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Horrow’s Updated Sports Biz Handbook

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – When Rick Horrow, popularly known in sports business industry circles as “The Sports Professor,” first released The Sports Business Handbook at a joint Harvard Law/Harvard Business conference two years ago, it was heralded as the most unique collection of commentary and advice from industry leaders in the $1.3 trillion business of sports.

Digital Sports Desk was there for the book launch at HBS.

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Then came COVID-19, changing not only the sports world but the world at large.

This October, the newly revised and expanded edition of Horrow’s book, The Sports Business Handbook: Insights from 100+ Leaders who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry will be on sale and available for order online. It will have more insights skimmed from many of the sports industry’s brightest minds and influential executives.  It will include guidance for the sports business in a post-pandemic world.

Horrow will co-host a special book launch event – “Sports Business @ 50 Lessons & Leadership from Legends of the Game” – in New York City on Thursday, September 22nd, with former Major League Baseball president and book contributor Bob DuPuy at the offices of Foley & Lardner LLP (90 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Featured speakers at the book launch include Horrow and DuPuy, as well as National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, and Zack Leonsis, top executive at Monumental Sports (RSN), the Washington Wizards (NBA) and Washington Capitals (NHL).

“Within three months of our first edition’s publication, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, and sports, as we knew it, shut its doors,” said Horrow. “That gave us the opportunity to solicit additional contributions, advice, and guidance from 16 other sports business leaders who provided unique post-pandemic insight to complement and reinforce the original 28 chapters.”

The revised and expanded second edition, published by Human Kinetics, features an introduction from Hall of Fame Duke Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and is organized into five parts, revealing the personal insights of prominent sport business leaders and recognized subject matter experts in the field.

Part I identifies skills needed to be successful in the sports industry with contributions from Boston Red Sox exec Larry Lucchino, ESPN personality Jay Bilas, NBA Hall of Famer Shane Battier, and race car driver Lyn St. James.

Part II focuses on selling and branding, with commentary from Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, and Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, while Part III discusses tech, media, and activation with NBC Sports exec Mark Lazarus, Washington Capitals/Wizards team owners Ted Leonsis and his talented son, Zack, Sports Innovation Lab founder Angela Ruggiero, and Reebok President Matt O’Toole.

Part IV of the book covers sponsorships and deal making with IMG founder Bob Kain, Anheuser-Busch CMO Tony Ponturo, Basketball Hall of Fame Chairman and former USA Basketball chair Jerry Colangelo, and Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, while Part V explores the qualities and attributes desired in a leader with commentary from former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, Women’s basketball coaching legend Debbie Yow, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The new essays featured in The Sports Business Handbook’s second edition are themed around the core business principles learned from the post-Covid business comeback: creativity born out of necessity; best practices born out of “natural selection;” and “cooperation born out of urgency.” Contributors to this special section include DuPuy, NASCAR Chief Executive Lesa France Kennedy, Opendorse founder Blake Lawrence, and other industry leaders focused on eSports, new media, NIL, and other critical business concepts.

In addition, the revised edition now includes a “Breakthrough Moments” list of the 50 most significant sport-related moments that changed the industry over the past 50 years.

As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, Horrow has been the architect of more than 100 deals worth more than $20 billion in sports, performing arts, and other urban infrastructure projects. Horrow pioneered the public/private partnership and infrastructure branding concepts that, to date, has enticed more than $4 billion in corporate funding to cities and development projects. Besides developing stadia and arenas, Horrow’s ability to put together multiple urban initiatives into one package for voter approval has resulted in the building of new performing arts and convention centers, schools, libraries, transit projects, and tourist destinations.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept. 11

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Sunshine daydream

Walking in the tall trees

Going where the wind goes

Blooming like a red rose

Breathing more freely

Ride out singing, I’ll walk you in the morning sunshine

Sunshine daydream

Sunshine daydream

Walking in the sunshine

– Music by Bob Weir, Words by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir

The Foundation of the Basketball Hall of Fame = Family

By TERRY LYONS

UNCASVILLE – Dreams can be both wonderful or frightening. To the contrary – daydreams are delightful, like walking in the sunshine or walking through the woods as sunshine drips through the trees to the point where you can see the beams of light breaking through.

Picture yourself as a child growing up in Bahía Blanca (White Bay), Argentina, a city of 300,000 southwest of Buenos Aires and the futbol crazy country. While the masses are happily playing their favorite game, you’ve taken a road less travelled, following your family ties to the sport of basketball.
Manu Ginobili (Getty Images)

You dream of making the local pro team – Club Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca – maybe hitting the winning shot in the Asociación Bahiense de Básquetbol local league. Your first stop, however, is with Andino Sport Club of La Rioja in the 1995–96 season. Your dream might now travel as far as making the Argentine national team and competing in the Suda-America world qualifiers, or the Olympic Games or the FIBA Worlds.

You’ve heard of the National Basketball Association and have watched a few highlight tapes, maybe the NBA Finals but your dreams are realistic. You don’t go so far as to daydream about winning an Olympic Gold Medal or an NBA Championship. You’ve never even heard of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the game.

The game, like the song, takes you where the wind blows.

After two years with your local pro team, in 1998 you make your way to Europe to play for Reggio Calabria in Italy where the magnolia and palms are as wonderful as you’ve ever seen. Instead of the Atlantic Ocean views of Bahía Blanca, you’re playing ball at the tip of the toe of italy, ready to drop-kick the futbol, still prevalent over the basketball, right through the uprights to the Island of Sicily.

You’ve made it big, but the daydreams continue.

