, Team Marketing Report, ESPN, NCAA, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sports Reference, Forbes, Sports Analytics Research from Mike Lewis, MLB Advanced Media, Minor League Baseball, Nielsen, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, NBA, Ranker.com, NHL.com, U.S. College Hockey Online, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, USL, Soccer Stadium Digest, FlashScore, Sportico, Google Trends, National Soccer Hall of Fame and WalletHub analysis.

Somehow or another, they left Barstool Sports and Digital Sports Desk out?

The other key factor in the report and rankings, the data crunching of 392 cities in the United States was carved into three population-based categories of:

  • Large Cities (300,000+ people)
  • Mid-sized Cities (100,000 to 299,999 people)
  • Small Cities (Fewer than 100,000 people)

Here are the findings:

Large Cities:

  1. Boston
  2. Los Angeles
  3. New York
  4. Pittsburgh
  5. Philadelphia
  6. Denver
  7. Wash DC
  8. Dallas
  9. Chicago
  10. Miami

(Note: They went 61 deep in their listing of Large Cities.

Mid-sized Cities:

  1. Buffalo
  2. Green Bay
  3. Salt Lake City
  4. Orlando
  5. Glendale
  6. Durham
  7. Ann Arbor
  8. Baton Rouge
  9. South Bend
  10. Norman

Small Cities:

  1. Clemson
  2. West Point
  3. Fayette (Michigan)
  4. East Lansing
  5. Tuscaloosa
  6. Hanover
  7. State College
  8. Buies Creek (North Carolina)
  9. Stanford
  10. Morgantown (West Virginia)

Much to its credit, the report also broke down the various cities by the major sports. Ryan was quick to point out that Boston ranked No. 5 in Baseball, No. 1 in ice hockey, No. 3 in football and No. 2 in basketball while also placing the very-much “pro” sports town as No. 15 in college basketball. … You ‘gotta love’ the Buffalo, Green Bay, Clemson and West Point mentions, too.

The college basketball rankings had Durham as No. 1 (thanks Coach K and Duke) and Lexington as No. 2 (thanks Coach Cal and UK). All things considered, Boston’s rather high ranking had to come from the fact you can see no fewer than seven Division I college programs, including:

  1. America East – UMass Lowell
  2. Atlantic 10 – UMass
  3. ACC – Boston College
  4. BIG EAST – Providence
  5. Colonial – Northeastern
  6. IVY League – Harvard
  7. Patriot League – Boston U, and Holy Cross

With all things considered, there’s no real way to determine the No. 1 Sports City. Do you consider success in a calendar year by pro sports teams and then add some college programs when it is appropriate? How many sports in the NCAA athletics do you consider?

Do you base it on a loyal fan base? Attendance? TV Ratings logged when the clubs play on national TV and/or the playoffs?

Do you base the rankings on the athletes themselves and try to pinpoint the cities which have had the most champions, MVPs, league leaders in scoring and the other key stats? Do you base it on players who might be considered the Greatest of All-Time (G.O.A.T.S) who all played in the same city?

If the last question provides the full criteria, then there’s no question that Boston would rank as the No. 1 sports city, with all due respect to Jim Brownof football’s Cleveland Browns, Babe Ruth (who played in Boston before his incredible baseball career with the New York Yankees), Wayne Gretzky (who put Edmonton on the map when he led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships between 1983-84 and 1987-88, and basketball’s Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

This is where the 2021-22 DIGGIES for Best Sports Towns come into the picture.

