Merry Christmas from the Yard

 During the holiday season, all kinds of clever Christmas ideas are presented on the airwaves. A few years ago, it was 23 and me and all the DNA testing programs. We commented on the creepiness of such an invasive gift. It is no surprise all kinds of wacky and frightening DNA connections have been reported. This season Master Class is hawking their masters for their classes. Yard staff wondered what makes talented writers, comedians, and others competent teachers of their craft. Look at the job Michael Jordan has been doing with the Charlotte Bobcats. He is one of the greatest ever in any sport. During his  tenure as owner and GM of Bobcats, they have had a winning record just twice. Over the weekend, former president Bill Clinton was advertising a leadership class on master class. Now Billy Bob has not been leading much for a long time. We did watch American Crime Story about he and Monica’s trysts during his presidency. The only leading Clinton appeared to be doing was Ms. Lewinsky by the hand to the dark recesses of the oval office beyond those invasive cameras.

The Oakland A’s have made more trips to Las Vegas than Ben Affleck. A’s management contends that they are seriously considering Las Vegas as the new home for the team in 2024. Negotiations with the City of Oakland have been stalled since the late 70’s. The A’s want to keep the pressure on the city by exploring alternatives. They have visited Las Vegas over a dozen times in the past several months. They have scouted locations while having major sunshine blown up their bottoms. Las Vegas officials are professionals in that regard keeping the sunshine flowing up the chute for whales. Oakland officials have enjoyed fine dining, shows and loyalty rewards points. We would love to have another Oakland transplant, but it does feel like these players are playing us.

The NFL has been a regular Yard foil because of their hypocrisy. The NFL would never allow professional football in Nevada because of the scourge of gambling. Today, the scourge of gambling is a major driving force in NFL marketing. Terry Bradshaw is promoting a segment each week called Win Terry’s money. It is a betting proposition supported by the NFL and Fox. The NFL has learned albeit a bit late that when people have scratch on the game, they become more fervent fans. Fervent fans are a mainstay of the NFL and gambling is a huge part. FanDuel, fantasy football, and legalized sports books are driving popularity for the sport. This does not go unnoticed by Roger Goodell and company. In the 1960’s, players got suspended for being associated with gambling or actually doing it. In 2021, they are doing paid advertisements promoting it. The Pro Bowl, Draft and Super Bowl are on their way with legalized sports gambling in thirty-six states, the NFL has changed their stance.

Jon Gruden got run out of the NFL for his racist, homophonic, misogynistic emails that were uncovered during the investigation of the Washington Football Team and their toxic work environment. Gruden was working for ESPN at that time and was good friends with then Redskins GM Bruce Allen. Lord knows, many of us might cringe if your emails were exposed and the opinions, we might share with a friend what we do not share with the world. The Yard is not justifying the derogatory and disgusting comments Gruden made in private to a friend. We are a bit shocked that the NFL went to such lengths to expose his emails. The emails were “leaked” first to some news outlets. When the story did not gain viral traction, it was then leaked to the Wall Street Journal. That spill got the viral ignition that cost Gruden his job. The Raiders have always been a diverse organization and his ancient emails would not survive the season. The NFL did review 650,000 emails associated with this inquiry. Apparently, Gruden was the only person who wrote anything inflammatory. His calling Roger Goodell a euphemism for a vagina in one of his missives might have sealed his fate. We are sure it was not personal. The NFL has never had a vendetta for the Raiders, right?

The Yard hopes everyone is coping with the scourge of COVID. It is a rinse and repeat year. This Omicron phase has been voracious, and the wolves are circling the campfire. The science of the vaccines seems to be playing out in real time for the unvaccinated. With over five hundred million doses jabbed and 203 million people vaccinated, there have been a microscopic amount of post poke issues. Nudnicks like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are still trying to evangelize their message of not trusting Fauci or the science. I was an economics major so I cannot comment on the science besides it seems to be working. The patients populating the ICU with COVID issues are largely unvaccinated. Jonas Salk was a hero for the polio vaccine. There has not been a polio related death in this country for decades. At the height of that pandemic, polio killed 50,000. COVID deaths are at 800K plus and climbing. Sure, there are the existing conditions and other statistical anomalies but even if that were 50% of the cases, it is a substantial number. There is no argument from the Yard regarding your personal choices because it does not seem to have influence. We have yet to hear a conversation where either side of the discussion says, “Wow, that is a good point.”  We will stick with science, and we will miss some of you in the future.

End of an era:  When the Buss Family sold naming rights to the Fabulous Forum to Great Western Savings and Loan, Laker nation was outraged. The commercial naming of Sports Venues was still quite a new branding exercise that that time. The Forum was the Lakers home not the Great Western Forum to many of us. When the Lakers moved to LA and the Staples Center, no one complained. Naming rights were part of the process to build a new stadium. Alas, our beloved Staples Center is becoming the Crypto.com Arena. It is a harsh change, and it is not necessarily a good one. But $700 million gets you a named arena for 20 years and Staples was not re-upping. It does seem the arena and this Laker team have jumped the shark. And if you think that sucks, welcome to Las Vegas and the rebranded Harry S Reid airport.

The Thankful Edition

 Thanksgiving 2021 was truly a thankful holiday at the Yard. The staff and management have been working remote for over 18 months and we are missing the social aspects of our pursuit of societal ignorance. There is talk of getting back to the Yard HQ in early 2022 and Jo at the Yard is trying to get me out of the house. We got out of LV and went to a turkey dinner for ten on San Juan Island. Jo and I were thankful for all our friends in SJ that we have cultivated through first cousins at the Yard, Dom. They are her friends but gave us lots of seasonal love. Personally, I was thankful that Jo and Dom are such kitchen geniuses. My responsibilities for the pre-meal festivities were limited to firewood and opening wine. Between those minor inconveniences, I warmed myself by the fire, watched football and sampled wine while giving praise to the demanding work going on in the kitchen.

Watching Jared Goff slog to another loss in a Lions uniform makes one wonder what he was thankful for Thanksgiving. He was the number one pick in the draft, and guided the LA Rams to their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XIV.  Those 1979 Rams are still the Yard’s favorite. The plucky roster of aging vets and youngsters finished the season 9-7. Pat Haden started that season at QB, broke his finger and gave way to Vinnie Ferragamo who led the team all the way to a Super Bowl Sunday loss to the vaunted Steelers. It was the best season of 25-year-old Vinnie’s career. Who knew at the time? The precocious Wendell Tyler dazzled and frustrated with fumbles and 100-yard games. Jack Youngblood played the entire playoffs with a cracked fibula. And Hacksaw Reynolds, enough said. Those Steelers had a HOF player at every position. Bradshaw, Swan, Stallworth, Lambert, Greene, and the list goes on; first names not needed. Neither Vincent nor the Rams knew that this was going to be the last high note for that Rams’ chapter. Their slow downhill arc started in the fourth quarter of that painful game. Within two years, they were the Los Angeles Rams in Anaheim. By 1995, they were the St. Louis Rams. For poor Jared, he witnessed all those emotions during his scant time with the Rams. We are certain that he is very thankful for his girlfriend SI swimsuit model, Christen Harper. Yard staff are very fond of her and her Instagram account as well. Christen will help Jared get past the pain of it all. Goff finally led the Lions to their first victory in 2021. His biggest victory prior to that, was getting Ms. Harper to move from the bright lights of LA to the grind of the Motor City. Christen helps Goff’s Lion roar even in defeat.

There were several bright Yard moments that we shared gratitude for our chosen teams in those moments. In the 139-year history of the MLB Giants, no team had ever won 107 games in a season. When SF won a few titles a decade ago, they won 92, 84, and 88 games in those seasons. In 2021, the Giants caught fire completely unexpectedly and raced to the finish line. The Blue Crew never gave up pursuit finishing with 106 wins and one game out of first in the NL West. The second-best record in MLB got the Dodgers a one game elimination with the frigging STL Cardinals. The Cardinals have been the Dodgers nemesis in the playoffs. The heartburn of playing one game to get into the real playoffs after winning 106 was an ignominious finish to a great season. The Dodgers slayed the Birds and headed to the Bay for the first real playoff game between these two bitter rivals in their shared history. The Dodgers won the real-World Series with their crushing defeat of the favored Pumpkins. The Giants led throughout the season and the playoff series until they did not. Their fans had to take their orange foam fingers and put them back in the attic. Unfortunately, the Dodgers had nothing left in the tank or in the starting rotation when they rolled into Atlanta after all those elimination games. The 90-win Braves got home field because they won the NL Least. We are thankful the Dodgers beat the Giants. San Francisco had home field advantage for all the playoffs. We are quite certain the Giants would have rolled the Braves and had another title in their sights. The Dodgers saved us from that calamity. The Giants are never going to win 107 again in our lifetimes. Neither team has a title to boast from their brilliant seasons. Except the Dodgers beat the Giants when it mattered most and thankfully put the shiv into their faithful. It was exciting for Dodger nation and a crushing defeat for the Giants who were predicted to finish out of the playoffs. It was the last gasp for their aging roster. Buster Posey saw the last chance season as his last and pulled the ripcord into retirement.

