Happy New Year from the Yard

Happy New Years from the Yard.  On many levels, we would be happy to flush 2023 down the porcelain but not so fast Johnny.  2024 could be more combustible with the kindling of 2023 hot topic issues unresolved.  Donald Trump is running again because he must.  Trump thirsts for the power and the love of his white male constituents.  Trump also must run because his PAC groups are paying his legal fees while he is a candidate. His donors know about the witches and they are helping the big Mac and Cheese out. He keeps running, they keep paying. The Yard has investigated the legal morass that Trump contends is a political witch hunt.  Well, there are a lot of witches.  Trump has four court cases that are ongoing.  These four cases represent 91 total felonies.  The current legal bills are $27 million and counting.  None of these cases has gone to trial and Trump will not settle.  While his minions take plea deals and Rudy must file BK under $150 million cavalcade of punitive damages, Trump stands defiant.  He is now surrounding himself with new “friends”.  The orchestrators of “the stolen election” narrative are running for the exits.  His family who was everywhere while he was in office is nowhere to be seen now including his wife.  Fun fact:  Trump “allegedly” paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their illicit affair.  To date he has spent $1.7 million in legal fees defending himself against the felony bribery charges related to that payoff.  No president in US history has ever been indicted.  The job is big enough for big thinkers, Trump is not one of them.  The job requires all your focus, Trump will be knee deep in legal cases in four states.  He will not be looking out for the country; he will be looking out for himself.  Some things never change.

 

The sports season of 2023 was outstanding for one reason.  UCLA trounced USC 38-20 at the Coliseum.   For many years, USC and UCLA shared that moribund facility as co-tenants.  UCLA bailed in the 1980’s to the verdant pastures of Pasadena. USC was committed to their hood and put some lipstick on the pig.  UCLA has struggled to win at the Trojan’s home turf forever and have been 7-15 there since 1979.  UCLA beat USC eight straight in the 1990’s, still the longest streak in the rivalry.  But the Coliseum was always a tough spot for the Blue and Gold.  Reggie “where is my Heisman” Bush rushed for 260 in 2005 in a 66-19 rout. Ricky Neuheisel rattled King Pete’s cage in 2011 by calling timeout with 86 seconds to go trailing 43-0.  Matt Barkley did not take a knee, he play-faked and threw a 50-yard TD to finish a 50-0 victory.  So, it is sweet to beat USC at home by 18 points.  Yard staff thinks the 62-33 beatdown in South Central was better in 2021.  It is all good.

 

Dodger baseball has been in the news of late.  We understand that committing a billion in payroll to two players seems excessive.  The Dodgers are one of the most profitable teams in the majors so they will figure it out. I will put a link to the August 13 Blog, but we predicted, not a stretch, that the Dodgers were saving their 2022-23 money for Ohtani in 2024.  Shohei got his $700 million. We did not know Yoshinobu Yamamoto was going to join the roster for another $300 million.  He could be a better pitcher than Ohtani, but Shohei is a unicorn.  Here are a few fun facts: Ohtani as a batter has been walked intentionally 14 times.  Ohtani the pitcher has never issued one.  On June 21, 2022, against the Royals he hit two home runs and drove in eight runs.  On June 22, 2022, against the same Royals, Ohtani pitched eight shutout innings, allowed just two hits, and struck out thirteen.  There has never been anyone like him including the Babe.  He will not pitch in 2024 but he will be in the starting lineup, and there will be three future HOF playing most days. It will be fun for Dodger fans.

 

In the CFP, the Yard is picking Michigan and Washington to meet in the championship.  We are not done with our analytics, but we do not like Nick Saban.  He is the Darth Vader of college football, but he is tough to beat in bowl games.  His record at Alabama is 16-6 in bowl games with six national championships.  Michigan has put together an undefeated season and are 1.5 favorites.  Jim Harbaugh head coaching record in bowl games is 2-7 which includes six straight losses.  Among them a loss to Saban and the Tide in the 2020 Citrus Bowl 35-16. That was the only other time that Saban and Harbaugh have faced each other in a college football game of any type.  Harbaugh has his work cut out for him, but he had lost seven straight to Ohio State before he won the last three in a row.  He does not get credit this year because he got suspended…again.  We like him because he is tenacious, pugnacious, and aggressive with a pinch of psychosis while appearing mildly detached.  It has worked for Jimmy, and we hope he gets over the hump, wins the National Championship and then comes to Las Vegas to coach the Raiders.

 

In the other game, we like UW because we also dislike Seven-Win Sark who did win 12 this year.  Michael Penix is the real deal for the Huskies.  He beat a heavily favored Oregon Ducks flamethrowers in the Pac-12 Championship.  UW and Michigan are the only unbeaten and we hope they play for the CFP National Championship.

 

Happy New Year!

Funeral for a friend.