The criteria:

  • Winning
  • Loyal Fans who come out to the park and watch on TV
  • Deep knowledge by large numbers of fans “on the streets”
  • LOUD buildings from sold-out crowds supporting their team
  • History
  • Great players, coaches and organizations (G.O.A.T.S included)
  • New Trends in sports success

Here we go:

  1. CHICAGO: When you combine the friendly confines of Wrigley, the passion for the Cubs, the up & coming White Sox, the incredible Michael Jordan-led run and newfound resurgence of the Bulls and the loyalty of the Blackhawks and Bears fans, Chi-town has to be No. 1. There was no sports venue any louder than the old Chicago Stadium. There never will be.
  2. PHILADELPHIA: Although the City of Brotherly Love has not cashed-in on a major sports championship since the Philly Eagles upset the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS in Super Bowl LII in 2017, the rabid (and sometimes felonious) fanbase that is a Philly sports fan earns the No. 2 spot. … On two different occasions, while seeking information on the great Red Sox vs NY Yankees rivalry and crazy fans, I was told by security honchos at both Yankees Stadium and Fenway Park that the Phillies fans were “by far” the rowdiest group.
  3. BOSTON: The incredible history and winning ways of the Celtics and Patriots combined with the recent successes of the NHL Bruins and Red Sox place Boston HIGH on any list of great sports towns. That success, however, has spoiled the average fan as its now an expectation for teams to reach “The Finals” in every sport.
  4. TAMPA BAY: Maybe a surprise, but the recent trend of winning by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, the consistent winning teams put on the baseball field by the Tampa Bay Rays of late and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning. Rays fans deserve a new baseball stadium as opposed to the giant Hefty Bag that is Tropicana Field.
  5. NEW YORK: There’s been a bit of a drought for champions in New York but sports fans can not overlook the 27 World Series championships by the Yankees and sporadic success of the New York Giants. While the Mets, Knicks, Jets, and Rangers have struggled of late, NY fans have hope with the Nets in Brooklyn and the Islanders in their brand new Belmont building. New York sports fans are loyal, loud and knowledgeable but very demanding. Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of College Basketball and home for the Knicks and Rangers, is reason enough to get a Top 5 listing.
  6. SAN FRANCISCO BAY: Roller Derby’s Bay Area Bombers come right to mind as one of the greatest teams of all-time, but the Golden State Warriors are the reason the SF-Oakland area is listed so high. The Bay Area can also lay claim to the 49ers (now playing in nearby Santa Clara) but perennial contenders in the NFL as the SF 49ers and their five Super Bowl victories. This year, the SF Giants surprised everyone while winning 107 games to take the highly competitive National League West. The Giants disappointed in Postseason, losing to the LA Dodgers.
  7. LOS ANGELES: The Hall of Fame players, sold-out crowds and historical success of the Dodgers and Lakers carry weight for LA, even though the current version of the Lakers are struggling. The LA Kings had their 15 minutes of fame, which is reason enough not to allow LA to crack the Top 5, but with this season’s Super Bowl scheduled for February 13th at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, both the LA Rams and LA Chargers are bound to make the NFL Playoffs come January. In college basketball, U.C.L.A. is ranked No. 1 and could do some damage come March Madness time.
  8. DALLAS: The iconic NFL franchise valued at $6.5 billion by Forbes Magazine puts Dallas on every Top 10 list for sports towns and the relative success of the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Stars (NHL) and a brand new ballpark for the Texas Rangers (MLB) fill-out the list of pro teams. Dallas is also noted as a top Nielsen TV market for national sports, no matter the teams playing. Of course, College football is king in Texas and the AT&T Dome (the house that Jerry Jones built) plays host to all kinds of sports championships.
  9. ST. LOUIS: With the support baseball fans show year-after-year to the Cardinals, that alone places St. Louis as a Top 10 sports town in the USA. The 2019 St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup, too, but the fact there’s no NFL (good-bye Rams) and no NBA (good-bye Hawks) in town sets St. Louis back.
  10. MIAMI: Pat Riley’s winning ways for the Heat, combined with the iconic ways of the Miami Dolphins and the upstart 2021-22 Florida Panthers put the heart of South Florida as our No. 10 great sports city.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Top 10 listing deserves a few “also rans” and certainly great sports cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh and its Terrible Towels and Steelers, Salt Lake City for its support of the Jazz, Seattle, Wash DC/Baltimore, and Atlanta – home of the 2021 World Series champion Braves are all worthy of consideration. Small towns? How about Annapolis?