Thanks, and praise to the UCLA Bruins who shellacked the USC Trojans 62-33 in their crib. The score looked like a basketball game from the 70’s. UCLA QB Dorian Thompson Robinson was intercepted twice in the first quarter and the Coliseum demons of UCLA football past started to creep from the shadows. But this Trojan team is a shadow of their legacy. Troy was suffering through their worst season since Larry Smith was misguiding the team. The Bruins tried hard to give the Trojans every reason to have hope that a victory over the Bruins would salvage their season. The USC season was a salvage project as soon as Clay Helton got another chance to disprove his detractors. Two games into this pivotal season, Clay was left on the tarmac. The best part of the Bruins record breaking victory is that I am having dinner this week with my Trojan friends from the former Pasadena Athletic Club. The club no longer exists but our steadfast friendships and historical truths are the best. It is always best when the only Bruin alumni in the room can walk in tall, shaken not stirred.

 Overtime: There will be banter about Chip Kelly and his future at UCLA with the messiah Lincoln Riley coming to LA to save the university. Riley is being heralded as the second coming of Peter the Great. At UCLA, we are simply happy to still be in the discussion at this time of the football season.  Truth be told, the best athletic program in southern California for both basketball and football are San Diego State’s. The Aztecs may have the best program in CA. They play a lighter schedule in the Mountain West, but they have averaged ten wins a season since 2012. The Trojans and Bruins are far behind in total victories, bowl games and seasonal rankings. Aztec basketball has been superior to USC and UCLA for the past decade as well. Hail the Aztecs!

Commemorative Playoff Edition 2021

 The root of Cardinal based Yard anxiety began gestating decades ago when Jack Clark hit a three-run bomb off Tom Niedenfuer to clinch game 6 in the 1985 NLCS.   The Yard played hooky that day and went to the game with a direct report.  Another quality lesson handed down by management.  HOF manager Tommy Lasorda could have walked Clark to load the bases with two out.  Lasorda pitched to Jack and Pop goes the weasel into the left field seats.  In 1988, the Dodgers finally broke through for what was hoped to be a dynastic run of titles.  It did not happen again for 30+ years.  Late in that drought, the Giants broke through for the first, second and third time in San Francisco Giant history.  The rivalry was already volatile but that made it nuclear. The vitriol was served dirty over the rocks with a splash of snark.  The Dodgers had more historical success since both teams moved west but the Giants’ titles were more prescient until the Blue broke through in the COVID Bubble last year.   The rivalry goes back a century but the two have never met in the playoffs until Friday October 9.

The Yard felt compelled to get a special edition out to press to commemorate this historic series.  It will be pitting the veteran Pumpkin Patch lineup with Buster, Brandon, and Belt.  They will miss MadBum for this one, but they won 107 without him.  The Yard had expected the Giants to fade long before this moment, but they did not.  We were shooting for mid-August oblique strain, and we would have avoided all of the palpitations of the one and done Wild Card game with the Cardinals.  The Yard was in attendance last night at the stadium.  We squirmed in apprehension  while our mad Max grinded through the first two innings and the Dodgers trailing 1-0.  Scherzer scraped through 4+ innings never looking brilliant but never giving up.  Justin Turner launched a Wainwright fastball into Mannywood to tie the game, and four Dodger relievers held serve until the 9^th.  In the bottom of that 9^th with two out and a troubled 50,000 looking on Chris Taylor ended the night with conviction.  Cardinal reliever Reyes was walking off the field dejectedly while his last pitch was still in flight and resigned to its destination.  The Dodgers released the tremors of winning 106 games and not making the main dance with a loss.  The stadium erupted.

It is now on to the main event. Dodgers v Giants.  Never have these two met in the playoffs except in 1962.  In 1962, the Dodgers and Giants finished with identical 101-61 records.  There was a three-game playoff won by the Giants.  Other than that anomaly they have never had a more meaningful series between these rivals than what lies ahead this weekend.  It will be a calibrated ulcer fest with the Dodgers coming out on top.  One can dream.  It is going to be a bummer missing my son’s wedding this weekend, but this series is going to be big.  He will understand eventually.  The Giants were hoping for the Cards who they have bitch slapped over the years in their title runs.  The Dodgers are down a Kershaw and a Muncy, but Andrew Friedman built this team to withstand misfortune and chaos.  They have had solid doses of each this season and here we are.

This series seems a lot like the Ryder Cup.  The Giants would be the Euros.  They have been playing together for years and are battlers.  The Dodgers would be the US of course.  They are young with some senior leaders with special skills.  Crawford is having a career year when his career should be winding down.  He looks like he could be in a biker bar, a rodeo or shortstop for the Giants.  Posey looks like he doesn’t shave but is still a rough out. The Giants would have hoped for a Cardinal victory or a blowout loss.  If the Dodgers bomb the Cards, they were supposed to do that.  Battling back from a first inning deficit until the walk off in the 9^th could be the spark to light the charge while the Giants were watching in disbelief.  It will be a battle and we just hope for three wins, nothing more.

Yard humble opinion: Trea Turner is the highlight of our season.  If he is not the NL MVP, we are not sure who is.  He won the batting title, hit 27 home runs and two grand slams this past weekend.  He is brilliant in the field, a threat to steal any time and has the best slide in YouTube history.  The Dodgers have gone 40-12 since he entered the starting lineup including 16 straight at home.  Without the trade deadline move for Scherzer and Turner, the Dodgers would be dead.  Go Dodgers!

The Ryder Cup and other moments

 This past fall weekend was a glorious immersion of sports programming that provided high-capacity couch adhesion with deft dexterity of the remote. It was a thing of beauty although Mrs. Yard conveyed a litany of disdainful looks.  Yard perseverance is legendary.  There were amazing college  football games intertwined with the Ryder Cup, the NFL and MLB regular season closing out the evening.  Yard staff mentioned that the weather was amazing, we would not know.  The AC was keeping us chilled and so were the outcomes.  The Ryder Cup was electric.  The Dodgers and Giants are going down to the wire with both teams splaying every team on their way to the playoffs.  The Bruins won at Stanford and the Trojans lost at home.  The Raiders capped the hometown schedule with an OT victory over the Fish.  All that was left was the Pinot Noir and Sushi celebration for all my good fortune.

The city of Las Vegas exploded with live sports all over the city this past weekend besides what was televised.  The Raiders had 59,000 strong for their game with the Miami Dolphins.  NASCAR left turned their way around the oval at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway before 50,000.  The Golden Knights Hockey Exhibition drew 17,000 for a freaking hockey exhibition.  125,000 revelers enjoyed a wide spectrum of sports content across the Las Vegas Valley. 

The Ryder Cup was the highlight of the weekend.  The Ryder Cup has such a rich history and the Euros have had their way with the top US Ryder Cup Teams since 1985 when the competition changed to Euros, not just the UK and Ireland.  The US dominated the UK for the first 58 years winning 22 times to just three for Britain and their constituency .  When the format changed to US against all of Europe, the outcome was 11-4 for the Euros since the participating nations changed up.  Most years, the US had the better team on paper, but the Europeans still prevailed both on their soil and ours.  The European roster of Grahame McDowell, Seve, Sergio, Rory, Ian Poulter, and the rest always seem to play their best in the Ryder Cup.  The US Team had Tiger, Phil, Rickie, and the rest of our best who all always seemed to be stumbling in the rough.  The European Team played the perennial underdog and boat raced the more revered and feared US team repeatedly.  This year’s cup might have finally flipped the paradigm.  The Euros looked old as they trotted out their mainstays including 48-year-old Lee Westwood.  But they could not keep pace with the US twenty somethings and lost by the largest margin in Ryder Cup history.  37-year-old Dustin Johnson was the stoic leader of the resurgence going 5-0 in his matches in one of the few times in a Ryder Cup match history.  Paulina Gretsky was beaming after the round which might have a bigger incentive on Sunday for DJ. These young Turks stormed Whistling Straits and set the stage for cups to come. In a prescient moment on the first tee, Ryder Cup mainstay Sergio Garcia bombed his first drive right down the middle of the fairway to the cheers of some.  The partisan crowd roared when Bryson DeChambeau teeing off second, crushed his ball on to the 408-yard  Par 4 first green.   Game on!

USC losing to the Oregon State Beavers for the first time since 1960 was newsworthy.  The Trojans have always had football success, the Beavers not so much. 61 years is a long time between wins at the Coliseum, and this was a large upset.  Clay Helton got fired for losing a home game by more than 20 as a heavy favorite just two weeks ago.  Yard staff has determined that the interim coach probably will not get whacked for the same offense.  Donte Williams did ice his exclusion from the ongoing head coach job search.  UCLA is making it interesting in 2021 and we have some cake on DTR winning the Heisman.  That is as far fetched as UCLA being relevant after twenty years wandering in a football wasteland.   We are trying to keep our historical myopia in a box in the attic until we process more data.