It’s off to the EuroLeague and in the year 2000, you sign with Virtus Bologna, a championship contender in Italy’s Lega A and in the EuroLeague.

Now, the dreams are so good you feel as though you can sell them, they’re all coming true, in two-year cycles, as in 2002, after San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich and team GM R.C. Buford have seen you play dozens of times, including a first glimpse in 1998-99 when you played for Reggio Calabria while their Spurs were competing in the McDonald’s Championship in Milan. The Spurs laid claim with a second round NBA draft selection in 1999, the 57th overall pick of the NBA Draft.

It’s off to San Antonio where you’ll meet the son of a guy from Chicago who played some ball at Loyola Chicago and in France became a TV commentator for the NBA on FR-1. As the sport goes global, you realize you’ll join forces with a kid named Tony Parker, Jr., born to a model in Bruges, Belgium and brought up by a basketball-loving Dad to play with a taller kid named Tim Duncan who grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands and played some college ball at Wake Forest. There will be an Admiral in your dreams. His name is David Robinson who played his ball for Navy, sat-out a couple years and then was joined by Duncan.

Daydreams often include good fortune and you’re about to experience it.

Meanwhile, when you start to count your blessings, you realize that your original group of players from Argentina toiled on the courts for 18 years, all together and good enough to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. You and your buds upset the great American teams at the 2002 Worlds and again in Athens. The top row of the podium awaited as your Spurs teammate stood, annoyed, on the bronze medal level while your Spurs coach, Coach “Pop,” watch from the sidelines assisting Larry Brown in his agony of defeat.

Your name is Manu Ginobili and to a great extent, all your dreams came true. Except, you never-ever dreamt of being inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Ginobili also became only the second player, joining Bill Bradley, to win an NBA title, a Euroleague Championship and an Olympic gold medal.

Argentina’s win in Athens was the greatest basketball accomplishment ever, but this weekend, Manu Ginobili’s induction to the HoopHall is a solid No. 2 moment and all of Argentina, all of San Antonio, all of Bologna and all of Reggio Calabria will celebrate his success. They were all along for the ride – the dream of dreams – and through Manu’s outgoing personality, his game and his simple smile welcomed all of his many fans around the world onboard. Even Charles Barkley loved SCREAMING his name.

GINOBILI! – a Hall of Famer and rightfully so.

BREAKING NEWS: The USA AmeriCup team lost Saturday in the semifinals to Argentina, 82-73 at the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup tournament at Geraldo Arena in Recife, Brazil. Since 1992, Team USA had won 10 of their previous 12 matchups.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: While Ginobili headlined a large and diverse Class of 2022 for the Basketball Hall, all enshrined Saturday evening, there were others honored on Friday night when the powers-that-be, the trustees of Dr. Naismith’s joint in Springfield, drove down CT-Route 2 to the land of the Mohegan Sun in basketball-crazy Connecticut. … The new Hall of Famers were quizzed by the media and later presented with their Hall jackets while honors were bestowed upon others, such as College Basketball Coach Reggie Minton, former coach at Dartmouth and Air Force and the longtime head of the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches). … Additionally, the Hall honored early African-America pioneers, and Manny Jackson Basketball Human Spirit award winners who, in turn, were paying tribute to the work of Hall of Famer in Coach John McClendon and his foundation.

The evening took a turn to the skies for the final honoree. Surprisingly, the great Charles Barkley, Hall of Fame player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and even better commentator for Turner Sports, asked for the honor to introduce Dick Ebersol, former Chairman of NBC, architect of NBC’s longtime partnership and coverage of the Olympic Games and the man behind the glorious years of the NBA on NBC.

Barkley began his remarks, delivered in a speedy six minutes, with special thanks to all of the black players who played ahead of him and did the “heavy lifting” in terms of fighting racial bias and paving the way for the players of today. He also recognized Sue Bird and Silvia Fowles who are both retiring from the WNBA this season after illustrious careers on the college and pro level. Then, Charles got serious.

“I want to thank every Hall of Famer and every contributor who is in this thing tonight because we are a family,” said Barkley. “We all do something that’s important to the game, whether you play the game, talk about it on radio or TV or newspapers. We’re all part of the same family, so a thank you to everybody who plays a part in it.

“So why am I here now,” asked Barkley, proposing the question to a packed auditorium and to himself. “Dick Ebersol, I love you,” said Charles as he drifted into a slight tangent.

(Hall of Fame Coach) “Rudy Tomjanovich, I always have to say thank-you because my last couple years in Houston, Rudy treated me great. I couldn’t “Play Dead” but Rudy treated me GREAT. And, the reason I knew I couldn’t “Play Dead” was because Dick Ebersol came up to me and said, ‘Hey, what are you going to do after you retire? I think you should go into television.”

“I was like, ‘Damn, I thought I could still play,’ and clearly, I couldn’t.

“He said, ‘I think you should really think about going into television,’ but I said, ‘I don’t really know what I’m going to do when I retire.’ He said, let’s get together and we did, but he said, ‘I think you’re going to be in trouble all the time because you’re honest, but I think you’re going to be good on television.’

“People say they want to hear the truth but they really don’t want that,” noted Ebersol at the time. “They want to hear that they’re team is great and their favorite player is great. That’s all the fans want.”

“I said, ‘I’m gonna come work for you.’ I’m going to NBC.”

But then, there was a change of heart.

Barkley explained in detail, “A friend of mine, Michael Jackson (then an exec with Turner Sports just out of Georgetown) said he needed a favor. ‘I need you to meet with the people at Turner.’

I said, ‘Mike, I’m going to go work with the people at NBC.’