Parting Words …

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: Former Celtics champion Kevin Garnett’s documentary, entitled with his famous exclamation of joy, post 2008 NBA Championship debuted on Showtime this past Friday. Look for a review in next week’s notebook.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – November 7

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30 Years Ago, “Magic” Johnson Announced He Had HIV+

By TERRY LYONS

The date was November 7, 1991 and this reporter, then the Director of Media Relations for the National Basketball Association, was driving a rented Toyota Camry in the outskirts of Orlando, Florida, zipping along on the Florida Bee-Line highway when his pager did the appropriate thing for that exact time and place. It buzzed.

Keep in mind, these were old school “General Hospital” style radio pagers and it was a few years before Blackberry or Motorola flip phones would power our communications department and the rest of the connected world. At that point in time, we had just discarded our IBM Selectric typewriters for some “All-in-One” system that was tied to a mainframe computer the size of a Mack truck that took up an entire office on the 15th floor of Olympic Tower, the NBA’s headquarters.

The one line message was marked URGENT and it stated to call Brian McIntyre, the eventual Basketball Hall of Fame Bunn Award winner, and my immediate boss. He had entered an “801” number which I recognized as the Salt Lake City Marriott. He was in Utah to make the formal announcement for the 1993 NBA All-Star Weekend. Then NBA Commissioner, the late David Stern had called McIntyre at 5:00am (Mountain time) and advised him of the need to cancel the Salt Lake press conference and be ready to meet Stern for a flight to LA.

I was in Orlando to stage a small press conference to announce the players on the All-Star ballot and begin a deep dive into the planning for the 1992 All-Star Weekend which would be held in Orlando Arena with hotel HQ at Disney World. Aside from the screaming and crying of toddlers on the flights to and fro’ McCoy AFB aka Orlando International Airport, it was going to be a great year to join the wonderful workers from the league’s special events, security and broadcasting departments to lay the foundation for the All-Star weekend activities. (The simple remedy for those flights, by the way, was an upgrade to First Class, a Bloody Mary, accompanied by a heavy dose of Led Zep and some good stereo headphones).

As I drove along after receiving the page, I came upon a toll booth and its rather small six-car parking lot which had an old school telephone booth alongside. I paid my toll on the Bee-Line, walked to the phone booth and typed in the phone number along with my AT&T 16-digit calling card number which I had memorized forwards and backwards from overuse.

On the other end of the line, McIntyre was all business and, with the great relationship we had (then and now), I could easily sense there was something very wrong. In other words, there was a strong disturbance in the force that was (and still is) a foundation in the inner workings of the NBA Family.

From October 17-19 or so – a few weeks before that momentous notification – we had staged the 1991 McDonald’s Open in Paris, France. It was a tournament of international club champions from the EuroLeague, Spain’s ACB, France’s champion Limoges and the NBA’s rep – (but not reigning champion) – the Los Angeles Lakers. The preseason tournament was staged at Bercy Arena and the basketball fans of France and what seemed to be the entire European continent had come out in droves to cheer Earvin “Mag-eek” Johnson and the Lakers.

After the Lakers squeaked by Spain’s Joventut Badalona (116-114) in Paris, everyone returned to the USA for the remaining week or two of preseason games before the regular season tipped-off on November 1, 1991. In that timespan, the Lakers had extended Johnson’s contract and with that redux came a physical and insurance policy to guarantee the deal.

In 100% confidentiality, the results of that physical were made known to Los Angeles Lakers athletic trainer Gary Vitti who was told by the Lakers’ team doctors to ask – well, maybe tell – “Magic” Johnson to return from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles for a meeting in their offices. Vitti instinctively knew there was a major issue and that very soon everyone – Johnson, Vitti, every LA Lakers player and, really, everyone in the world’s life would be changing.