 

The real emotional trauma is unfolding in the MLB playoff picture particularly in the NL West.  The Dodgers and Giants have battled all season.  The biggest lead either team had was five games and mostly it has been between 1-2 games all season.  They have the two best records in baseball.  This was expected of the Dodgers especially before Bauer went rogue.  The Giants looked  like they were stitching a patchwork team together of veterans and other old people. Unfortunately, the pumpkin patch flipped the game board and did not just keep pace but surpassed the Dodgers in this moment.  There are few games left to close it out but neither team wants that Wild Card game.  To win 100+ games and lose a play in a game would be painful. My heart rate heightens as I type.  The one and done situation is scary but what is scary is that the other WC team is most likely the Saint Louis Cardinals.  The Cardinals have been the Dodgers playoff kryptonite the past 20 years winning four of five playoff series.  The Cardinals just won 17 in a row to roar into the second WC spot from the back of the pack.  We had the Cards over 86 wins at the book, so it was bittersweet. The Dodgers will be tough out in any playoff series, but a one game winner take all can turn out badly without a tomorrow to recover.  The Giants are the Cardinals Huckleberry, so we know who they are rooting for next week if they hang on to first.  It is not over for the NL West Crown and this Dodger team is never satisfied.  With all the injuries and the one miscreant, they are tailgating the Giants to the finish line.  It will be a NASCAR finish. Last night when Mad Max did not have his good game and blew a big lead, the Dodgers bombed four homeruns in the 8^th to overcome the friar’s uprising. They won another game that should have been a defeat.  The Padres have been on the wrong side of several this year.  It should be a fun run; we hope it is a long one.

 

It is only Rock and Roll!

 The Yard has always had rock and roll underpinnings since our first charter.  Yard youth went to see Led Zeppelin at the Forum in 1971 at age 14.  It was an incentive offer from Bill Seber for a diffident Yard and his schoolwork.  This Yardling indicated to Billy Bob Seber that he would be incentivized by going to a Led Zeppelin concert.  Senior Seber figured a concert is a concert.   The Yard hit the mark and the tickets were purchased.  To say that Mr. & Mrs. Seber were a bit shocked at the Forum that August night would be as understated as UCLA football successes.  Daddio was in a suit and mom was in a stole.  The people behind us, and there were not many with the ticket’s pops secured, were smoking copious amounts of weed.  Jimmy, Robert, John Paul and Bonzo rocked the house for three hours and forever changed my world.  Rock and roll would be a driving force that would lead nowhere but we listened to a bunch of great music and checked out the weed thing a bit.

John Bonzo Bonham succumbed to his rock persona and drowned in his own puke after slamming back 40 shots of vodka in a twelve-hour period in September 1980.  Zeppelin crashed after that and was discontinued as a band.  For all of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant’s brilliance, their songs were not lyrical masterpieces.  Really, what is a bustle in your hedgerow?  There were lots of Tolkienesque references and other mysticism. Music got very poppy in the 80’s with Madonna, Michael Jackson and George Michael dominating the charts and the airwaves.  No one rose with the power riff dominance of Led Z.  until the summer of 1991.  Over a period of 45 days, three upstart bands from Seattle released seminal albums that would forever change rock again just like the Beatles, Stones and Zeppelin did two decades earlier.  Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam would release breakthrough albums that became legendary.  With hard riffs and simple, real world biting lyrics, these boys said something, and it exploded.  Nirvana led by the late Kurt Cobain, Soundgarden led by the late Chris Cornell and Pearl Jam was led by the very much still alive Eddie Vedder.  They stripped away the flamboyant excesses of rock stars and sang stark songs of disillusionment, isolation and loss with big guitar riffs that still resonate with youth today.  Nirvana’s Nevermind would rise to #1 on the US Billboard Top 40 replacing Michael Jackson’s Dangerous.  Nevermind would average 300,000 LP/week in sales eventually selling 30 million albums and still pressing.

So that is some Yard history and our journey to whatever this is.  It was not a straight line or necessarily well planned but we are still hopscotching to the beat.  The beat this time of year is all about college football and major league baseball.  The NFL garners some of our attention and the Raiders are our next story.  But college has always been our favorite football.  UCLA did what we thought they would do after upsetting LSU in a stunner.  They would get upset by Fresno State as 11-point favorites two weeks later with a bye in between to prepare for mighty Bulldogs.  The Bruins took a lead with 45 seconds left and appeared to stave off the upset.  But alas the gutty little QB at Fresno State limped down the field in five plays to steal the victory and my Sunday morning.  The bloody game kicked at 7:45 PM on a Saturday night.  So, I saved my joyful rendition for Sunday AM, note to self.

The Yard’s laser focus is on major league baseball.  We scoffed at the Giants in April.  We gave them some Yard cred in July.  In September, we are still waiting for their wheels to come unhinged, but they keep winning improbably many nights.  Their aging veterans are having career years.  Their pitching staff has been great.  The Dodgers have the 2^nd best record in baseball just one game behind the surprising Giants. Dodger fans are hoping the Dodgers can spurt past these pumpkin posers in the closing weeks.  This Dodger team is better than last year’s edition except for Cody Bellinger.  Cody has been struggling all season to find that swing and stay healthy.  He has accomplished neither.  Andrew Friedman has worked his magic all season.  The pieces are starting to congeal into a potential champion. 

When the Dodgers lost Trevor Bauer on administrative leave after his rough sex encounters, it made the clubhouse better.  Bauer has always been a weird one and known to alienate teammates.  With the family environment of Chavez Ravine, having a $30 million/year sexual miscreant is bad optics at any level.  Max Scherzer was the biggest midseason acquisition.  He is undefeated since joining the rotation and he will be nails in the playoffs if the Dodgers make it to the main pool.  Mad Max is 7-0 with 79 K’s in his seven starts. Kershaw is well rested and rounding into championship form.  Buehler and Urias have been solid all season.  Jansen is much better than last year.  The Dodgers have the best pitching in the MLB and will be a tough out. 

When the Dodgers acquired Albert Pujols after the Angels had released him in the final year of that mammoth contract, it seemed like a nice thing not a great thing.  King Albert has been a great addition to the clubhouse.  Flushing out Bauer and bringing in Pujols had an accretive positive impact.  The young Dodgers look up to the future HOF player and feed off his presence.  Albert has responded with more production than he has in years.  He is batting .261 since joining the team with 12 home runs.  He was batting .198 with 5 homeruns when the Angels released him.  One of the greatest baseball moments in recent regular season history was when Pujols returned to  Saint Louis for the second time since leaving after the 2011 season.  Albert is beloved in STL to this day, and he received a 40 second ovation when he came to bat in the first inning.  Pujols rewarded the faithful by homering in that at bat.  The faithful cheered their legendary superstar even though he led the Dodgers to a slamming victory over the Cards.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays clinched their third consecutive trip to the playoffs.  The Rays were in the World Series last year against the Dodgers.  They battled and were a quick hook of Blake Snell away from winning. Currently, they are leading the rugged AL East by 6.5 games over Boston and 8.5 over the Yankees.  Before Tommy Brady and the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl LY, the Rays were the most successful sports franchise in Florida not playing hockey.  You read that correctly.  For all the Rays success, they are averaging 8,900 butts in the seats most nights.  The Rays have been to two WS without success but that is more success than the Bucs have had since John Gruden was coaching the team.  The Tampa Bay Lighting are a hockey team in Florida that averages over 18,000 a game.  The  Buccaneers have always drawn 50,000+ on Sundays.  Baseball has been a tough sell in the Sunshine State.  The playoff games will be packed but the attendance is why the Rays’ payroll is $63 million.  That is Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton’s combined salary.

Just win, baby and the Raidahs are baby.  Al would have been proud of this John Gruden coached edition.  The Yard was given a tour of Allegiant this week.  It is remarkable and pays homage to Al Davis in many ways, most notably the Al Davis torch.  The Raiders have responded by opening 2-0 against Baltimore at home and the Steelers in Pitt.  They were underdogs in both games and won convincingly home and away.  It could be an exciting season and the Yard has cake on Raiders winning 8 or more games.  This is a playoff team and more at least in September.  The Yard has signed on for a month-to-month subscription on the Raider bandwagon.  The AFC West is rugged as much as the AL East, but the Raiders will be in the mix.  The Stones will be at Allegiant in November and rock the house before the final stretch drive.  It is only Rock and Roll and we love it.

In the Clubhouse:  For the Love of the Game is one of the great baseball movies that Kevin Costner always seems to make.  Great story, great cast.  Who knew the Tigers had Costner? Vin Scully doing the play by play with JK Simmons, John C. Reilly and Kelly Preston. Bob Seger songs. It is a fun story.

