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.