As McIntyre told me the terrible news – in confidence, of course, as we were probably among only five or six people in the world who knew what was coming – he hung-up the phone quickly as he was preparing to meet Stern. I was left on the side of a highway, holding the hand-set of the public phone in total shock. Earvin “Magic” Johnson had tested HIV+ and was going to announce his retirement from the NBA within the next 24 hours.

For the short term, everything went on as originally planned. we staged a press conference at Orlando Arena where Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck crashed and ambushed the event, proving early what we were up against in the Disney school. I was thinking to myself, “we should invoice Disney for $1,500,000 and welcome them to the NBA sponsor family.” Little did I know they’d eventually own both ABC and ESPN and be the league’s No. 1 source of revenue.

Instead of staying in Orlando for a game and two days of planning meetings, I gave some lame excuse that I had to “get back to the office,” and flew home to NYC, knowing the news might break at anytime. It held, until Johnson walked up to the podium the next day with his Lakers’ teammates in attendance and Commissioner Stern sitting right next to him, right where a league Commissioner should be sitting in support of a player.

Remember, at that time, even though the HIV/AIDS crisis had ripped through the 1980s, the virus was mostly misunderstood and the United States government hadn’t lifted a finger. Although famous actors, rock stars, fashion designers, a NASCAR driver and famous musicians such as Liberace had died from the AIDS virus, it remained far from the mainstream and was thought of as mostly an epidemic amongst the homosexual community and intravenous drug users.

On November 7, 1991, that would all change. The news of Magic Johnson confirming he had the HIV+ virus was front page of every newspaper in the world, lead-story on every newscast and sportscast, shocking a world that envisioned the Lakers star and NBA Most Valuable Player dying a terrible death.

Seventeen days later, Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of the rock band Queen, would pass away in London at the age of 45. Only one day before, Mercury announced he had tested HIV+ and had AIDS.

We quickly realized, while many others chose to keep their illness confidential – which was certainly their right – Magic Johnson was approaching this monumental announcement in a different way.

Right from the get-go, Johnson was going to work his magic, “I plan on going on, living for a long time, bugging you guys, like I’ve [sic] always have. So, you’ll see me around. I plan on being with the Lakers and the league — Hopefully, David [Stern] will have me for awhile — and going on with my life,” he said that November day.

“And I guess now I get to enjoy some of the other sides of living…that because of the season, the long practices and so on. I just want to say that I’m going to miss playing. And I will now become a spokesman for the HIV virus because I want people — young people to realize that they can practice safe sex. And you know sometimes you’re a little naive about it and you think it could never happen to you. You only thought it could happen to, you know, other people and so on and all. And it has happened, but I’m going to deal with it and my life will go on. And I will be here, enjoying the Laker games, and all the other NBA games around the country. So, life is going to go on for me, and I’m going to be a happy man,” he continued.

“But the Commissioner, David Stern, has been great in supporting me. And I will go on and hopefully work with the league and help in any way that I can. I want to thank also (Lakers General Manager) Jerry West for all he’s done. Dr. Kerlin. Dr. Mellman — he will tell you who my other doctors (Dr. Ho) are that have helped me through this — as well as, like I said, my father, in a sense, (LA Lakers team owner) Dr. Jerry Buss, for just drafting me and me being here.

“Now, of course, I will miss the battles and the wars, and I will miss you guys [the reporters]. But life goes on,” he concluded.

One thing was apparent for everyone in the small Forum Club press lounge that afternoon. No one … and I mean NO ONE … thought Magic Johnsonwould be alive, well and thriving as an incredible businessman, part owner of the LA Dodgers, regular in the NBA legends family and an entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Year 2021, 30 YEARS later – which is today.

POST SCRIPT: In 2007 when I first left the NBA to begin a new and different life in New England, I wrote some thoughts on the occasion of Magic Johnson’s 48th birthday (he is now age 62).

“You just can’t help but think back to that November, 1991 day when Magic walked up to the podium at the Forum in LA to announce to the world that he had the HIV virus,” I wrote.