Olympics Special Edition

 In 1978 the women’s world champion in gymnastics was Elena Mukhina of the Soviet Union.  The US had not boycotted the Moscow Olympics yet because Russia had not invaded Afghanistan, yet.  Russia wanted to put on a show for the rest of the world at the 1980 games.  Mukhina was world champion because she had a ridiculous array of moves on all four women’s apparatus.  She had mad skills that no woman in gymnastics was doing at that time.  She was challenged by her Soviet coaches to do more to crush the competition at the 1980 Olympics.  The Romanians led by Nadia Comaneci had destroyed the Russians at the 1976 games in Montreal.  That was not going to happen again. To please her coaches, she challenged herself and in 1979 she broke her leg while training.  With the Olympics fast approaching, she was pressed back into action, training with the required risk taking.  Two weeks before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Moscow, she broke her neck in two places in training.   She became a quadriplegic for the rest of her life which ended at age 46 in 2006.  Elena never had an option.

There has been a dumpster of negative criticism of Simone Biles decision to withdraw from the women’s team competition this past week.  Biles withdrew after the first rotation of the vault.  Biles is the most accomplished men’s or women’s gymnast in US history.  She is a warrior and a fierce competitor.  As she rotated through the air in a series of twists and turns, she came to the instance of landing and the look on her face was sheer terror.  The trolls on Facebook can say what they do but if you look at the last moments of that vault, Biles' eyes convey her mental state in that moment.  The negative outcry about Simone’s exit now is more than unfortunate, it is malicious. Biles was not coerced by her coaches to challenge herself beyond her safety zone.  She was there on her own.  But seeing the negative outcry on social media and other nudnik pundits, it is apparent the year of pressure incubation for the delayed Olympics was immense.

The female gymnast takes on a far more dangerous set of skills than the male to earn a medal.  The women compete on the vault, the uneven bars, and the balance beam besides the floor exercises which the genders share.  The men compete on the one bar, the pommel horse, and the two rings.  The vault is the riskiest of all apparatus.  The female gymnast launches herself from a spring to the vault to lightyears and beyond.  They spin, twist, and strive to negotiate a landing and a score.  It looks brilliant on my television but never thought about what might be playing in the mind of the contestant.  We learned about that on Tuesday night.  The “twistys” they are called.  The yips in golf are far less dangerous.  The larger narrative dragged in the horrors of Larry Naser which are not forgotten in her decision.  Biles was ready to play in 2020 as a 23-year-old.  With a year of pressure building, the US Gymnastics Olympic Committee’s sanguine response to Naser’s 150-year sentence, Biles was a seething quarantite.  None of us are quite right, right now.  Let us all give this national treasure the margins she deserves.  Hell, it is the Olympics, no one must die.

Which among us has never had moments of doubt and can speak ill of the anxious? And for those of us that stress from time to time, may we  pray that it is not in midair in a red unitard.

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The Olympic Edition

 The Olympics are always a source of national pride for most Americans.  Cynicism quadrennially permeates the edges of the games. There can be uplifting results shrouded in the World’s congoing calamities. Tunisian President Saied sacked the government and declared emergency powers.  That did not slow 18-year-old Ahmed Hafnaouif who just won the second swimming Gold Medal in Tunisia history.  He barely made the final and was relegated to the 8^th lane, swimming through his more heralded competitor’s wash.  They were all paying attention to each other, and no one saw the teenager streaking along the gutter to snatch the gold.  It was a dramatic victory and a short-term elixir for the Tunisians.  His countryman rejoiced his golden victory while the tenet of their fledgling democracy was put to the test. The Chinese and Russian, I mean  ROC athletes bring their grit and joy to their pursuits.  Far different than the stoic, hostile exchanges forged by our collective governments.  The competition is fierce but the camaraderie among the athletes at all levels is refreshing and the way it should be at all levels.

Small towns across American revel in the brilliance of their local Olympians.  The whole town has known about these athletes since they were progenies.  In the Olympics, the whole world gets to hear their stories as curated by NBC.  The stories are compelling and heartfelt.  Lee Kiefer is a four-time NCAA champion hailing from Lexington, KY.  Yard Staff had never heard of her, and we do not believe she had a Wikipedia page until last Sunday AM.  She pulled in the first medal in the foil in US history and it was gold.  The 5’4” warrior beat the defending gold medal champion from Russia.  Russia has been winning fencing medals since the Bolsheviks.  Lee Kiefer, you just won the gold medal. What are you going to do now?  Finishing medical school, she is a third-year student, and she will hopefully be back in Paris in 2024 for her 4^th Olympics.

Lydia Jacoby is going to start her senior at Seward high school in the fall.  Seward Alaska has a population of 2236 nestled in the inlet of Prince William Sound.  Seward HS does not have an Olympic regulation pool and there isn’t one in Alaska. She was taking on the brash Lilly King who has won one every 100 meters breaststroke race since winning gold in Rio in 2016.  King stares down here competition on the starting blocks and backs it up.  Jacoby, who has been driving 130 miles each way to train in Anchorage in subpar facilities, was not intimidated or denied.  She came to swim and was not in the pre race conversation.  The conversation is all about Jacoby now.  If you have not viewed the celebration at the Seward High School cruise ship terminal watch party, look it up on YouTube. The joy and elation that Lydia delivered to her classmates is something they will vicariously remember forever.

Then we turned our attention to US women’s volleyball and there stalking the sidelines, the legendary Karch Kiraly.  His name sounds like the one called legend! Kiraly will always be a Bruin first and foremost to the Yard.  Karch grew up on the mean streets of Santa Barbara dominating the beach volleyball scene as a teenager before enrolling at UCLA to play for another legend Al Scates. The Yard and Karch shared some years in common at UCLA.  We did not get to share a beer, but I am sure he had a few as a member of Lambda Chi.  During the hall of fame outside hitter’s tenure, the Bruins compiled a record of 129-5, recorded the first undefeated season 30-0 in NCAA history, and won three NCAA Titles. Kiraly was not done with volleyball when he graduated with his biochemistry degree.  He would lead the US Olympic Men’s team to their first gold at the LA games in 1984.  Since volleyball was introduced in 1964 at the first Tokyo Olympics, Russian was the dominant volleyball program winning three of the first five gold medals. The Russians boycotted the 1984 games as payback for Jimmy C holding the US team from going to Moscow when Russia invaded Afghanistan, go figure.  Nonplussed, Karch came back to lead the US to the 1988 Olympics and soundly thrash the Russians in the gold medal match.  Kiraly had already transitioned to beach volleyball before those Olympics and in the aftermath, he gave up the hard wood for the sand.  He would win the 1996 Beach Volleyball gold becoming the first and only player to win gold in both formats.  He was voted the greatest volleyball player of the 20^th century.  There are not many hall of famers coaching but Kiraly has quietly coached the US Women’s team for nearly a decade. He is not doing it for the Benjamins.  He has been coaching the team since 2013 with a record of 238-48 and a bronze in Rio.  They want more in Tokyo and started  their march towards the title by taking down the mighty Chinese in pool play.  The teams are fierce and resilient like their coach.  We are cheering for a golden finish.

The Olympics is working furiously to cultivate a younger audience.  Younger audiences propagate the legacy and the games. The addition of skateboarding, rock climbing and surfing brings in younger competitors and audience demographics.  13-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan became the youngest gold medal winner in Olympic history.  She won one of the skateboard competitions beating out her 15- & 16-year-old competitors.  Not only is the Olympics getting younger, they are getting more entertaining.  The women’s 3X3 basketball has been very fun for Yard staff.  The game is played with the willful aggressiveness we played on the half courts of our youth.  Fouls are rarely called unless belligerent.  Steals are borderline muggings, and you must clear the ball to the top of the key.  The US team lead by Kelsey Plum has raced to the semifinals.  Plum is a Yard favorite with her perpetual scowl, quick smile, and frenetic energy on the court.  She plays for the LV Aces and is a team leader.  She is an assassin from beyond the arc nailing a crucial 3 pointer to close out China.  It is fun game where two pointers are one point, three pointers are two and the first to 21 or whoever is leading after 20 minutes of play wins.  Plum is a natural for this street fight with referees.  She is the all-time leading scorer in NCAA women’s history.  She only trails Pistol Pete for leader in both genders.  She is not as famous as Sue Bird and the rest of the UCONN ladies.  She is just 27 and at the top of her game.  We will be rooting for Kelsey and all the US hoopsters to win gold.  The US Men’s 3x3?  Did not qualify.  US Women hoopsters are dominant.  KD and company, not so much.