He said, “Just do me a favor. It’ll make me look good that I could get Charles Barkley to come down and interview at Turner.”

“So I go down, and we end up smoking cigars and drinking,” explained Barkley, adding, “I know that’s gonna shock y’all. About 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, I’m telling them about what my game-plan is, what I want to do on television. I want to talk about social issues and everything.”

“They said, ‘You can do whatever you want.’

“So I called my agent at 2:30 in the morning and said, ‘I got a problem. I think I want to sign with Turner. They were really awesome tonight. NBC just does the games on weekends, I think I want to sign with Turner.”

My agent says, ‘Think about it and we’ll talk tomorrow.”

“I go to bed but woke-up about three hours later and said, ‘You know, I can’t sleep, I’m so nervous.’

He said, “What do you want to do?”

“I want to sign with Turner,” recalled Barkley. “And, my agent said, ‘Do you want me to call Mr. Ebersol?”

I said, “I’ve got to be a man and do it, and this is the reason I’m here tonight and why I love this guy,” Barkley cut to the chase, as Ebersol’s wife, Susan Saint James began to tear-up with emotion at Ebersol’s side while Barkley’s voice quivered.

“Mr Ebersol, can I talk to you? I need to really talk to you, I’ve got something going on.”

“I want to thank-you for talking me into going into television, and I don’t know how to say this, but I think I’m going to go to Turner.

“You know what he said to me? He said, ‘Charles, I think you’re going to be great on television. Those guys at Turner are awesome and if you ever need me, just pick-up the phone.’”

“I was … I had cried, getting ready to make that call,” recalled Barkley. “When he said that to me, it just lifted such a weight off my shoulders. So, I want to thank you for making me feel better because I was so devastated. You are the reason I’m in television and television has been great.

“I love working with Turner. I love Ernie (Johnson), Kenny (Smith) and Shaq (O’Neal), but it’s all because of you.”

NBA ON NBC/DICK EBERSOL DRILLED THE GAME-WINNER: “Nothing is more important to me in the whole world than relationships, said Dick Ebersol as he began his speech accepting the Curt Gowdy Transformative Media award Friday night. “Relationships with your own family, relationships with the people you work with or the people you go to school with.

“Then you meet people who don’t exactly fit in the mold and you’re blown away by them and you stick at it – over and over again – and then you come to a night like tonight and this awesome human being gets up here and says all these wonderful things.

“I know we have people here from all over the world of basketball, but I want to say, as a resident of Connecticut, how proud I am of the basketball fans of this State. This State, along with Tennessee, has made women’s basketball the icon it is in all sports in America, and you’re all to be congratulated and thanks for all the passion you’ve brought in supporting these Connecticut teams.

“I also would like to talk about two of the people I miss most in the world and I want to talk about both of them for just a little while,” said Ebersol. “One was Bill Russell who was a great, great, great friend. A year ago, he was up here on this stage and I was watching at home, on television, in Litchfield, Connecticut.

“I think now, this giant, this man who set the standard for how African-American athletes in this country would be treated. He stopped at nothing to keep pushing it and pushing it. He encouraged so many other athletes whether they were still in college or others who followed in his footsteps.

“We were just at his funeral, and I feel fortunate to have been there because it was such a small gathering, but here tonight, I’d like everyone in this room to stand-up for five seconds and salute William Felton Russell.

“The other person I’d like to talk about, I’m sure many of you in this room are aware of his legend, his unbelievable imagination and as much as anybody in the professional game, has shaped-up what has made the NBA second only to the National Football League. Five years ago, maybe ten years ago, that, too, might have been unimaginable, except to David Stern.

“I’d like to ask everyone to stand again for David Stern who made our sport the highlight of American sport.”

“There are so many others to say thank you too, in my family, in this glorious State, in these United States of America, but let me send you home tonight by saying thank you for supporting this great game the way you do, from pee-wee to high school to college and to all the people, many seated over here, who coach these young people to become the champions they are, not only on the court but how they become great examples for the youth of our country.”

LEGENDS OF SPORTS: The previously featured Legend of Sports podcast (LOS) has been on a slight hiatus this summer but was at the Basketball Hall of Fame activities to compile a wealth of big time guests. Click below for a sampling:

LOS on KOBE

LAY-UPS, JUMP SHOTS AND SUGGESTION BOXES: The Halls of Fame of the three major American sports need to work together to make August “Hall of Fame Month.” … The month could begin with the sport of Baseball paying tribute to their class of Hall of Famers in Cooperstown, NY on the first weekend of the month. … From there, the National Football League can host the first exhibition game of the year and conduct ceremonies for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on the second weekend of the month. … Passing the baton for the third weekend of the month, the legends of basketball would gather in Springfield, Mass for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction, before they head-off to the Mohegan Sun Resort in Connecticut for some golf and additional festivities. … The Hockey Hall of Fame has traditionally conducted their induction in November at the Hockey Hall in Toronto.

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BLUE RIBBON: College basketball fans, don’t let too much time pass in ordering this year’s edition of the Blue Ribbon College Yearbook. While the hard copy edition is at the printer and will be ready to ship in about a month, you can order the digital edition at blueribbonyearbook.com

NBA, Players Team-Up with Sorare

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The National Basketball Association and its Players Association (NBPA) together with Sorare struck a multiyear partnership that makes Sorare the Official NFT Fantasy Partner of the NBA. Sorare will launch the first officially licensed, free-to-play digital collectible-based fantasy basketball game, which will be released this fall for the NBA’s 2022-23 season.