“There were only two or three people in the room that day that knew what it meant; Earvin’s newly hired specialist, Dr. Ho and a few of his colleagues. Magic had the financial wherewithal to hire the very best in the medical field. At that time, Dr. Ho had been researching the HIV/AIDS virus for nearly a decade and hadn’t witnessed anyone with the virus battle the “PR” fight against the virus the way Magic could and would.

Magic brought the virus to the front pages and the sports pages. He successfully preached that the virus could affect the everyday man and woman. Magic changed his diet, his exercise regimen and said he would retire from the NBA.

That season, the NBA All-Star ballots were counted and Earvin was the leading the way. Of course, we all know that Magic was the MVP of the ’92 game and would go on to win a gold medal at the ’92 Barcelona Olympics Games, then eventually return for limited play in the NBA.”

IN 1996: Similar to some of the thoughts noted here today, I googled a few key words and this quote I spoke to LA Times sports writer Steve Springer came up from a retrospective done on November 3, 1996 – marking five years rather than the 30 we are celebrating today.

“What we in the NBA, the media and people all over the world have learned in the last five years is monumental,” said Terry Lyons, an NBA vice president. “And Magic Johnson is the reason, hands down. He put the news about the virus on the front page all over the world. He probably saved a lot of lives, when you stop and think about it. Until then, the medical community had been 10 years ahead of the rest of us in terms of knowledge. . . . Magic brought the two sides together.”

LISTEN to THE FOLLOW-UP PODCAST where “PR MAGIC” was discussed with Noah Coslov.

While We’re Young (Ideas) – October 31

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The Top 25 for NCAA College Basketball 2021-22

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – It’s Halloween, the eve of All-Saints Day a.k.a All Hallows’ Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows. Others think of it differently, with all due respect to the Roman Catholic Holy day of obligation, says this disciple of the great Hall-of-Fame St. John’s head coach, Louie Carnessecca.

For college basketball fans, it’s officially MIDNIGHT M🏀DNESS!

Lately, college basketball is a lot like Halloween as prominent coaches and their recruiting assistants and runners repping bigtime schools go house-to-house “trick-or-treating” for players – once committed to another school – but now in the transfer portals.

In 2018, the NCAA put in place a new rule that college student athletes can transfer one time without having to sit-out a season. The system is in place and popular for college soccer players and for men’s and women’s basketball, in particular. There are favorable transfer portal rules for graduate transfers and for the players left behind by a coach who was either fired or moved on to a better position or more money. Also, because of the pandemic, the NCAA has allowed student-athletes an extra year of eligibility and that has been reason for some players to look to transfer.

Depending on the coach and the program (sans the IVY League which doesn’t fool around with such nonsense), the recruitment of a transfer can fill a hole in a program, replace an injured player, replace a player who might’ve dropped-out or other circumstances that require relocation. Note: Here is an interesting compilation of the transfer portals researched and provided by Athletic Director U.

Although the rules provide for an immediate return for programs that seem “one player away,” many college coaches don’t actively shop the transfer portal., including the likes of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, a Hall-of-Famer.

According to AD U, Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman has nearly perfected a system to project how a low-major player will perform at a high major, an “Up-Transfer” to a tough competition conference, such as the SEC. He did the same when he was successfully coaching Nevada in the Mountain West.

What is quite interesting is a good look at the annual preseason college basketball rankings. A tough task, yes, but the Associated Press, the College Basketball Coaches and the bible of college basketball, the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook all do their very own Top 25 predictions.

On first look, all three are very similar in their rankings. Additionally, the listings include the “usual suspects,” those college basketball juggernauts that we all find in the 68-team NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament every March.

To save time and space, our parent publication, Digital Sports Desk, crunched some numbers and created a “Consensus Top 25,” utilizing the three polls cited above while adding insights and observations from college basketball media days, player updates and trends.