There will be more Olympic stories from the Yard, it is in our charter. These first days have been the tonic our staff needed.  Watching sports with a passion that is only found when they are in the Olympics.  We were at the 1984 Olympics in LA and Vancouver in 2010. There are no fans this time and without fans in the venues, we are the fans from our sofas.  NBC had made it intimate with remotes with family, friends, and dogs.  The exclusivity is inclusive. Winners have been able to FaceTime cry with their parents and the world.  It is a weird one but who thought the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be held in 2021 if at all. USA, USA!

Not so fun Fact:  Tokyo Japan was vying to host the 1940 Olympics and was awarded the bid.  Hitler’s Nazi Germany had introduced the torch relay when the Fuhrer hosted Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics.  The Nazi’s offered to assist Japan’s efforts with their expertise in torching.  When WWII broke out in earnest, the 1940 Games were scrapped.  Tokyo was later awarded the 1964 summer Olympics and technological enhancements to timing and scoring were introduced.  Germany was awarded the 1972 Olympics.  The US lost in basketball, Olga Korbut made her Olympic debut, Mark Spitz won seven golds and Palestinian terrorists killed eleven Israelis athletes and the games marched on. 

The Subjects of Summer

 London was having some party this past weekend.  The British footballers navigated their way to the European Cup finals vs. Italy at historic Wembley Stadium.  Alas, the Brits lost 4 of 5 times in the Euro Cup Finals.   Novak Djokovic was across town winning Wimbledon on his third stop towards Grand Slam history.    The Brits love Wimbledon but there are very few British Champions to root for these past decades. The British are passionate about their soccer.  It has been decades of malaise at key moments since their last championship in 1966.  European soccer’s hooligan underbelly exploded like the first Alien movie before and after the championship match. People crashed the gate to gain access to the event.  After the devastating loss,  the three black athletes whose efforts earned their way to the finals, had their social media accounts blown up with racist abuse.  They all missed their penalty kicks as many had before wearing the  Union Jack in defeat.  Their crimes were missing an important shot while being black.   

The carriage of justice is meted out daily with minimal fanfare.  The miscarriages get all the attention.  One such example would be the Pennsylvania Supreme Court releasing Bill Cosby from prison prematurely.  Dr. Huxtable had a deal with the PA DA that provided him immunity during a deposition in a civil proceeding. Coz revealed that he laced cocktails with Quaaludes and took advantage of compromised females.  He did purchase the woman’s silence following his disclosures.  The DA felt there was not enough to indict the famous man who was willing to pay $3.5 million to bury Cosby’s deed. #Metoo years later the details of Cosby’s testimony were publicly released.  The onslaught of victims morphed into an army of the outraged and deservedly so.  All their stories had eerily similar narratives with Cosby always finishing on top. In court, Cosby contended that he had a deal in place that was violated.  He did not mention his repeated violations of his other accusers just of his original golden ticket deal.  His spokesperson contended that the PA Supreme Court had corrected another instance of black injustice.  That was a bold stroke with 60 women of all colors calling out the former Jell-O spokesman.  Yard sources have heard Cosby is not going back on tour but may join the celebrity bartender circuit. #NodrinksfromCosby

Yard summer interns have calculated that Tommy John has never received a dime for his world-famous surgery.  Granted Dr. Frank Jobe introduced, engineered, and performed the surgery in 1974 on Mr. John.  Tommy won more games after the surgery(164) than he did before the surgery (124).  In his second season after surgery, he won 20 games for the first time in his career.  He pitched in three World Series after the knife.  He pitched for the Dodgers while losing to the Yankees in 1977 & 1978.  He signed as a free agent with the Yankees just in time to lose to the Dodgers in 1981. WS setbacks aside,  his bionic arm allowed John to pitch until he was 46. His ubiquitous surgery lives on at all levels of baseball.  Pitchers are now strategizing when to have Tommy John surgery not if.  It is thought better to get it earlier in your career rather than wait until it is needed.  The Yard takes exception that Tommy John never got his due from his willingness to try this revolutionary procedure.  He became living proof that the surgery was effective.  Kerlan-Jobe made a fortune administering and billing for thousands of surgeries.  John did not even get the back end on the T Shirt concession.  John Smoltz, Jacob DeGrom, Stephen Strasburg, and Adam Wainwright are all pitching at Cy Young levels after TJ surgery.  John has never sniffed the HOF.  He won 288 games over his 26-year career and never got more than 32% of the required vote. He deserves to be there for the sacrifice he made that forever changed the game I love.  #TommyJohnHOF.

Allyson Felix is the most decorated female Olympian in US track and field history.  She is tied for the most ever in the universe with nine Olympic medals.  She is heading to Tokyo to hopefully break the tie with Merlene Ottey of Jamaica.  Felix is an exceptionally fast woman, devoted mother, and fierce advocate.  Nike had supported Felix for many years and featured her prominently while checking their diversity boxes.  Felix expected Nike to support her when she let them know she was pregnant.  Nike responded by telling the expectant mother that her new agreement would pay her 70% of normal.  So, while Felix was anything but normal with her first child coming, Nike wants to pay her less.  In the middle of this negotiation, Nike asked Felix to participate in a female empowerment campaign.  She was repulsed by Nike’s duplicity and deservedly so.  They asked athlete Allyson to endorse their support of females while asking Mother Allyson to take a discount because she got pregnant and could not run the 400 meters for a year.  Nike has never asked a male athlete to take the same discount.  Nike showed the level of their swope with their treatment of Felix.  Allyson Felix is the bomb, an icon, and a hero.  We will be rooting her to medals and the introduction of her new competitive shoe line. #FU-Nike.

The Yard has never followed Women’s basketball that closely except for the Olympics or when the UCLA women are relevant.  The Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA have attained our attention with their run to the WNBA finals in last year’s bubble.  They are even better this year with 6’8” Liz Cambage back from COVID Opt-out and Kelsey Plum from injury.  They have been fun to watch and lead the league in scoring.  The best thing about the Aces is their head coach Bill Laimbeer.  As a Laker Fan, Laimbeer’s Bad Boys of Detroit Piston fame were the Laker nemesis at the end of the Show Time era.  The Lake show held them off the young Pistons in 1988 but the wolves were circling the campfire.  The Pistons swept the Lakers in 1989.  Laimbeer was the scowling leader of this band of chips on their shoulders.  He seemed to have a perpetual black eye and elbows that would level MJ in his prime.  The Last Dance was a fun documentary of Michael Jordan hero worship.  Laimbeer was the one person that would not blow sunshine up Jordan’s sphincter.  He called him a whiner because the Pistons bludgeoned MJ’s Bulls and they did.  The team is fun to watch, and Aces Chelsea Gray and Aja Wilson will be representing the US in the traditional Olympic basketball.  Kelsey Plum will be representing the US in the first ever 3x3 in the Olympics.  Liz Cambage will be playing for her native Australia. Ji-Su Park will be representing South Korean.  It will be a fun summer of Women’s hoops. We look forward to watching 6’11” Bill Laimbeer coach the Aces to the first professional title in NV history. He is the scowl and the force. #GoAces.

Men’s basketball is grinding to a close.  The NBA playoffs have been a battle of attrition.  The Bucks and Suns are the two best and deserve to be in the finals.  It is sort of an is that all there is moment.  The US Men’s Gold Medal aspirations are looking shaky at best.  The players were summoned to Las Vegas to become a team.   Losing their first two games to the likes of Nigeria and Australia was startling.  Phlegmatic Kevin Durrant is the reputed team leader with his legend and gold medals from Rio and London.  The US Women look unbeatable and the US Men vulnerable.   Oh, the times are a changin.

RIP: Terry Donahue died last week after a two-year battle with cancer.  Donahue was the greatest coach in UCLA football history and the winningest coach in Pac-12 conference history.  Donahue was the original gutty little Bruin playing in the Rose Bowl as a 195-pound defensive tackle in UCLA’s first Rose Bowl victory.  They beat #1 ranked and undefeated Michigan State that beautiful January afternoon in Pasadena in 1966.  Terry would succeed Dick Vermeil in 1976 and coach UCLA for 20 years.  After losing to the hated Trojans in his first four attempts, the Bruins came through on the 5^th try.  Donahue would coach the Bruins to a record of 10-5-1 over SC for the next 16 years, including the last five straight.  Donahue coached the Bruins to seven straight bowl victories including three Rose Bowl victories.  UCLA has had five head coaches in the 26 years and has won just five bowl games in the 26 years since he retired. Those were the days for Bruin fans.  How the times have changed. 

Billionaires and UFO's

 t has been a record setting week for temperatures around the US, especially in the Pacific Northwest.  Seattle hitting 107 is a ridiculous number for a city where the majority do not have AC.  They sound a lot like the Southern California Beach cities whose disdain for air conditioning has abated over the past decade.  At the Yard World Headquarters in Las Vegas, we have been dealing with global warming since the oceans receded over 200 million years ago.  We have been ready for it for at least a half century.  It is hot but our AC is awesome and with Bosch dropping on Amazon, we will survive with persistence and Pinot Noir.