The game will provide fans a new opportunity to interact with the league and compete through a unique fantasy gaming experience that offers users the ability to create a lineup of NFT-based digital collectibles representing their favorite players and teams to earn points based on the real-life performance of NBA players. As part of the partnership, Sorare will have the rights to utilize official NBA league and team logos across its products.

“Our partnership with Sorare will give NBA fans an entirely new way to engage with our teams and players,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “With Sorare’s emerging NFT fantasy platform, we see significant opportunities to broaden our community of fans and grow NBA basketball around the world.”

“Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world and we are excited to bring fans even closer to their favorite teams and players through Sorare: NBA,” said Nicholas Julia, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Sorare. “The NBA has been at the forefront of digital experiences and collectibles and our game gives basketball fans the ultimate sports entertainment experience, where they can play like a general manager, own their game, and foster real-world connections.”

“Sorare has built an innovative gaming experience that creates a whole new way for fans worldwide to interact with and learn more about our players,” said Tamika Tremaglio, NBPA Executive Director. “We are very excited about this partnership and the effect Sorare will have on the growth of the players and the game globally.”

The new gameplay experience builds upon Sorare’s two million registered users across 185 countries, including markets across Europe and Asia where the company is seeing rapid growth in its soccer game. The partnership marks Sorare’s third with a U.S. sports league, cementing the company’s expansion in America.

Dustin Johnson Loving LIV

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BOLTON – (Staff Report from LIV Recap) – Dustin Johnson was ready for a $4 million dollar weekend. He was in hot pursuit of his first victory on the LIV Golf circuit after leaving the PGA Tour behind. What he received was $4,750,000 for his 54-hole effort in the heat of the Boston suburbs and in addition to celebrating his team’s third consecutive victory, the 4 Aces GC captain raised LIV Golf’s individual trophy for the first time.

It all came down to his lengthy, 60-foot putt to win a three-player playoff at the LIV Golf Invitational Boston Sunday.

Johnson’s eagle putt on the first playoff hole gave him the victory over Anirban Lahiri and Joaquin Niemann, two of the six players making their LIV Golf debut this week at The International golf course. All three players finished regulation at 15 under par. The playoff was the first in either the individual or team competition in this inaugural LIV mini-season.

The former world No. 1 had chances to win previous LIV Golf events – he has finished inside the top 5 in the previous two events and was playing in the final group for the third straight tournament. He was happy to finally get the job done individually in Boston while also moving to the top of the individual season-long point standings.

“I wanted to finally get my first victory out here,” said Johnson, who earned $4 million for the individual win and an additional $750,000 for his quarter share of the $3 million team prize. “I feel like I’ve had a really good chance to win every single week, just haven’t played as well on Sunday as I’d like to. But played really nicely today.”

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Johnson’s winning putt had plenty of pace on it, and would’ve rolled several feet beyond the hole had it not bounced into the cup. Lahiri was in position to make a birdie, while Niemann had already made par.

“I felt like we had a really good read on it,” Johnson said. “I might have hit it a little harder than I wanted to, but as soon as I hit it, I’m like, whoa, and then it was on a good line, and I’m like, hit the hole, hit the hole, hit the hole, and it went in somehow. I think the hole is indented for sure.”

Johnson’s final-round 5-under 65 was one of three counting scores for 4 Aces GC to go along with Patrick Reed’s 66 and Talor Gooch’s 69.

After winning the previous two LIV Golf team competitions by a combined 15 strokes, Sunday’s team race was much tighter, with 4 Aces GC (32 under) winning by two shots over Crushers GC, while Majesticks GC claimed a tight battle for the third-place prize over Iron Heads GC and Torque GC.

At one point, 4 Aces GC were five strokes off the lead. But just like in their previous win in Bedminster, they closed fast. “I think that’s what’s so impressive about our team is it seems like every week, we seem to close,” said Reed. “… Even if it’s the wrong direction on us, we seem to close it off and get going towards the end. It just shows kind of how important it is for us to go out and play well.”

Lahiri, playing for Crushers GC, shot a 6-under 64. Lahiri had a chance to reach 16 under with a brilliant second shot into the par-5 18th hole, but his eagle putt lipped out.

“I knew I had to come in hot, both in terms of trying to contend and also for the team,” Lahiri said. “It was really nice to just buckle down on that back nine and play some golf. Really proud of the shots I hit. A little unlucky but sometimes it goes that way.”

Niemann, the 23-year-old from Chile who is ranked world No. 19, shot 66 while playing with Johnson and Gooch in the final group. He suffered his only bogey of the round at the par-4 14th, the most difficult hole this week. In the playoff, his errant drive forced him to lay up, and he was unable to convert a lengthy birdie putt.

“I did everything that I could,” Niemann said. “Hit a few good putts at the end but they didn’t go in. It’s the way it is. I think it’s going to pay me back one day.”

Two big names fell just short in making the playoff at 14 under.

Former world No. 1 Lee Westwood shot the lowest round in any of the first four events with an 8-under 62 but bogeyed two of his last three holes and finished at 14 under. “It’s a sickening way to finish, but I played good all day,” said the Majesticks GC captain, whose team finished in the top three for the third time this season.

New LIV Golf member Cameron Smith, the world No. 2 and reigning Open champion, shot 64 but also suffered a late bogey. “Really thought I was out of it after yesterday, but I played really solid today,” the Punch GC captain said. “Gave myself plenty of looks, which I needed to do.”

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | September 4

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By TERRY LYONS

BOLTON – What would a gentlemen’s game of golf be without some old-fashioned controversy, bribery, back-alley wheeling and dealing and some rightful protesting?