Here is the 2021-22 Consensus Preseason College Basketball Top 25:

  1. Gonzaga
  2. UCLA
  3. Kansas
  4. Villanova
  5. Texas
  6. Michigan
  7. Purdue
  8. Baylor
  9. Kentucky
  10. Duke
  11. Illinois
  12. Memphis
  13. Oregon
  14. Alabama
  15. Arkansas
  16. Houston
  17. Tennessee
  18. Ohio State
  19. Florida State
  20. North Carolina
  21. Maryland
  22. Auburn
  23. St. Bonaventure
  24. UConnecticut
  25. Virginia

Keep an Eye On: Mississippi State, Indiana, USC, Texas Tech, and Virginia Tech.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The bible of college basketball noted above, Chris Dortch’s Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, is a must-purchase for every hoops fans. Media members contribute and benefit from the enormous amount of work and research provided by the editorial staff headed by editor/publisher Chris Dortch. This columnist can’t remember the last time a college basketball season began without the yearbook in the home office. One reporter refers to the day Blue Ribbon arrives as “the best day of the year.” with respects to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, The Breeders’ Cup, BIG EAST Thursday & Friday, March Madness Thursday, and Final Four Saturday, no one disagrees.

This year Dortch wrote, “For the second consecutive year, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the production of this book challenging. But, in 41 years of publishing, we’ve faced down many potential roadblocks. Some we’ve faced head-on and overcome, others we’ve had to devise a work-around.” … Dortch also wrote about Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski who announced this would be his last year coaching college basketball and Blue Ribbon dedicated its cover to Coach K. … You can get your very own (we recommend the spiral bound and digital download combo) Blue Ribbon by visiting their online site HERE. You can also read about the college basketball news all season long by subscribing to Blue Ribbon on this Substack platform.

COLLEGE COACHES AND OTHER ITEMS FOR NEXT WEEK: This week, in a salute to the great career of Duke’s Coach Krzyzewski, we’ll provide a list of the Top 10 coaches in college basketball. Next week, we’ll delve into the BIG EAST conference.

While We’re Young (Ideas) Top 10 College Basketball Coaches 2021-22: There’s no other place to start than with Coach K, who not only guided Duke University to great heights but also helped restore the pride and winning ways of the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team.

  1. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke)
  2. Mark Few (Gonzaga)
  3. Jay Wright (Villanova)
  4. Tom Izzo (Michigan State)
  5. Bob McKillop (Davidson)
  6. Eric Musselman (Arkansas)
  7. Chris Beard (Texas Tech)
  8. Jim Boeheim (Syracuse)
  9. Ed Cooley (Providence)
  10. Tony Bennett (Virginia)

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Happy Halloween.🎃

While We’re Young (Ideas) – October 24

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Final Wrap on All Things NBA 75

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The “official” NBA75 listing was published by the league this week.

There were nine NBA legends that made the While We’re Young (Ideas) list that DID NOT MAKE the official listing. Obviously, the Denver Nuggets and Kentucky Colonels’ alum, and the ABA overall, made much more of an impression on this reporter than the NBA committee members, as three Nuggets greats and four former ABAers were with us and none with them. Here’s the full list cross-referenced:

While We’re Young (Ideas) had:

  1. Vince Carter
  2. Alex English
  3. Artis Gilmore
  4. Connie Hawkins
  5. Tommy Heinsohn
  6. Dan Issel
  7. Bernard King
  8. David Thompson
  9. Jamaal Wilkes

Looking at it the other way, the NBA 75 had:

  1. Carmelo Anthony
  2. Anthony Davis
  3. Dave DeBusschere
  4. Damien Lillard
  5. Jerry Lucas
  6. Chris Paul
  7. Gary Payton
  8. Dennis Rodman
  9. Dolph Schayes
  10. Bill Sharman

Note: The one person discrepancy lies with the fact the NBA named 76 players.

COACHING TREE: To tie this all in a sweet, 75-year-old bow, two additional aspects of the anniversary team should be examined – Coaching and Play-by-Play broadcasters.