The world’s attention was captured by a 300-mile elephant walk in China.  The elephants made an exit from a wildlife preserve in Yunnan to the outskirts of Kunming.  There is no understanding of their ultimate destination, but they have stormed through towns like the Rolling Stones on tour.  Albeit back in the day for Mick and Keith.  These beasts are on a mission and apparently not on drugs. The three male Pachyderms will not ask for directions and there is dissention among the females on the journey.  This is not going to end well, and no one is getting a happy ending.

Not to be outdone, billionaires everywhere are racing to space.  Big swinging dicks Jefferey Bezos and Richard Branson are racing to beat each other into space.  Bezos may not be as big according to Pecker at the Nat Enquirer. Bezos announced he was going up into the clouds just like AWS.  Branson, fresh off his launch of Virgin Hotel in LV announced he would beat Bezos by two weeks. Bezos and Branson were both beat into space by Charles Simonyi.  Simonyi was employee #40 at Microsoft.  He has traveled further than either of these two nudnicks, going all the way to the International Space Station twice.  We are not sure how many loyalty miles he earned, but Simonyi dropped a cool $60 million for those two nonstops.

The federal government announced this past week that a report will be issued addressing unexplained flying objects.  These UFOs have been cited all over the world by different military and government sources.  Former US Senator Harry Reid has been calling for such disclosure for years.  With his Ross Perot-like cranium and shrill delivery, he was considered a little loony at the time.  The Yard still considers him as such, but he may have been on to something.  In a related story, Intergalactic aliens are demanding an explanation why they are always depicted as some sort of lizard in Hollywood.  These are smart and powerful reptiles with dreadlocks, but still not leading man good looking types.  The Earth always gets Harrison Ford, Arnold, Dennis Quaid or one of Bill’s and earth is like 27-0 in these contests.  The aliens get Jabba the Hutt and that critter Will Smith punched in the nose.  They feel it is an unfair characterization.  And they want more representation with the Academy.

The Lake show’s quick exit from the NBA Playoffs was anticipated from the moment they won their bubble title last year.  The season was truncated already for 2021 with the late 2020 finish.  Lebron did not want to play games until February and the NBA was having none of those sensibilities.  The Warriors did not last long either and they had not played a game in nearly a year.  The 2020 Season ended with a championship on October 11, 2020.  The 2020-21 Season returned on December 22, 2020.  A full slate of Christmas Day games went off.  Lebron and company had 71 days between their Championship and first tip of the new season.  No fans were allowed but the NBA dragged Lebron and Company back to the hardwood against the wishes of his 36-year-old body.  AD and the King had already grinded out their first title together. They played like they did not need another in 2021. Lebron said the right things, but he played like it was 2019. They will be back with championship focus for 2021-22.  Lebron was right in his assertions as players are starting to fall apart in the playoffs.  It is a battle of attrition.

The San Francisco Giants have been the story of the 2021 season.  Picked by the Las Vegas Sports books to win just 79 games, the Giants have already won 48 games.  It is remarkable given their anemic performances that last several years.  As the season commenced, the team seemed aged and without depth.  That is probably the same assessment currently.  34-year-old Buster Posey opted out of the 2020 season and is having a resurgent year and playing solid defense.  Brandon Crawford is having a career year at age 34.  Brandon Belt and Eva Longoria are having their typical middling efforts at 33 and 35.  Johnny Cueto is still top shelf at 35. Kevin Gausman is having a great year at age 30.  The Giants have momentum and maybe the threads to keep it all stitched together. They seem that they are an oblique tear away from a seven-game losing streak but that is just Yard hope and speculation.

The NL West has three of the best teams in all of MLB.  The Giants are the story of the year, but the historically, moribund San Diego Padres are barnstorming like rock stars.  The Tatis and Manny show are launching moonshots.  They are young and have the pitching.  The Dodgers have been pelted with injuries but have been resilient which comes with youth.  They are getting healthy with big opportunities and paydays ahead for their young talent.  The next representative in the WS from the National League will probably come out of the West.  Our hopes are for a Dodger repeat but there are many games to be played and hamstrings to pull.

It seems like we have reached the other side of the COVID wormhole.  The confident vaccinated navigated the honor system of the vax conspirator theorists. We are looking forward to visiting the hallowed Chavez Ravine in the next week for the first time from this other side.  Nadia of the Yard and his Yardness will be at the Dodger vs. Giants June 29 with 55,000 strong.  

Be safe and Go Blue!

Believe in Baseball

 

It is amazing how all of us have become vaccine experts the past few weeks. Which vaccine did you get?  The Moderna two shot?  Do you need a booster?  What are the second shot side effects?” J&J one shot? Did you hear the latest on them? Astrazeneca no thanks. It gives us all something else to talk about other than what we are streaming on our digital devices.  Anti-vaxxers you have your reasons, but do you know anyone who recently recovered from rubella or polio? Polio was a ravenous, contagious virus that could either paralyze or kill those infected.  Jonas Salk discovered the vaccine and there has not been a single case of polio in the US since 1979.  Whatever your personal beliefs, we are all in this together.

Hi everybody and a very pleasant good evening to you wherever you may be.  Dodger baseball is on the air for 2021.  With the championship drought behind them this team is built with dynastic intentions. 2021 could be as remarkable as 2020 without the COVID membrane shroud.  There is a long season ahead and COVID lurks at every concession stand. The raising the 2020 championship flag and passing out the World Series rings was an exciting sight.  It would have been a bucket list to be there.  The Yard has been treated to many Opening Days with lifelong friend T-Dawg Williamson.  The Williamson family has had season Dodger seats since 1958 when the team first came west.  They have had the same four seats at Chavez Ravine since it first opened in 1962.  A Williamson family member has been at Opening Day every season until this season.  COVID protocols are still required, and attendance is truncated at 15,000 until June 2.  With all the celebrities, former players, Scott Boras and Magic Johnson in line ahead of us, we did not stand a chance of being invited to the ceremony.  Unfortunately, they were able to carry on without us.

The Texas Rangers put COVID protocols aside in their on-going dystopian state sponsored dumpster fire.  State officials threw caution into the fast-approaching COVID 4.0 monsoon and allowed 38,000 fans to attend opening day.  Masks were to be required but the televised images showed a different story with this controversial safety strategy.  We were surprised that they did not invite the Donald to make the inaugural first heave.  Trump does not look like he has a first pitch in him, but Cancun Teddy would have cheered him on to make it great again.  Regardless, the Rangers did take a moment of silence to remember the 500,000+ COVID deceased.  It was a somber moment.  The Yard has suggested that they should have taken another moment of silence in the 9^th inning to recognize those that will die following this super spreader event.  Our calls were not returned.

The NCAA tournament was one of the wildest and best in recent memory.  Our opinion is biased on the Bruins racing from First Four to Final Four in an incredible display of tenacity.  They essentially won the championship for Baylor throttling Gonzaga to their limit in the Saturday night national semifinal. The Zags were 14-point favorites, the largest Final Four point spread in 25 years. The Bulldogs were coming off an absolute beat down of the Trojans in the regional final.  USC had beaten UCLA both times during the regular season.  There was no reason to believe UCLA could keep pace with a Gonzaga team that was averaging 90 and beating teams by 20.  But on this night, they did.  They had leads, they made shots, they went toe to toe with the greatest team in the land.  It was the finest game of the entire tournament.  It was the best game of the Final Four and far better than the final. It was a bitter defeat for the Bruins.  Alas, we do not think they would have fared much better against the Baylor Bears in the championship if they had prevailed.  We do know they pierced the Gonzaga bubble and showed their vulnerabilities.  The Bears exploited all of it in their runaway win.  We took the Bruins +14 and the Bears + 4.5 to subsidize our own little victory lap.

The Pac-12 both men’s and women’s basketball programs have been besmirched in recent years.  It was not an inaccurate depiction.  The conference had middling results in the tourney of late. Pac-12 women’s hoops has been more nationally recognized than the men.  The left coast was considered soft and not championship caliber. This year was more of the same rhetoric.  Pac-12 men’s basketball stormed the gate lead by the upstart Oregon State Beavers.  The Beaves were not even to be in the dance. They upset their way into the Sweet 16 with UCLA, USC, and Oregon.  The women made it to the Finals with Stanford and ASU facing off in the championship game.  Yard congrats to Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer on winning her third title for the Stanford Cardinal.  It had been 29 years since her last title.  Yard was conjecturing that they may be the longest stretch between titles for any basketball head coach at the same school.  Geno Auriemma is flashier, more outspoken and has more titles.  VanDerveer is solid, steady and has more wins than any other NCAA women’s basketball coach and is just a tick behind Duke’s coach.