What would Uber be without the old-fashioned deplorable service of the regular taxi-cab offerings?

What would the automotive industry be without the disruptive, upstart electric-powered Tesla?

What would the NFL be without the 1969 Joe Namath-led New York Jets of the American Football Conference and his “guarantee” of victory over the favored Baltimore Colts?

What would pro basketball be without the stories and history of the renegade ABA, complete with the legendary Dr. J, The Iceman, David Thompson, and Marvin “Bad News” Barnes?

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you the 2022 LIV Golf tour and its most recent stop, here in Bolton, Massachusetts and some 40 miles from Government Center in downtown Boston. LIV (that’s “54” for the roman numeral challenged) snuck-up on the PGA Tour although they knew it was coming.

In October, 2021 Greg Norman – “The Shark” was named Commissioner of LIV Golf and began to recruit players to shun the PGA Tour schedule and compete in a highly lucrative, eight-event men’s golf circuit where winner’s shares of a $20 million per event purse would be $4 million. LIV Golf also incorporated a team event side-hustle which would slip another $5 million into the kitty.

LIV Golf entered the market and led with its chin, as ill-advised PR and exclusionary media tactics were put in place to deflect from the main issue plaguing the new golf league. The LIV is funded by the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia with some $600 billion in the bank and about $225 million dedicated to the eight individual events, nevermind significant bonus signing money to individual players jumping from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour cried foul and began to suspend players who teed-off in LIV’s first event, held in London, June 9-11.

Most importantly, the families of the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks on New York’s World Trade Center, The Pentagon in DC and a fourth hijacked airplane – United 93 – which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, have protested the golf events. The 9/11 families are reminding the world that 15 of the 19 terrorists were Saudi citizens and were responsible for carrying out the attack.

For LIV Golf, there is no denying the direct affiliation with the Saudi-based Public Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia, realizing the United States and the rest of the world is working diligently to reduce the need for oil and fossil fuel. In 20-years, many of the cars USA citizens drive will be battery powered. With portions of the Public Investment Fund, Saudi Arabia is investing in other future resources, like tourism. The play in sports, such as hosting golf events, world sporting events (2034 Asian Games) and ultimately, a future Summer Olympics, will fulfill the kingdom’s Vision 2030 Project, a plan to embrace the world’s sporting events for positive imaging and goodwill.

Some call that effort “sports-washing” as a deflection and diplomatic tactic, a claim denied by the Saudi officials. Some point to the inevitable crossroads of sports and politics, certainly seen before. Truth be told, it is a very small but often effective step to bridge political gaps.

The more effective measure to bride those gaping holes is TIME.

With thoughts focused on the blood-bath of D-Day and the Normandy Beach landings by American and British troops to fight against Hitler’s Germany or Pearl Harbor and the December 7, 1941 Japanese bombings of Battleship Row and the deaths of 2,403 American sailors and injuries of some 1,143 others – what would American sports look like today if the USA were banning German or Japanese sportsmen?

Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki, recently retired from the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, is well known around the world as one of the best power forwards in basketball history and certainly one of the best shooters the game has ever seen. He is a 14-time NBA All-Star, the 2007 NBA Most Valuable Player, and a 2011 NBA champion when he was presented the Finals MVP Trophy. Nowitzki was born in 1978.

In Major League Baseball, thankfully, there are dozens of excellent Japanese players who’ve enriched the game and contributed mightily. From Hideki Matsui to Hideo Nomo to Ichiro Suzuki to Yu Darvish to Shohei Ohtani to Koji Uehara, the Red Sox star reliever who won the MVP of the 2013 ALCS and struck-out St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter to win the 2013 World Series.

Hideki Matsuyama, the popular Japanese pro golfer who plays on the PGA Tour was the first-ever Japanese golfer to win a men’s major golf championship – the 2021 Masters Tournament. He was born in 1992.

What would be the sense in protesting against or banning the German or Japanese players from competing in American sports because of political atrocities of the past?

PGA Tour champion Fred Couples has been tossing the most shade on LIV Golf, its structure (54-holes vs 72 holes) and its players. But, a look at Couples record and checking account shows he was quite happy to cash winner’s checks for the Shell Houston Open in 2003, the Dubai Desert Classic in 1995 and a decade or more earnings from the silly season games of Skins and “Shark” Shoot-outs.

The take-away is to be careful with who and what is criticized in the world of sports. The hypocrisy can be astounding. Sports has and does provide for an effective diplomatic meeting ground. It always should.

LIV Golf should be judged on its performance and entertainment merits, not who is playing or how it’s funded. Otherwise, that Wall, so often talked about in 2015-16, grows taller and taller and could stop athletes, born in 2002, from competing in the United States.

Can you imagine if that stopped Ichiro from playing for MLB’s Seattle Mariners, Dirk for the Mavericks, Yao Ming for the Houston Rockets or the great Boris Becker from playing at the U.S. Open tennis tournament?

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Boston College football season both began and (probably) ended on Saturday when the Eagles were upset at home by the Rutgers Scarlett Knights. Entering the game, BC held an 11 consecutive game winning streak and a 20-7-1 edge in the all-time series against Rutgers along with a 7.5 point Las Vegas odds as favorites. … Boston College held a 21-12 advantage at the 8:33 mark of the third quarter but let up a 33-yard field goal with :11 remaining in the third quarter and then the game winning TD 22-yard run by sophomore RB Al-Shadee Salaam with 2:43 left in the game. … Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt (Top 300 recruit and No. 7 QB prospect) started but split quarterbacking duties with Evan Simon. … Rutgers faces Wagner and Temple in their next two games and is likely to bring a 3-0 record into their B1G Ten season where they’ll struggle. Boston College will travel to Virginia Tech who dropped their opener to Old Dominion.