We are going to miss George Santos at the Yard. He was his own news cycle with each story more fantastical than the last.  He always had a smile on his face while stitching elliptical storylines.  He seems crazy like Elon Musk without the money, or maybe he was Elon Musk? Have they ever been seen together?  George threatened his colleagues as he swished his winter scarf, packed up his juice boxes and exited the Capital.  He will be forgotten except for the People magazine article “Where are they now” in ten years. 

 

In 1969, Indira Gandhi was appointed prime minister of India. She ruled for eleven years and established India as the dominant power in Southeast Asia.  It was a pivotal point in the history of India. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the UK. The Iron Lady governed the United Kingdom boldly until 1990.  In her first year her approval rating was 23% but her government turned around the British economy within 24 months. On November 22, 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor in Germany’s troubling history of national leaders. Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the EU and the most powerful woman in the world.  The United States has never had a woman lead our nation. It is not a box to check on a diversity test, it is a pragmatic observation from the Yard.  Women have had to prove themselves as collaborators and consensus builders in a patriarchal world since thenever.  Women have time and again proven themselves as tremendous leaders and warriors in business and government.  It might be time to find her to quell this political dumpster fire, so it does not go back to the original source of the combustion. Just saying…

 

The Oakland city council has passed an 8-0 resolution condemning the Hamas attack on Israel.  After weeks of local protests by both Israeli and Palestinian citizens in the Alameda County community, the council felt they needed to act.  It is unclear how the city council felt this resolution was going to appease the Hamas supporters and the vote was contentious.  Yard outsiders would suggest that Oakland has far bigger local issues than the war in the Middle East.  It is also very clear that the Oakland resolution has had zero impact in the Middle east hostilities while increasing them locally.  There is a reason that they are the only city in Alameda county to publicly weigh in on it. 

 

At the Yard, it is all about college football for the next five weeks.  There will be many important NFL games and the NFL will own our attention soon enough.  The CFP was announced this past weekend.  It is a big deal within the Yard spectrum. Tallahassee was not so thrilled with the decision, but all the playoff teams seem deserving despite the omission of FSU.  We did attend the Pac-12 Funeral Bowl at Allegiant Stadium Friday night. The final game in the 109-year history of the Pacific Coast Conference was bittersweet.  We went with Mr. and Mrs. f--ing Lawlor and they were wonderful hosts, tall boys at the TG and all.  The missus is a Ducks alum and I had $35 worth of fandom riding on an Oregon victory. Washington controlled their destiny by beating Oregon.  They did in strong fashion because Oregon has been rolling everyone since Washington beat them at the lake in October.  Not on this Friday night. Alabama lay the Bulldogs bare in Atlanta and sent them packing.  We do think Georgia is one of the best four teams, but they needed to lose that one game in September or October not December.  UNLV tried to win their second Mountain West title.  They did not and the Boise State Broncos won their 5^th.  The Broncos had been there before, and it showed. Texas obliterated Oklahoma State and leapfrogged the field into the 4^th spot. 

 

The end of the PAC-12 is sad commentary on college athletics.  It is the evolution of college football and sports programming.  NCAA basketball has CBS as their benefactor who pays the big bill and then parses it down to TBS, TNT, TruTv among others.  ESPN does not get to eat from that table. The origins of the Pacific Coast Conference trace back to 1915.  The OGs were the original PAC-8 UCLA, USC, Stanford, CAL, UO, OSU, UW, WSU.  Along the way Idaho and Montana were part of the mix.  It was a rocky ride until 1959. There was no television, just boosters bending rules, shifting academic standards and rivalries.  Some things never change.

 

College football became beholden to the television money.  Like crack addicts always looking for a better high, the academics kept chasing better TV deals.  ESPN helped fuel the splintering into several Regional Sports Networks.  Comcast, Fox, and others jumped into this “lucrative” enterprise.  In the beginning, it was a lucrative, collaborative partnership among the universities. The egalitarian essence of college worked for a bit. Then the haves were not as keen as splitting the pie equally with the have nots.  Truth be told neither group was aware there were two groups until recently.  When the bigger programs colluded and blindsided their siblings, the football landscape forever changed.  Universities have become unregulated Fortune 500 types with huge endowments, preferential tax status, land holdings and police forces. The students provide camouflage from where the sausage is being made.

 

RIP:  The Pac-12 breathed its potential last breath on Friday night at Allegiant stadium. The last two standing are Oregon State and Washington State.  These final two from the original 8 are still holding on to what is left of the conference.  There is revenue and the Pac-12 network still in play.  These schools have worked out a scheduling arrangement with the Mountain West Conference for 2024.  They may opt to join the conference in the future.  There is equity in the Pac-12 name and history.  There could be a future where the Pac-whatever and Mountain West establishes a new brand.  Maybe they can salvage that expensive vanity project television network.  They do have nice offices in downtown SF and a studio.

Title Town, baby!