Our hoops for local college athletics got a boost when UNLV did the right thing and promoted Kevin Kruger to head coach for the Running Rebels.  Kruger played at UNLV for his legendary father Lon Kruger.  The last time that the team made it to the Sweet 16 was when Father Lon was head coach.  He was the best coach that UNLV had since the Jerry Tarkanian era.  Since Kruger departed to Oklahoma in 2011, the Rebels have had four different head coaches.  Granted Chris Beard was there for 19 days in 2016 and never coached a game before departing for Texas Tech.  Beard’s departure underscores the ineptitude of the UNLV Athletic department and their hiring decisions.  The AD reached an agreement with Beard and then let him twist in the wind for nearly three weeks before the deal was to be approved.  Texas Tech swooped in and offered him an immediate deal.  He was gone and the Red Raiders were in the championship game in 2019.  UNLV has not been in the tournament since 2013.

The real bonus in hiring Kruger is that Lon Kruger immediately retired from Oklahoma, bought a multi-million home near Gruden, and moved to Las Vegas.  When the Yard relocated to Las Vegas in 2010, Lon was the head coach of the Running Rebels.  The team had competitive talent, made the NCAA playoffs almost every year and filled Thomas and Mack with rabid fans.  UNLV outdrew every school in attendance in the west except Arizona.  And what else is there to do in Tucson? Kevin has never been a head coach, but he has been a highly regarded assistant for the past decade.  Now he has a highly respected assistant coach in his arsenal and not on his payroll.

Monarchy 2.0 Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, has passed.  He was the longest running consort in Windsor history.  The Yard does not find the term “consort” to be that flattering for the man, but he was the man.  He is far and away the most accomplished of those other Royal Nudniks. Randy Andy was running on Fergie before he started to hang on the island with Epstein.  Charles and Camilla are next in line?  Camilla looks older than the Queen and Charles is a stale future king. There is only one bloodline allowed to be Royalty.  You do not get elected; you get born into it.  Phil married into but he was born into Royalty through both his mother’s and father’s lineage.  He fought in WW2 in the British Navy.  He traveled the world and helped shepherd his family into the 21^st century.  Both his senior grandsons said he was great at the BBQ!  Who knew?  We are sure he liked a stiff whiskey neat.  RIP Phil.

The Spring of our Madness

 

On Thursday March 11, 2021 before the real madness commenced, UCLA and Oregon State faced off in the Pac-12 tournament.  Oregon State’s only hope to punch a ticket to the dance was to win the tournament.  UCLA seemed to have a solid spot in some NCAA bracket.  The fortunes of both schools changed that evening at T-Mobile.  UCLA stormed to a 16- point lead that affirmed their playoff dreams.  The Beavers started a second half surge and was on the precipice of the upset.  UCLA trailing by one, standing at the line for two free throws with three seconds to play.  If UCLA’s Jules Bernard makes them both, the Oregon State Beavers are not even in the tournament little alone the darlings.  He made one of two and OSU boat raced the Bruins in the OT.  The Beavers would not lose another game until the Elite 8 against heavily favored Houston.  It was remarkable run of seven games as an underdog in every game in a “lose and go home” scenario.  They are finally going home but not before taking down Sister Jean’s boys.  The Bruins have not lost a game since then either and find themselves in their 18^th Final Four and one of their more unlikely appearances.  Taking down the Maize to reach the finals was the highlight of the last ten years for this Bruin fan.  With Gonzaga looming, we are in an enjoyment phase before the torment.

 The return of all the basketball Madness has been exceptional this year as we emerge from the plague.  We lamented during this year of COVID about so many annual events cancelled from our collective calendars.  Birthday celebrations, weddings were missed but frigging March Madness shut down last year? All those tournament websites and bracketoligists immediately shuttered with no pivot for their business available.  Joe Lunardi’s one moment in the sun shaded!?  It is back this year with all its magnificent infuriation that scrambles minds and brackets.  It has been a larger dose this season which apparently is the protocol.  It is a double dose kind of tourney just like Moderna.  The Yard’s favorite had been the Fighting Illini from the University of Illinois.  The Illini have not always been up for the fight, but this year’s squad was exceptional.  It is also the Alma Mater of my brother-in-law the vet.  He is a good guy and I supported him, and I thought they could win.  And then they lost to their in-state non rival Loyola of Chicago.  The Ramblers not only have one of the best team names, but they have the indomitable 101-year-old Sister Jean as their number one fan.  Yard Karma should have seen a red flag about beating a Nun’s team on a Sunday.  It was not to be for the Illini.  In a twist of Karma, the upstart Beavers took down the Ramblers during their reign.  We did not pick any of the Pac-12 teams to go far and we paid the pool price.  We did not pick USC to go far but for different, irrational reasons.

And right before a new NCAA Champion is crowned, another championship campaign will begin for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The season’s edition of the Blue Crew seems more powerful as last year’s team.  The starting pitching is over the top and Clayton always seems to need a break during the season.  David Price who opted out last year to focus on video gaming is always a phlegmatic wild card.  Trevor Bauer is the new Bruin on the block, and he brings his chronicled baggage with him.  JT will be back at third with the rest of the infield, Belli and Mookie.  We do not see who can keep up with them except those Padres.  The Padres are spending 300% more on payroll than they spent just three years ago.   It does not appear that their revenue streams have increased to keep pace with their accelerated cost structure.  It will be an interesting ride for Padre fans, and they have the Dodgers in their sights.  They know who they must best to be the best.  Giant fan is just hoping for a shot at a winning season.  Giants are back to meandering with their mediocrity in hope for brighter days later this decade.  They are forecasted to win 74 games so .500 is a stretch goal.  Those three championships from last decade are now just featured on faded license plate frames.

Fantasyland 2.0 There had been much made of the Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s explosive interview with Oprah.  It seems like all the riches, castles, pomp, and circumstance are not how they appeared to be. For the rest of us, it all seems a very surreal existence from the 1600’s but for Ms. Markel it apparently was almost suicidal.  There were several revelations in the interview.  Apparently, Princess Kate and the duchess became embroiled in the flower girl’s dress choices and she was brought to tears.  WOW, who knew such strife existed under the Windsor banner.   Oprah also made it clear that they were not being paid for these riveting disclosures but rest assured Oprah was getting paid for prying them out of them.  The tone deafness of all involved during this time and space is alarming.  The three of them in a grand backyard with a miraculous view talking about a life of privilege beyond the reality of 99.999% of the planet. This is closer to Disneyland than reality.   

Andrew and the Locust

 

After last month’s Yard expose on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his COVID reporting scandal, it now seems everyone is jumping on board.  The US Attorneys and FBI are investigating the Cuomo administration and their accounting practices.  Andy tried not to step on the burning lunch bag of pooh left on his doorstep, but he did.   Cuomo took responsibility for misreporting the nursing home deaths albeit at a lofty level with aristocratic hues.  Just when Cuomo thought he had slid that scandal to page 6, three women came forward with sexual harassment allegations by governor.  One woman alleged that Cuomo inquired if she would have sex with an older man.  The 63-year-old clarified to the horribly uncomfortable 25-year-old aide that he drew the line at 22 years old for his sexual paramours.  In contrition, Andrew is sounding more tone deaf than his nursing home scandal response. He offered an apology stating that he did not realize his comments and actions made anyone feel uncomfortable. Not sure on what planet comments like that are anything but inappropriate but Cuomo is not resigning.  Governor, your office is not 1960’s Mad Men on Madison Avenue, wake up.

The People’s Republic of Texas has been reeling these past few weeks.  The horrific winter conditions that hit their deregulated power grid came within a microwave popcorn of collapsing the entire state.  Conditions were so bad that a meltdown would have been an upgrade.  The frozen Texan tundra became a killing field of jack-knifed tractor trailers and seniors frozen in their ice box homes.  The water pipes froze and then exploded.  The water that made it through was tainted.  It was a truly biblical event in the state’s history.  It all went down just a scant two weeks ago.  This week on the road to recovery, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced he was ending the statewide mask mandate and relieving other COVID restrictions effective March 10.  Texas is a solid second in the COVID sweepstakes behind California. Texas has tallied 2.7 million cases and 45,000 deaths.  Many have questioned the Governor’s actions considering the recent calamities and the state’s infection rate.  On a related note, Governor Abbot has invited famine and pestilence to join the locust who are scheduled in town at the end of the month.