 

NFL POWER: A frequent and popular feature of NFL Power rankings will begin this week – before a single regular season game is played. Here’s the WWYI Power 10:

  1. Buffalo Bills
  2. LA Rams
  3. Cincinnati Bengals
  4. KC Chiefs
  5. Green Bay Packers
  6. Tampa Bay Bucs
  7. LA Chargers
  8. Indianapolis Colts
  9. Philadelphia Eagles
  10. Dallas Cowboys

NCAA FOOTBALL POWER: There’s one Saturday in the record books for NCAA Div 1 football and here’s the best of the lot. Since the College Football Playoffs system will grow to 12 postseason playoff teams by 2026, the Top 12 power rankings will begin today:

  1. Alabama
  2. Georgia
  3. Ohio State
  4. Clemson
  5. Michigan
  6. Texas A&M
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Baylor
  9. NC State
  10. USC
  11. Miami
  12. LSU

OUT: Notre Dame with its loss to highly ranked Ohio State is out of their preseason Top 5 rating while Utah with its 29-26 upending by Florida is no longer Top 12 material.

DIAMOND DUST-UPs: The Boston Red Sox won their forth straight game on Saturday night, defeating the Texas Rangers 5-3. The Sox are 4-1-0 in their last five series at Fenway Park. … Meanwhile, the AL East-leading New York Yankees have lost three in a row and six of their last seven games. The Yankees are now only four games up on the Tampa Bay Rays and six games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. … New York is 15-26 since the MLB All-Star break. On July 4th, the NYY were 58-22.

In August, Boston’s Rafael Devers struck out 22 times in his 104 At Bats which contributed to a slump of batting .163 during the month. … Four days into September, Devers is batting .545 with six hits in 11 At Bats, including four doubles and six RBI.

TID BITS: The National Lacrosse League will hold its 2022 NLL Entry Draft In Toronto on Saturday, September 10 beginning at 2pm (ET). The first round of the Draft will be broadcast for the first time on TSN.ca and the TSN app in Canada and ESPN+ in the United States. The entire draft will be covered in real time on NLL social channels. It marks the most extensive live coverage of the NLL Draft in the league’s history.

Speaking of firsts and a look back at our lead topic, LIV Golf is allowing its players to wear shorts during competition rounds. Of the 48 players in the field this weekend, 40% took advantage of the new rule and wore shorts. It’s believed to be the first time an elite professional golf league has allowed shorts to be worn during competition. … “The players asked about it,” said LIV Golf CEO and Commissioner Greg Norman. “We did a survey a couple of weeks ago. It was a pretty significant positive response about wearing shorts.” … Norman credited Phil Mickelson, for being “the most desirable to have it. … I followed his lead, listened to him a little bit.” … Mickelson was one of the 19 players who wore shorts Saturday.

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PGA Tour Battling vs. LIV Golf

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BOLTON – As the LIV Golf players teed-off in the third and final round shotgun start Sunday in the western suburbs of Boston, the PGA Tour tossed another major hurdle at the players, via a memo leaked to Sports Illustrated and reported by SI and FOX News.

“The Tour cannot enter into a membership agreement with a player when, as here, it reasonably anticipates the player will not perform the material obligations under that agreement,” said the letter to former PGA Tour pros now on the LIV Tour. “Accordingly, your PGA Tour membership cannot and will not be renewed for the 2022-2023 PGA Tour season.”

Taylor Gooch (-12), Joaquin Nieman (-11) and Dustin Johnson (-10) were busy competing for a $4 million/ $2.125 million or $1.5 million first through third prize at The International, a course set in the woods of Worcester County, Massachusetts – about 45 miles from where the PGA Tour used to play the DeutschBank Championship – a round of its FedEx Playoffs – every Labor Day weekend.

The LIV Golf venture joined an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour that was initially filed by select LIV golfers such as Pat Perez, Carlos Oritiz, Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak were among the players filing who dropped their lawsuits against the PGA Tour. Outspoken veteran PGA Tour pro Phil Mickelson was among those that first filed suit in August, claiming suspensions from the Tour were aimed at hurting their careers.

Others pro golfers filed temporary restraining orders to compete in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, claiming they qualified for the PGA Tour postseason playoffs prior to joining LIV Golf. A federal judge in California denied that injunction.

LIV Golf: These Guys Are Great

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BOLTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The fourth event of the new LIV Golf season, the LIV Golf Invitational Boston, teed-off today at The International, in the far suburbs of Boston. The tournament field includes six players making their LIV Golf debut, including World No. 2 and 2022 Open Champion Cameron Smith, World No. 19 and top Chilean golfer Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III (No. 46), Cameron Tringale (No. 55), Marc Leishman (No. 62) and India’s top-ranked pro Anirban Lahiri (No. 92) who will join the field of 48 competing in the weekend tournament. Also making his first LIV Golf appearance is two-time Masters champion and former world No. 2 player Bubba Watson, who will debut as a non-playing captain and will make on-air contributions to live event coverage.