Welcome to LV Title town, baby!  We always thought LA was our Title town but there are not many resident titles in LA recently.  The Dodgers and Lakers each got one in 2020.  It was in the shroud of COVID and there were no parades or visits to the White House. They were championships that were celebrated in mute mode.  We have been bragging about our Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup and the Aces WNBA title in 2022-23.  The champion of the NFL will be awarded the Lombardi trophy in Las Vegas in February 2024.  There will be a Formula One Champion in Las Vegas this coming Saturday night.  There will be a National Finals Rodeo Champion in December at the Thomas and Mack. And there will be a World Beer Pong Champion awarded at South Point when they can get it scheduled.  What other US city has a slate like that?

 

Congratulations to the Texas Rangers winning the first title in franchise history.  It had been a 63-year drought covering two cities, Washington, DC, and Arlington, TX.  The Washington Senators were founded in 1961 as an American League expansion team in our Nation’s capital.  It looked good on paper, but the Senators never drew more than 918,000 or won more than 86 games in a season.  The season they achieved both of those accomplishments was in 1969 with Ted Williams skippering the team in his fourth and final season.  The DC Senators became Texas Rangers in 1972 and drew even less fans for their first two summers in DFW.  The franchise finally made their first playoff appearance in 1996 in their 37^th season. Ivan Rodriguez was the leader of those teams.  It would be another decade before the Josh Hamilton-Ian Kinsler runs of back-to-back WS losses.

 

The Rangers needed some voodoo to get them over the top. In 2011, the Rangers just outs away from the title, the Cardinals snatched Game 6 and flattened TX in Game 7.  Tony LaRussa became a legend joining Sparky Anderson as the only managers to win titles in both the AL and NL.  That 2^nd LaRussa title has haunted the Rangers and the ghosts of George Bush until this season’s day of the dead.  The story begins finding their savior, retired and fishing in Tennessee hanging with grandkids.  Bruce Bochy had accomplished more than but a rare few.  He got the Padres to their second world series and always had scrappy competitive teams. The Giants poached Bochy from the Friars, and everything came together for Bochy and the Giants in 2010.  Just like the Rangers, the Giants had not won a title in nearly 60 years.  The Giants had never won a title since moving to San Francisco.  Bochy led them to the first of three titles in five years. The Yard constantly poked the melon atop Bochy’s lumbering frame.  His hands can make a baseball disappear.  It was tough to witness the SF titles in the moment but now it is legend. An old legend now, Giant fan.

 

The Rangers celebrated their WS title on the day when a historic name in franchise history passed to Cooperstown in the sky.  Frank “Hondo” Howard died on October 30, 2023.  Howard was a 6’7” 275 Bunyanesque character in baseball folklore.  Howard came up in the Dodger organization.   Hondo was a left fielder and first baseman who was the NL rookie of the year in 1960.  He was on the 1963 Dodger team that swept the Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford Yankees.  The only other time the Yankees were swept in the WS was in 1922 by the NY Giants baseball team.  We digress, Howard batted .300 and had an HR in the series.  He ended up with the Washington Senators for several seasons.  He enjoyed some of his biggest seasons playing for Ted Williams.  Frank averaged 40 HR, 103 RBI’s while batting .280 from 1967-71. Howard made approximately $770K in his career.  He was making $125K annually during his best stretch.  Yard Staff is trying to use some of our new AI software to see if we could recreate his career if it happened now and the financial impact on his family.  Our office copier and coffee maker have started to become surprisingly militant and we have moved these devices off WIFI. Back to the Howards, he is inducted into the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor.  He never played for the Nats, who the former Montreal Expos are.  He did play baseball in our nation’s capital!  RIP Frank Howard!

 

Overtime: The Big Ten conference dropped the hammer on Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh last Friday night.  While the Wolverines’ charter was in the air, the Big Ten suspended Harbaugh for the balance of the regular season.  Michigan was accused of actively scouting teams and stealing signs in real time.  This is a violation of conduct and ethics in Big Ten bylaws.  So is due process, which Michigan was given none.  The story was in the wind for weeks but why the timing.  It was unfair to Michigan; it was unfair to Penn State.  Harbaugh spent the evening with his team in Happy Valley.  Harbaugh can motivate a team without martyrdom at stake. The PSU faithful, the largest crowd ever at Beaver stadium suffered through their demise to the Wolverines hellfire.

 

The Classic Fall

The fall Israel tour for US Politicians exploded while our congress could not find a speaker for our house.  Everyone needed to get over to Israel to do their own research and show support.  How about we all get busy and get something done in Washington?  The atrocities in Israel and Gaza are scary but well reported.  NBC’s Richard Engel has been on the phone with Hamas on the air, call him.  We have had governors and senators alike make a beeline to the war zone.  It is important to show support to their registered voters. The abomination that is the US congress requires immediate attention also. How the hell did Matt Eddie Munster Gaetz get to call the shots? He is creepy as f--. These elected officials had been unable to form a working government for weeks.  We look like Italy for god’s sake.