Baseball will be emerging from its COVID truncated season of 2020 with a potential full slate in 2021.  Our beloved Dodgers are the favorites to repeat.  Their million-dollar rotation will be hard to beat in any series including the World Series. The team will have challenges ahead with their other young talent in line for their first big pay days.  There is time to figure that out after another championship we all hope.  The surprise of the National League is their new rival the San Diego Padres.  In 2019, the Padres total payroll was $66 million.  In 2021, San Diego will be paying $158 million for their 25-man roster.  The Yard loves Petco Field and it holds a compact 42,000 loyal.  The Friars do not have a great TV deal and they are maxing the gate.  It is win now with all those pricey contracts and they need to win now to sustain.  Their revenue market potential cannot keep pace with the Dodgers in this manner.  The Dodgers add talent to their home-grown talent.  Fernando Tatis is a Padre draft pick.  But the rest of the big salaries San Diego has are free agents hires.  Manny Machado is a future HOF. Blake Snell was a bad pitching change away from winning the World Series.  Yu is on a redemption tour. Manny drills Kershaw about every time he faces him.  They are the Dodgers new rivals in the NL.  The Giants, Colorado and Arizona will be fighting gallantly to finish above .500.  The Giants are forecasted to win a solid 74 games.  They are averaging 71 wins a season over the past three so maybe it is a stretch goal.  Giant management has done an excellent job of maintaining their high payroll while aging chronically.  Their pitching ace is 35-year-old Johnny Cueto.  Their future could be bright, but it could be 2025 and probably will not include Gabe Kapler.  

March Madness is on the horizon or the precipice. The NCAA is building a bubble in Indianapolis for the 64-team tournament.  Hopefully, the teams get out of their season ending tournament to get the bubble.  Our Bruins are a solid 4 seed possibly but if there is a COVID outbreak at the Pac-12 tournament, they can get DQ’ed, and the dance will go on without them.  It is the added risk of the Madness of 2021. Your star player goes down you try and adjust.  Your team gets slammed into COVID protocols and you might not make the opening round five days later. The college athletes are as virus fatigued as the rest of us.  Probably more so since they are kings of the campus when there is a campus. Being online royalty is not as fun as playing in front of your packed crib in front of adoring fans. The Yard is locked and loaded for three weeks of the world’s best sports spectacle that last three weeks.  There will be last second shots, irresponsible fouls, miracles, and other stuff that will live forever in Madness folklore.   Game on!

The Yard Home Edition 2021

 Last year about this time, there were rumors circulating about a mysterious virus that was raising red flags in the far east.  At the time, the college bowl season was over, the NBA was in full swing, the Super Bowl was in the can, March Madness dance tickets were punched, and MLB was in spring training bloom.  It all seemed business as usual. We all know now it is a far different world than initially forecasted last year. The ravages of COVID have been relentless and documented with staggering efficacy.  There was already enough calamity in the world without layering in a pandemic.  The Maui Invitational NCAA hoops tournament was played in Asheville, North Carolina. WTF? The Masters was played in November without the azaleas of spring. Wimbledon was cancelled. The Rose Bowl game will be played in Arlington, TX. The reality of the absurdity of 2020 really hit home the other day.  Breaking news that 48-year-old Manny Ramirez has signed to play for the Sydney Blue Sox in Australia for the upcoming season.  Who knew that Manny World was still operating between the lines?  Yard staff will be following Ramirez closely.  We wonder if he has another $4,000 BBQ to sell on eBay.

There have been several notable passings during the year of COVID.  COVID mortality statistics have been considered controversial with many aged and infirmed succumbing to the disease eventually.  The grim numbers regardless of underlying conditions are a stark reminder that we are not in Kansas anymore Toto.  2020 saw the passing of many iconic sports and entertainment heroes from Yard youth.  Two HOF NY pitchers passed in Tom Terrific Seaver and Whitey “Chairman of the Board” Ford.   Ford would pitch in 11 World Series with the Yankees winning six.  Seaver, the boy scout, would lead the much-maligned Met’s franchise to two WS winning in historic fashion in 1969. Don Larson, pitcher of the only Perfect Game in WS history took the dirt nap during 2020.  Kobe and Gianna Bryant were gone much too soon.  Ken “Eddie Haskell” Osmond died in May.  Phyliss George, pioneering female sportscaster perished.  And just when it seemed we might escape through the wormhole into 2021, Dawn Wells went down.  Wells, as Mary Ann Summers, was a wholesome farm girl from Kansas who won a trip on the ill-fated USS Minnow ride to Gilligan’s Island.  For prepubescent yard youth, Mary Ann and Ginger were our first female heroes until the Brady Bunch girls showed up.  Tina Louise in her sultry evening gown and Mary Ann in her Daisy Dukes gracing each episode with the same wardrobe were mesmerizing to a seven-year-old Yardling.  Dawn Wells was Miss Nevada in 1959 and landed on the Island with Gilligan, the Skipper, too, the millionaire and his wife in 1964.  The show would only last 3 years on Network Television but forever in reruns and our new streaming universe.  Dawn, you will forever be missed.  Tina, now it is just you and me baby.

College Football is finally tottering towards the January 11 College Football Playoff. It was a CFB season that was cancelled in April, launched sporadically throughout the fall, and will finish surprisingly with a classic championship game between two legendary football programs in Alabama and Ohio State. The SEC and ACC were the first conferences to confirm college football is more important than COVID protocols. College football is so important in the Southeast because of its popularity and related TV revenue. This visibility enhances recruiting and affirms their legend. Other conferences were quick to follow as the SEC got out of the gate with games and some fans. Make no mistake college football is more about the television revenue than the careers of their student athletes.  Universities have become dependent on the TV dollars that come with college football.  The disparity of play led to Ohio State with a 6-0 record playing Clemson with a 10-1 record.  Texas A&M went 8-1 and beat some ranked opponents and did not make the finals.  The Buckeyes beat up an underwhelming Big-10 schedule and big named their way into the CFB playoffs.  They proved their worth in their dismantling of Dabo Swinney's Clemson Tigers.

The inequity of the college football season was revealed as each week progressed.  Key games were rescheduled or cancelled.  The SEC played almost a full schedule as did the ACC.  The Big 10 and Pac 12 played a restricted calendar.  Michigan was able to pin blame on COVID to avoid the annual Ohio State beat down.  Jim Harbaugh has not beaten OSU in his tenure, and this was not going to be the year either.  He may never beat the Buckeyes. COVID exposed the non-parity of college football.  College basketball is far more equitable given the number of competitive teams, the rise of Mid-majors and March Madness.  College Football is not the Big Five, it is the Big Two + 2: ACC, SEC, Ohio State and Oklahoma. Notre Dame is trying to get in that group but so many nationally televised beat downs by these same schools render the Irish interesting but not relevant.  Oklahoma and OSU have embraced the SEC attitudes regarding the priorities of college athletics over college academics.  Alabama’s bowl winnings are not going to the math department.  At Michigan and Purdue, some of those dollars make it to math and engineering.  USC is fooling themselves into thinking that they are still part of that discussion.  They are not and the only people that did not get the memo are the alumni and Lori Laughlin. University of Texas is in the same illusion pool.  UT fired Tom Herman and is paying him $15 million to go away.  Steve Sarkisian is getting less, and he should enjoy it while it lasts because it will not. Stevie will get a lot less when he eventually goes away.  Sark, Austin is not Tuscaloosa.  

 The Pac-12 is largely irrelevant in the national discussion of college football.  Under the current NCAA format each D1 school has 85 scholarships. All the big schools fill all 85 with depth and skill only dreamed about at UCLA and the NFL for that matter.  UCLA cannot even fill 85 scholarships let alone get depth and skill.  NCAA needs to limit the scholarships by 8-10 per school and put another 100-150 high caliber athletes on the market for everyone else.  Darth Saban does not want to see that happen or the Crimson Tide faithful.  They need to help their brothers out for the good of the game long term.

OT: The last time the Rose Bowl was played outside of Pasadena was 1942.  In 1942, the US was afraid of a Japanese attack on the West Coast following the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The 102,000 at the venerable Rose Bowl could be a prime target.  Instead, the game was played at Duke in North Carolina.  It was weird.  I watched the Rose Bowl with my father for decades.  Usually, it was just the two of us with Jo at the Yard feeding us constantly from our supine positions. We went several times to the game when UCLA had a football team in the 80’s. I am missing him this year but dad it was weird watching that Rose Bowl game Friday in Arlington.  Indoors at Jerry World, no parade, no flyover, just a game and not the best of those.  Missing you but not the 2021 Rose Bowl.

Leaders in the Clubhouse: If there was an eye in the Pandemastorm, it was the Dodgers and Lakers winning their first titles in too long.  It was exciting for LA fans everywhere, but these monumental championships were almost invisible to the nation.  There would be no celebration, no parade, no visit to the White House.  The White House has not been so popular of late and Lebron would not have gone.

Karma Always Wins 2020 Edition: UNLV Basketball Star Christian Wood was forecasted to be a top 15-20 pick in the 2015 NBA draft.  Wood was so excited about his NBA fortunes that he rented a room at Caesar’s Palace and invited friends and family to watch the draft.  As the night progressed and Wood’s name was not called the mood in the room dampened.  Wood went undrafted, the girlfriend he dropped off at McCarron ghosted him and he was destined to bounce around semi-pro basketball for years.  Last week, Wood’s perseverance earned him a three-year $41 million deal with the Houston Rockets.  Girlfriend has not been heard from…yet.

All the best to everyone in 2021 and maybe the end of the reality show - 2020.