As the world’s No. 2 golfer, Smith becomes the highest-ranked player to compete in a LIV Golf event. Winner of the 2022 Open Championship in July at St Andrews, the 150th playing of golf’s oldest major, the Australian has 8 professional wins including the Players Championship earlier this year. The 29-year-old joins the list of LIV golfers who have met the minimum playing eligibility requirements for the World Golf Hall of Fame, though he must wait another 16 years until the minimum age requirement of 45 before official consideration. Smith has amassed 48 additional top-10 finishes and is a consistent contender in the majors, including finishing T-4th at the 2015 U.S. Open – his first major start – and earning four top-10 finishes at the Masters (T-5th 2018, T-2nd 2020, T-10th 2021, T-3rd 2022). A two-time Australian PGA Championship winner (2017-2018), Smith has also represented his home country in international team competitions including the 2018 World Cup, the 2019 Presidents Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.

Chile’s top professional golfer, the 23-year-old Niemann jumped onto the global golf scene as a teenager. As the World Amateur Golf Rankings’ No. 1 player for 44 weeks between 2017-2018, he earned victories against top international players on the Chilean Tour before turning pro in April 2018. The current world No. 19 golfer has two professional wins, 26 top-10 finishes, and represented Chile as part of the International Team in the 2019 Presidents Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.

Varner III, currently 46th in the world, is a two-time winner as a pro including the 2015 Australian PGA Championship and the 2022 PIF Saudi International presented by Softbank Investment Partners. The memorable Asian Tour event featured a thrilling finish, where Varner sunk a 92-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to defeat fellow LIV Golf competitor Bubba Watson by 1 stroke. Consistently a fan favorite, Varner has 24 top-10 finishes over his professional career, which began in 2012 following a successful collegiate career at East Carolina University where he earned honors as Conference USA Player of the Year.

Leishman has 13 professional victories and an additional 64 top-10 finishes, including three notable showings at the Masters (T-4th 2013, 9th 2018, T-5th 2021) and The Open Championship (T-5th 2014, T-2nd 2015, T-6th 2017). A former Rookie of the Year who has been ranked as high as No. 12 in the world, the Australian is a consistent competitor on international stages, including the Tokyo Olympics, two World Cups (2016, 2018) and four Presidents Cups (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019).

For more than 80 consecutive weeks, American Cameron Tringale has been ranked among the world’s top 100 players. The California native has 30 top-10 finishes in his career and was a three-time NCAA All-American at Georgia Tech. Lahiri, a two-time Olympian for India, has amassed 18 wins and an additional 55 top-10 finishes throughout his professional career. Runner-up at the 2022 Players Championship to winner Cameron Smith, he has twice represented the International Team at the Presidents Cup (2015, 2017), is a three-time representative for Asia in the EurAsia Cup (2014, 2016, 2018), and is a two-time competitor in the World Cup (2013, 2018).

Players will compete in golf’s most exciting new format for $25 million and the chance to become LIV Golf’s fourth individual and team champions while earning points towards LIV Golf’s season-long individual competition.

LIV Golf: Trying to Aid Communities

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BOLTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – LIV Golf – forever to be compared and competing with the PGA Tour – is reaching out to support Massachusetts communities through donations to nine charitable organizations within the Boston, Bolton, Lancaster and surrounding areas as part of the LIV Golf Invitational this weekend in the suburbs of Boston. The donations are aligned with the LIV to Give platform and its commitment to making a positive impact through support of education and career development, environmental sustainability, and golf programs that create positive change and enhance the well-being of communities now and in the future.

“LIV Golf is committed to giving back and investing in organizations that build stronger communities,” said Greg Norman, CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf. “We are privileged to host such an exciting event in Massachusetts and are proud to support so many deserving charities that deliver much-needed services throughout this region.”

Among the beneficiaries is the Bolton Conservation Trust, which helps maintain the rural nature of the town by engaging the community through events, environmental education programs and land stewardship. The Trust also bridges communications among landowners, public officials, and financing interests.

“This generous donation will have a direct impact on our continuing efforts to protect open space. Our team will expand the environmental component of our Tom Denney Nature Camp by revamping the curriculum, upgrading the facilities, and offering more scholarships for those families in need,” said Dan Gaffney, Bolton Conservation Trust President. “We will re-start our Four Winds environmental enrichment program, which was taught in the K-5 elementary classrooms and brings a very hands-on environmental experience back to hundreds of young students.”

Coaching4Change (C4C) provides a near-peer mentoring model that recruits, trains and places local, diverse, and talented college students to support school improvement initiatives aimed at increasing student engagement and social-emotional learning in underprivileged schools.

The Boston Invitational LIV to Give recipients include:

  • Bolton Conservation Trust to fund trail maintenance, environmental and educational programs, and support land stewardship in the town of Bolton.
  • Coaching4Change to provide low-income students critical mentorship services, empowering youth with life skills that unlock success.
  • Glen Doherty Memorial Foundation to fund scholarships to special operations vets as they transition out of service and into employment opportunities.
  • Boys and Girls Club of Assabet Valley to fund after-school and summer programs, STEM education materials and supplies, and partnership with the local museum to provide enhanced instruction.
  • Bridge Over Troubled Waters to widen the pathways to self-sufficiency for homeless youth through education, employment, mental health care and life skills development.
  • Friends of Bolton Seniors to provide Bolton senior citizens with fuel, nutrition and financial assistance.
  • WHEAT – United Way of Tri-County to fund food security programs.
  • The Joseph and Leslie Carr Foundation to feed area families this upcoming holiday season, fill canned food at food banks, and fund a local diaper bank.
  • Nashoba Neighbors to fund services that empower seniors to age in place/at home.In addition to financial support, as part of LIV to Give’s commitment to developing the next generation of leaders through golf, LIV Golf hosted two special clinics this week. On Tuesday, Richard Bland, Turk Pettit, Cameron Tringale and LIV Golf reporter Troy Mullins led dozens of local youth from Bolton Youth Baseball and Softball in golf drills and spoke about the positive impact of sports, competition and teamwork. On Wednesday, Norman, Bryson DeChambeau, Martin Kaymer, Shergo Kurdi and David Feherty welcomed local military veterans to The International. The group, which included Feherty’s Troops First Foundation and Clear Path for Veterans New England shared inspiring stories, expert instruction and a special day together at the course.LIV Golf is owned and operated by LIV Golf Investments whose vision and mission are centered around making holistic and sustainable investments to enhance the global golf ecosystem and unlock the sport’s untapped worldwide potential. LIV Golf Investments is a newly formed company, with group companies in the USA and United Kingdom.