 

The best distraction from these domestic and global maladies is also the most glorious occasion of the Yard sports calendar.  The World Series is imminent with a new champion certain to be crowned.  The WNBA season just wrapped with another title for our Las Vegas Aces.  The reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights have opened their 2023-24 NHL campaign with the best start ever by a defending champion, 7-0. The NBA commenced this week with the Nuggets beating the Lakers. UCLA is winning and USC not as much. The NFL is starting to get exciting, Raiders not so much.  U2 christened the Sphere, and we are just getting started.

 

The 2022 champion Astros were vanquished by their fellow Texans, the Rangers.  Houston for all their trash can lid cheating at the 2017 WS, did not win a home game during this ALCS.  The Dodgers did not win a home game either, but they did not make the NLCS this year, next blog. Disappointing finish for the Dodgers but the baseball playoffs have been exciting.  The Yankees, Red Sox, Giants and Padres were disappointed spectators.  The Rangers run to the World Series was not widely anticipated.  They had not made the playoffs since 2016.  They paid a whole bunch of dough for the oft injured Corey Seager.  Things jelled this year with Bruce Bochy coming out of retirement to change the narrative.  Yard staff was never kind to Bochy’s oversized pumpkin head, his distinctive waddle to the mound, or his postgame mumble but he is the quiet genius of baseball clubhouses.  He was masterful during the Giant’s surprising run nearly a decade ago. Bochy managed the 1998 San Diego Padres to the World Series before being swept by the New York Yankees.  He is among the elite for post season brilliance. Yard staff hates to see Corey banging leadoff home runs for another team.  He is a first class player and sorely missed in LA.

 

The Diamondbacks march to the WS was nothing short of unbelievable.  They were in first place in June.  They were in third place and under .500 in July.  They won 84 games just enough into the playoffs.  Arizona did not know they had fans until they won something important.  It had been over 20 years.  Phoenix is a swirling vortex of sports mediocrity most of the time, but this is big.  We are happy for the Snakes and will root for the Rangers.

 

The Yard is putting most of our promotional budget into a Las Vegas Aces 2-time WNBA Champions awareness campaign.  The WNBA has evolved into a highly entertaining, competitive summer alternative.  The season is 40 games and Las Vegas went 34-6.  The playoffs are the first team to eight wins and the Aces raced it 8-1.  They were first in offense and first in defense putting together one of the greatest seasons in the league’s 26 years.  The core group are all in their 20’s and under contract for three more seasons.  Kelsey Plum is a well-documented Yard fave.  Aja Wilson had a legendary game four.  Playing 39 of the 40 minutes, Wilson logged 24 points and 16 boards against the massive NY Liberty front line.  The Aces lost two starters in game three and were huge underdogs on the road.  To underscore an earlier point for WNBA relevance, there were 18,000 New York basketball fans at game 4 in the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.  The New York Liberty are the most successful professional basketball franchise in the region.  They were world class pouters in defeat.  Sabrina Ionescu gave her Steph Curry “night, night” signature celebration after winning game three.  The Aces stuffed it down her angelic throat in front of another 18,000 in game four and on social media every chance they get.  Little Sabrina refused to meet with the media following the game. Boohoo!

 

USC football fans were piqued for a championship season.  Caleb Williams, the reigning Heisman winner, and Lincoln Riley the offensive guru would return Troy to the mountaintop. Expectations are always difficult to fulfill especially for USC fan.  The past 20 years for UCLA fan have recalibrated our expectations.  We have lowered the bar fast knowing the sad costs of a premature raise. In 2023, USC has been middling at best and their season is slipping beyond national title repair.  UCLA does have a top defense this year for the first time in decades. USC, with two ugly losses and a near loss in the desert, they can only hope to beat UCLA to salvage the season. UCLA is one win from bowl eligible which was never to be proclaimed on high but kind of cool.  Deion is bringing his megawatts Colorado Buff’s into the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.  The Buff megawatts might be a bit shady of late, but it should be a litmus test for the Bruins hope for a brighter future.  

 

Last Aces Note: The Aces historic WNBA season has largely gone unnoticed outside of Las Vegas.  This team is special and may three-peat.  The genius behind their consecutive titles is their coach, Becky Hammon.  Raider owner Mark Davis owns the Aces as well.  He recruited Becky from being a bench assistant with the San Antonio Spurs to being the highest paid coach in the WNBA.  It was one of his best investments.  She is an intense hooded fury pacing the sidelines during a game.  She made all the right adjustments when two starters went down in game three.  She plugged in Cayla George who had not played in the playoffs and told her to shoot and keep shooting.  She missed seven three pointers, but she hit the first three and it changed the game. Tom Brady bought into the future and it is as bright as our Sphere.  Ms. Hammon is on track to becoming the first female head coach of a men’s professional team.

 

Last notes:  The state of Nevada had never won any professional titles before the Aces won their first title in 2022.  There were not any professional teams in Nevada for most of sports history.  We have suggested that the 1990 UNLV Runnin Rebels were close to professional. In 2023, Las Vegas is becoming the sports capital of the nation.  Las Vegas professional sports teams have three titles in 2022-23.  We are still researching but we do not believe any other city can make that claim.  Lord Stanley’s trophy was a big deal, and we hope for another. These back-to-back WNBA titles have ignited the city. Besides the actual Super Bowl game, the most visited location for the SB is Las Vegas.  In 2024, the SB will be here, and it is going to be schizophrenic.  