At the NBA@50, only 10 coaches were honored. They were:

  1. Red Auerbach
  2. Chuck Daly
  3. Bill Fitch
  4. Red Holzman
  5. Phil Jackson
  6. John Kundla
  7. Don Nelson
  8. Jack Ramsay
  9. Pat Riley
  10. Lenny Wilkens

Since only 10 coaches were named at year 50, WWYI will add only THREE more to the list above for NBA 75. The opinion here places these two coaches into the hall of glory:

  1. Hubie Brown
  2. Gregg Popovich
  3. Erik Spoelstra

While the great, Sports Emmy award winner in Turner Sports studio anchor Ernie Johnson Jr. was noted as a key contributor to the successes of the NBA in our listing last week. That prompted a final NBA at 75 list of 12 of the league’s Greatest Play-by-Play commentators, a list of artists who brought the games to millions of fans. Here’s one columnist’s opinion of the best of the best in the industry:

  1. Marv Albert
  2. Mike Breen
  3. Jim Durham
  4. Ian Eagle
  5. Marty Glickman
  6. Mike Gorman
  7. Chick Hearn
  8. Al McCoy
  9. Brent Musburger
  10. Johnny Most
  11. Dick Stockton
  12. Joe Tait

There are MANY other deserving (radio and TV) voices of the NBA teams over the years, far too many to mention but Eddie Doucette, Hot Rod Hundley, Bill Schonely, and Bob Wolff are listed with apologies while Bob Costas and Curt Gowdy are to be honored in Baseball. There are also a fair number of NBA team play-by-play commentators who were somewhat exposed by the advent of NBA League Pass (TV and audio) and the amount of complaining about referee calls is second only to the players themselves who seem to whine about every call.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: According to France’s L’Equipe and Spanish EuroPresse, EuroLeague Basketball denied possible creation of “an NBA division in Europe,” although it has admitted a three-way meeting last month with the NBA and the FIBA. The intention of the meetings were, “joining forces to increase the popularity of basketball in Europe,” confirmed related parties attending the meeting. As both the NBA and FIBA ​​have confirmed, executives from the three parties (FIBA, NBA and EuroLeague Basketball) met in Madrid in September. … Spain’s highly regarded sports section in “Marca” ran a front page story with banner headline, “The NBA Lands in Europe,” but EuroLeague Basketball quickly shot down the possibilities.

FIBA (International Basketball Federation) went a bit further with a statement that specified the meeting was only to discuss “the unification of European basketball, divided between the Euroleague, the private professional league, and International Federation competitions such as the Champions League (BCL). The International Federation also said in a statement that monthly meetings would now be held on the subject.

The NBA commented, but kept the discussions close to the vest, stating: “We were recently invited to initiate discussions on how we can work together to develop basketball in Europe. We look forward to participating to further these discussions in the future.”

Said Marca, “A European NBA with a Western Conference (clubs in Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, the Benelux region, Germany, Austria and the northern countries such as Poland or Sweden) and an Eastern Conference (with clubs in Russia, Turkey, Greece, the Baltic States, Israel, Romania etc. “would be fire.”

The speculation of the idea was presuming the entity would run on its own and not interact for in-season games with the NBA in North America. In other words, it would run similar to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) that began this year on the African Continent.

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At #NBA75, They Made NBA Come Alive

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The last two columns were dedicated to one reporter’s viewpoint on the NBA’s 75 Greatest Players. Many a basketball pundit will be coming forth with their own lists before the league unveils the official “75” this week (October 19-21). It’ll be great.

Meanwhile, our friends at the Sports Business Journal did a “Fan-Tastic” job at listing their view on “The NBA at 75: 75 People Who Grew the NBA’s Business.” It was a great idea and, while they went a bit heavy on sports agents, they nailed a bunch of true gems in listing colleagues (Val Ackerman, Ski Austin, Kathy Behrens, Wayne Embry, and, yes, agent and the NBA Players Association’s first executive director Larry Fleisher).