See You in September

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“I’ll be alone each and every night
While you’re away, don’t forget to write,

“Bye-bye, so long, farewell
Bye-bye, so long

“See you in September
See you when the summer’s through.”

– The Happenings but written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards for The Tempos

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – August, just like its namesake Caesar Augustus, is in the rearview mirror. We’ll See you in September.

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It will be a September without 2021 U.S. Open women’s tennis champion Emma Raducanu who lost her first round match to France’s Alize Cornet (6-3, 6-3) on the evening of August 30. It will be a September without two-time U.S. Open champions and multi-Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka who lost her first round match at Flushing Meadows to No. 19 seed Danielle Collins of America.

We’ll start September’s college football schedule with St. Francis of Pennsylvania at Akron (6pm, ET) but progress to match-ups like Central Michigan at No. 12 Oklahoma State, West Virginia at No. 17 Pittsburgh, and a tough B1G Ten opener for Penn State at Purdue. That’s just Thursday’s schedule.

We’ve already witnessed a Week Zero of college football with Northwestern upsetting Nebraska, 31-28, in Ireland, Illinois spanking Wyoming in similar style to Liz Cheney‘s recent primary defeat, 38-6.

We’ll have a lot to look forward to this weekend when college football really begins. On the local scene, Boston College opens with a “must win” at home vs the B1G Ten’s usual doormat, Rutgers. No. 11 Oregon will travel to play No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta, not Athens and No. 5 Notre Dame is getting (+17) when they play No. 2 Ohio St. before 102,780 fans at Columbus (7:30pm ET, September 3)

We’ll have to wait until Thursday, September 8 for the NFL to begin, but thankfully the NFL preseason is in the books and the regular season Week 1 awaits, complete with the AFC’s Buffalo Bills heading west to SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles to face the defending Super Bowl champion Rams.

The NFL will start without Jon Gruden coaching in Las Vegas but with Jimmy Garrapolo quarterbacking in San Francisco (really Santa Clara). Gruden’s coaching career went up in flames when an NFL investigation into then-Washington football executive Bruce Allen unearthed a slew of racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language in emails which first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article last Oct. 8. Strangely, of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL internal  investigation, the lawsuit contends, Gruden’s were the only ones made public. Go figure?

The New England Patriots leave training camp behind but face a tough September schedule that just might leave them 0-3, or maybe 1-2. Anything better than that and the team is improved over that of last season and might have a chance. Both the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins stand in the way in the AFC East. The toughest thing many overlook, the Patriots close-out the regular season with games vs. Cincinnati and Miami and at Buffalo on a sure-to-be ice COLD January 8th. Those August days will be a long lost dream when the Bills and Pats tee-up the kick-off that day.

The Red Sox are happy to leave August (and July) in the past, but doubt the month of September will treat the club much better. In Rich Hill they trust.

With Rory McIlroy coming back from six strokes down to defeat Scottie Scheffler and company at the TOUR Championship last weekend, the 2021-22 PGA Tour season is behind us with only a few Fall tournaments, the President’s Cup and a few silly season events (think Skins Game) awaiting until the January 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions starts off the PGA Tour schedule. In the meantime, we have a LIV Golf on-going in Boston (Bolton, Mass) where dozens of former PGA Tour golfers have jumped ship in an attempt to earn fortunes of Saudi Arabian bucks to the tune of some $4 million for the tournament winner, plus team bonuses.

Golf will never be the same, as the two Tours duke it out for best players, key dates, qualification to the Majors and Ryder Cup teams and just about everything else worth fighting for … or should it be “fore?”

One thing is for sure as the days grow shorter and the sun sets earlier, come September 1 or, maybe on Labor Day in the USA, everyone seems to think the Season of Summer is over but like so much in the world these days, that is “misinformation.” Summer in the USA lasts until September 21, or the end of Week 2 for you NFL fans, Week 3 for NCAA football fans. In fact, in the northeastern USA, the weekend of October 1-2 is often one of the most beautiful of the entire year.

See you in October.

Musical Note: “See You in September” is a song written by Sid Wayne and Sherman Edwards. It was first recorded by the Pittsburgh vocal group The Tempos. This first version peaked at No. 23 in the summer of 1959. The most popular take on “See You In September,” by The Happenings in 1966, reached No. 3.

Broadway: The Player Named Later

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Boston Red Sox acquired minor league right-handed pitcher Taylor Broadway from the Chicago White Sox, completing the August 1 trade for left-handed pitcher Jake Diekman in which Boston received catcher Reese McGuire. Broadway will report to Double-A Portland. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the acquisition.

Broadway, 25, is 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA (26 ER/49.1 IP) in 37 relief appearances for Double-A Birmingham this season, having also made three appearances for High-A Winston-Salem. Selected by Chicago in the sixth round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Mississippi, the right-hander is 4-2 with a 4.45 ERA (32 ER/64.2 IP) and 12.80 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in 52 career appearances (one start), recording 92 strikeouts and only 18 walks.