Witches and Warriors

Donald’s witches opened a new coven in Atlanta this past week.  He has more witches after him than were ever burned at the stake.  His man crush, Vlade Putin, has his own swirling vortex of misdeeds and deceit.  In 2020, Trumpy tried to finesse the Georgia general election result into a victory for him.  He is the author of the Art of Deal, so he figured he was just trying to close this deal any way possible.  Do not surrender even when you don’t have the votes?  Putin has his own sorcerers stirring their cauldron since the Wagner dude went down in his private jet. Yard staff cannot spell his name so we will call him Curly.  Curly was the stooge that started the mutiny against the Kremlin.  All was seemingly forgiven until they blew up his plane last week.  Putin says he had nothing to do with it and the west is to blame.  In the immortal words of George Costanza, “Remember, it is not a lie if you believe it.”

 

Relocating to the PNW for the summer, has been a geospatial magical mystery tour on many levels. While 90% of the US witnessed climate change, on San Juan Island the windows are open, and the Rose is chilled.  Yard staff had no idea that Pete Carroll had drafted Zach Carbonnet to play for the Seahawks.  Zach is tearing it up as he did the past two seasons at UCLA. The Hawks also signed an undrafted Jake Bobo.  Bobo was a downfield warrior in Chip’s offense after transferring from Duke. Seattle still has a daily sports page and Bobo is getting some ink. PNW Little League made it to LLWS Semi Finals which enthralled the region.  The Yard was cheering for El Segundo, CA the eventual World Champion.  We worked in El Segundo for five years so this was not a bandwagon situation.  And not to be left out of the local sports discussion, the Mariners have stormed into the lead in the AL West.  These young Mariners vaulted the state of TX to tie for the lead at this moment.  Whether they can keep pace with Dusty’s Astros or Bochy’s Rangers will be their sojourn.  Houston and Texas were busy at the trade deadline.  The Mariners were not sure if they were buying or selling and ended up doing little.  September gets interesting.  The Padres wealthy starters will get extra rest this fall without the stress of playing for the championship.  The Giants and Arizona are keeping their fans marginally interested much like their teams.  In the AL race, go Mariners!

 

The Little League WS launches every summer in Williamsport, PA. It was first televised in 1963.  It is one of the Yard’s favorite August events along with the celebration of my birth.  ABC/ESPN has done a wonderful job sharing the games and the stories.  Cody Bellinger starred in the PSWLL.  Michael Conforto played in the Little League WS, College WS and MLB WS between 2004-2015! Harper, Joey Gallo, and Kris Bryant played LL in Las Vegas at the same time but did not make this little dance. George and Ken Brett both started playing baseball in El Segundo The long-haired lefthander from Texas was dynamic in defeat.  He will be a rock star when the next school year commences. Louis Lappe could be someone to watch in the next decade.  He hit 5 HRs in the LLWS including the walk-off World Championship winner. He lasered it right out on the second pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth. Few of these youngsters will still be playing baseball a decade from now but this weekend is already beyond their dreams. All hail El Segundo no longer the second but now World Champions, real World Champions.

 

Extra Innings: Markus Lynn Betts aka Mookie is the MVP this year in the National without question. Mookie was having a pretty good year until the season got real.  At a time when the rest of the NL west is fading, Betts is a warrior. Betts was batting .279 on 8/1/23.  He is hitting .315 tonight.  It is not easy improving your batting average 26 points in August.  He does it with speed, power, and a megawatt smile.  Everyone stops whatever they are eating or drinking when he comes to bat because he is always exciting even when striking out.  Against the Padres this year, when the Padres were still a thing, Mookie threw out a runner at third in the 7^th in a flash.  It seemed like an optical illusion, but the replay proved out.  Then in the 9^th with the game in the balance, Mookie was moved to second base and made a brilliant pivot and throw to first base to end the game.  He would end the Padres season a few weeks later with a Grand Salami.  With Freddie batting .328 right behind him, he has ten leadoff home runs in 2023.  They are the best first two hitters in any lineup and boast a +152-run differential.  The playoffs will be exciting again for the driven.  Mookie has nothing to prove but he plays every day like he has everything to prove.

Charlatans and Huckleberrys

The sports fervor that is the foundation of the Yard’s publishing empire began with the Los Angeles Times Sports section in the mid-1960’s.  I devoured this legendary sports section every morning.  Jim Murray’s column was where the Yard witnessed literary genius at its pinnacle.  Forget Whitman and Hemmingway, Murray knew how to craft a story. Each morning, with the paper splayed out underneath my bowl of cereal, the sports result of the previous day was reviewed in granular detail.  Every box score was analyzed, and the daily standings absorbed.  Daddio would have to read national and local news before I would release this hallowed Section C for his morning constitution.  Those Dodger and Laker teams from the late 60’s were always in the national discussion and the LA Times was our fan portal. The Rams were the disappointment that they would be for the entirety of Yard youth.  The Kings were just the other tenant at the Lakers home court.