I was very happy to see Michael Goldberg, (my NBA boss) Brian McIntyre, NBA colleagues Amy Brooks, Russ Granik, Paula Hanson – with a tip of the hat to the NBA’s first-ever head of (Team Business Operations aka Team Services, Team-Bo) Bob King, too – Bill Koenig, Sal LaRocca, Joel Litvin, Jeff Mishkin, Rod Thorn, and Rick Welts). Of course, the list included “must-haves” and rightfully so with former Commissioners Maurice Podoloff, Walter Kennedy, Larry O’Brien and – the big guy – David Stern.

Stern’s transition to pass the business torch and mission along to current Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commish Mark Tatum was also duly recognized in the SBJs terrific listing.

That said and recognizing they only had 75 slots and maybe tossed 10 turnovers, they did miss a few people from a list that could’ve been 750 instead of only 75. Here are a few to consider:

Amongst the players named, I would nominate players who truly changed the game. They are:

  1. George Mikan
  2. Wilt Chamberlain
  3. Bill Russell
  4. Elgin Baylor
  5. Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson
  6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
  7. Julius Erving
  8. Larry/Earvin … aka Bird/Magic
  9. Michael Jordan
  10. Charles Barkley
  11. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant
  12. LeBron James
  13. Steph Curry

On the NBA business and outside the four lines basketball front, I think the SBJ missed out on:

  1. Si Gourdine
  2. Joe Axelson (the NBA’s first VO, Basketball Operations)
  3. Matt Winick (Axelson’s first deputy and incredible NBA resource)
  4. Paul Gilbert (the creator of NBA … It’s Fan-Tastic!)
  5. Leah Wilcox (possibly the NBA’s most valuable resource with its players)
  6. Satch Sanders (first Director of Player Programs)
  7. Ed Desser (NBA Director of Broadcasting and television guru)
  8. Bill Marshall (the creator and father of NBA consumer products)
  9. Boris Stankovic (the late FIBA exec who worked hand-in-hand with NBA)
  10. The Basketball w/o Borders crew of: Kim Bohuny, Bret MacTavish, Helen Wong (my former assistant/director), FIBA’s Zoran Radovic, former NBA scout/Nike rep Rich Sheubrooks and the UN’s (now President of Ripon College) Zach Messetti.

Surely, there are hundreds of others that could be listed, including many colleagues who ventured to the likes of Hong Kong, other points in Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America to spread the NBA gospel and business efforts.

Lastly, on the TV front, there were a number of omissions and I’ll list just a few:

  1. Sandy Grossman (CBS Sports Director)
  2. Ted Shaker (Exec Producer of CBS Sports as NBA came of age on broadcast TV)
  3. Mike Burks (Lead producer of the NBA on CBS)
  4. Dick Stockton and Tommy Heinsohn – (CBS Sports NBA announce team)
  5. Tommy Roy (Lead producer of the NBA on NBC)
  6. Ernie Johnson Jr. (NBA on TNT anchor, and possibly the No. 1 person overlooked by the SBJ NBA 75 Business list). Ernie, Kenny and Charles impacted the NBA on TNT more than any other and a legion of TBS, TNT “people in the truck” did as much for the NBA as any person listed here.

There are plenty more, but let’s call it a wrap and tip-off the NBA 75 this week.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: It’s the year of a once in a 100 years global pandemic, right? In 2021, somehow the firm of Goldman Sachs has its best year in its history after only nine months, according to Front Office Sports reviews of Goldman’s latest earnings reports. … Goldman generated $13.61 billion in Q-3 and $46.7 billion in its last three quarters … FOS wrote: “Goldman is also helping the NFL find investment partners for its major media assets, including the NFL Network, RedZone, and NFL.com. … “After hiring Goldman, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly told league staff in a memo that the league plans to leverage live games, events like the NFL Draft, and opportunities around sports betting. In April, Goldman Sachs estimated that the sports betting market could reach $39 billion by 2033.”

Go figure.