 

The sports section was beloved.  It was a sad day recently, when the Los Angeles Times announced that the Sports department would be cut back significantly.  The paper decided that it did not need to publish the scores and results of the day, each day.  There was a new cost-cutting directive to write interesting stories about sports and athletes but not the events that make them interesting.  Sure, this information is available on any number of sports apps.  Every time something happens Yahoo Sports, Bleacher Report, MLB, my son, and my nephew notify me.  The morning Sports was my ultimate morning app. The Sports page would open to two feet by three feet without twinkling ads competing for my eyeball.  There was never a risk that if I touched the wrong part of the paper I was going to whisked away to an unneeded ad. The page would be completely static except for the transfer of the ink to my hands and my mother’s walls.  It was the golden age of the sports page and The Yard origin story.

 

Steve Cohen was vetted by baseball owners during his quest to acquire the Mets.  He pledged that he would not blow up the Mets payroll.  Cohen is usually truth adjacent in his dealings.  The SEC does not fine your firm $1.6 billion and put two of your top advisers in prison if you are on the up and up. The SEC could not nail Cohen, so Cohen let his men go down.  He bought a new toy MLB team with his ill-gotten billions.  The Dodgers dodged his bullet when he tried to buy the team. He waited a full year before going rogue in free agency and giving huge salaries to aging pitchers among others.  The Mets payroll inflated to nearly $250 million for the 2023 season.  After 102 games with the Metropolitans twenty games out and failing, the payroll evacuation started.  The Mets were flushing payroll faster than Jeremy’s bowels after he ate a bad shrimp.  The Mets signed Justin Verlander to a stupid contract that the Astro’s would not match.  Cohen ate $35 million of that contract and then traded him back to the Astros.  The Astros got Verlander and Kate on the cheap thanks to little Stevie.  Cohen, the charlatan, runs the Mets like a hobby.  He kept his thirty pieces of gold but made a Faustian bargain for his soul.

 

The Padres ousted the Dodgers from the playoffs last year in a four-game sweep.  San Diegans everywhere cheered their moribund franchise’s slaying of the Dodgers.  The Padres went down to the Phillies but vowed they were the new sheriff in town.  Friar management continued to shower money and make trades to bolster this perception.  With the PED shamed Tatis reinstated, the Padres had a championship planned and the payroll to go with it.  The new sheriff in town has mutated into the Dodger’s Huckleberry.  Last week, The Padres’ rotated through their ghastly uniforms and the Dodgers demolished every iteration.  San Diego's starting pitching is decent, but their middle relief is lit gas.  They took a rare 5-0 lead on a rare Monday day game before losing 13-7.  Four games below .500 and 13.5 games out with 40+ to go?  San Diego is going to enjoy a most colossal failure if this continues.  Juan Soto is not going to re-sign into this malaise.  Hader is probably gone as well.  While the Padres spent money like they just got their first student loan, the Dodgers were patient.  They did not make any splashy signings or blockbuster deals for the 2023 season.  They let Seager, Machado and Bellinger leave without an offer.  Their prize is Shohei Ohtani.  Friedman has been storing his chestnuts for the 2024 free agent campaign.  Ohtani wants to stay in LA and play for the Dodgers by many reports.

 

On June 17, my sister and the Yard in-law purchased our seats for the Giants-Dodger game.  They were excited to attend a game.  The Dodgers lost 15-0.  They would have got mercy ruled in the fifth if that had been one of the new rules.  Giant fervor is not what it once was, but it was a beat down of a bitter rival. Giant has not had much to cheer for the past decade, so they had fun. It was also a harbinger for the future.  LA is 32-14 since that game.  On that June evening, SF was on a roll and back in the NL West mix.  Arizona was in first place and San Diego still had hope. Their fans were crowing to the Yard about the demise of the Dodgers.  Arizona has settled into their historical mediocrity.  San Diego is a dead man walking.  The Giants are thrilled to just be in the Wild Card discussion.  Everybody is looking up and seeing blue.  This Dodger team is more competitive than the fiscal miscreants in NY and SD.  The future's so bright I must wear shades. 

 

Pac-12 Obituary:  When UCLA and USC jumped ship to the Big Ten, the remnants of the conference should have taken heed.  College athletics is all about your television contract for football.  Basketball is more egalitarian because CBS pays the freight.  Football deals are all over the place.  The better the product, the more Benjamins for your school and all the other sports.  The Big Ten now covers every time zone with football programming.  UCLA and USC are getting three times what they were getting in the Pac-12 deal when it existed.  2023 might be the last year of the Pac-12 Network.  They do have bumping offices in downtown SF, which is kind of nice.

Father's Day Edition

The Yard has relocated to the Pacific Northwest for the summer.  Our usual cadence of publishing has been delayed during this transition.  Yard cadence is random at best.  There was a unique opportunity to assist the first cousin of the Yard launching a new wine shop in Roche Harbor, WA.  Several have argued that my placement at the helm of a wine outlet was unwise.  I am quick to point out that I have decades of tireless field work while retiring by 8:30 most nights. The wife is pleased when I bring work home. If you find your travels out to San Juan Island, stop in for a glass.

 

The biggest miss of our travels besides the birth of the first granddaughter of the Yard Annie, was the Vegas Golden Knights record run to the title.  Annie’s arrival is a blessing and we are thrilled that she has safely arrived.  Annie’s Dodger indoctrinations do not start until 18 months following a full moon. She had her first experience with the Yard on Father’s day.  We shared a knowing wink, gurgle, and coo and I think she started the wave.

 

The VGK run to the Stanley cup was completely unexpected.  The Knights did not even make the playoffs last year.  The team expected improvement, but Lord Stanley’s cup was not anticipated.  In the PNW, we found kindred spirits at the resort bar but not the same hang as being in LV. Owner Bill Foley projected a title within the first six years, and the Knights delivered right on time. Many still scoff that VGK got a favorable first draft and that led to all their success.  That draft was seven years ago and much has happened.  What the Knights did in six years, Canada has not done in thirty.  For a nation that prides itself on its hockey, three decades is generational.  For Las Vegas to be playing Florida in the finals must be surreal for Canadians and their drought.  It seems like they would burn the place down, oh wait strike that.

 

The news cycle on the island is 7-10 days, not 24 hours.  The Dodgers are still playing well and in first place, right? It appears that the 2024 Presidential campaign has raised its sails and straight into choppy waters.  Trump’s witches had a successful hunt.  At least the DOJ is on board and brought charges against the ginger Fuhrer for his handling of classified documents.  It is great TV to compare Trump’s comments about Hillary’s use of a private email server in 2016 to his 2023 comments about his storing of highly classified printed documents in a Mar a Lago bathroom.  Kevin McCarthy did clarify that it was a special bathroom, so we feel safer tonight. Trump’s assertion that he can declassify documents in his mind is hilariously scary.  When is he opening his library?

 

And who is that rising above a nearby McDonalds but Chris Christie emerging like a submarine surfacing.  Where has it been, what was it doing? Last we saw Christie he was standing like a bloated potted plant in the first Trump cacophony news cycle. Ron De Santis plowed his public announcement for president like blunt force trauma.  Taking on Disney was a good opening illustration.  Bob Iger has been running Disney since DeSantis was in Harvard Law school.  Iger is a savvy, political independent who has created more jobs, market value and iconic content than exists in Florida if you exclude Disney.  The Yard will challenge DeSantis to use “Woke” less than four times in any campaign speech.  His policy for educational books sounds like the basis for Fahrenheit 451.

 

It has taken some time to unpack the Laker season. For most of the season, the team was awful.  They lingered far from the playoffs.  Rob Pelinka made some aggressive moves at the trading deadline and the team woke up.  Their race from the play-in round to the conference finals was exciting. The second coming of D’Angelo Russell was a better version of the former first-round pick.  He was more mature and did not have a Swaggy P in the locker room to clown him.  He was a non-factor in the Western Finals.  No Laker was a factor in those finals.  Denver had never beaten the Lakers in a conference final previously.  They never did had the Joker either.  He is a special tub of athletes. He looks like he could pass out or be stopping for a slice, but he keeps nailing the most ridiculous of shots.  He extends so many plays just banging away on anything in his way.  Miami had no answer either.  Lebron mused that it was a tough loss, and he might retire.  Lebron is owed more than $90 million for the next two seasons. He is not going anywhere. He had one of his best seasons while becoming the All-time NBA scoring leader.  At 38, he is still among the very best in the league.  He wants another title and so do the Lakers.  The Warriors series was such a battle, and the Lakers took down the champs.  They shot their last silver bullet in that series.  Golden State has an aging roster and Draymond is opting.  They must decide their future.  The Lakers already have and if AD and King James are healthy, another title is possible.

 

And in the end: We missed the coronation of King Charles.  We would have missed it had we been at home.  The Netflix show is better than the real thing.  England wonders why they are falling behind as a world power.  They might start looking at the return-on-investment funding the monarchy.  The Firm is more of a tourist attraction than a business model from our perspective.  How do you find the best to lead when the historical first male DNA is all that matters?  Charles was destined to be king from the time of his birth.  He did his best not to screw that up. Andrew and Fergie have secretly degraded the brand for decades without morals. Harry and Megan have shilled it shamelessly without substance. William and Kate are publicly trying to keep it together for their future while suffering through Charles and Camilla. The House of Windsor has survived for centuries before social media and awakenings.  This could be the end.

The Karma of May

Major League baseball evolves its relevance throughout the 162-game campaign.  The first 130 games are fun and exciting.  When magic numbers start being forecasted Labor Day and the race to the finish begins, it is the best for this fan. The NBA and NHL have similar seasonal trajectories to the playoffs.  In May, teams are sorting out their everyday players, starting rotations, role players and saviors.  So, it was surprising to see the Padres gloating about their last Friday night drubbing of Clayton Kershaw.  Their Clay crying meme was widely pilloried for its classless banality.  Kershaw is a first ballot hall of famer.  He has carried himself with humility and grace while playing through some of the biggest meltdowns in playoff history.  This has been well documented and reported.  Losing to the frigging San Diego Padres on Cinco de Mayo is not even a blip in his mind.  When you poke the beast, you had better have a poke the beast backup plan.  Saturday night, redheaded monster Dustin May shut down everyone but Fernando Tatis with his three hits.  The rest of the order had two.  May struck out six Friars in six innings.  Sunday afternoon, the Padres jumped on Julio Urias in the first inning with two quick runs.  It would be their last.  It was almost enough.  Racist hillbilly Josh Hader had two strikes on Mookie with two outs.  The San Diego faithful were on their feet screaming for the final strike. Hader’s next 93 MPH fastball left Petco at 92 and the game was tied.  Dodgers scored three in the 10^th for the W. Karma is a bitch.

 

The Dodgers always have a target on their back.  The Giants had their moment in the sun before it quickly set.  The AZ Snakes were going to be all that after signing Zack of the spectrum.  The Rockies were going to be the next big thing with Troy and Nolan.  All three teams are striving for a .500 finish in third place. The Padres are the next poser in line.  The Dodgers have won 20 NL West titles.  No other team has won double digits, The Friars have won five in their 54 years of existence.  The Padres have made it to the WS twice and have a record of 1-8 in those fall classics. The Dodgers keep doing what they have done throughout their history building and rebuilding contenders.   Dodger fans have suffered without more championships, but they have been the last two teams 21 times.   They have a record of 7-14 in those WS. The Dodgers have lost in the WS more than any other team. They were the original loveable losers in Brooklyn going 1-8 with only the 1955 Boys of Summer delivering on the promise. San Diego, congratulations on your big May win. See you at the ravine tonight.  Fernando, I think there may be some taunts.  Manny just gets sustained boos. It is still just another regular season game in May. 

 

The Padres payroll is $20 million more than the Dodgers for 2023.  Tatis got suspended for PED’s and his suspension adjusted payroll lowered their overall average. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis are two of the highest paid and least liked major leaguers.  Kershaw is the model of what it means to be a professional. There is a reason that the Dodgers did not offer Manny a contract when he was their free agent.  He is a punk.  Padres have an unsustainable payroll with a combustible clubhouse. They are trying to goose a WS title before the shit hits the fan.  It will be fun to watch it all implode in the coming years. $200-300 million guarantees are not for the faint of heart.  The Dodgers avoided those big commitments with Manny, Cody and Corey and they are doing just fine.

 

The Lakers and Warriors have never had much of a rivalry.  The Warriors have won seven NBA titles in franchise history.  The four recent titles have made Steph, Clay, and Draymond famous. Before the recent spate of titles, the Warriors had last won an NBA title in 1975.  When the big three showed up the Warriors were playing at their aging Oakland venue.  San Francisco would never help the hapless SF Warriors to get a respectable arena, so they moved to Oakland.  They did not want to take the Oakland moniker, so they became Golden State.  After they won a few titles, the metaverse was ready to woo them back with the luxurious Chase center.  The fans that could not give two turds about the Warriors from 1976-2014.  They were an afterthought to the 49ers and the Giants.  The Giants had long played in the 49ers shadow.  Winning three titles changed that dynamic and the Giants were the new darlings.  When the Giants won those titles, the rivalry between LA and SF reached fevered heights.  The Lakers have won 17 NBA championships in their history.  The Yard is hoping for an 18^th. The Warriors and Lakers have never had an important playoff series ever that the Yard can recall.  Tonight, is game seven for the Lake show.  They lose this home game, and it is going to be a death by 1,000 cuts in SF for the real game seven.  Let’s hope AD and the King can take care of things tonight and move onto the next round. but their three titles changed their trajectory and the size of their fan base.  The Warriors got a whole bunch of new fans the past nine years. 

 

The XFL seems to be doing what their predecessors could never do, become relevant.  With the inaugural season ending, they have fans and a TV deal.  The Yard analytics team is not sure if that will lead to a profit at some point, but relevance has value in this sports landscape. This version of an NFL alternate is not competition to the NFL.  It is a short season completed before the NHL and NBA finals.  This XFL has the benefit of legalized sports betting across many states.  Gambling on football is a passion for many.  Predicting the outcome favorably is more important than the product.  This will drive interest, viewership, and survivability.  Time will tell but they are way ahead of their predecessors after their first season.  Trump decided the USFL was going to go head-to-head with the NFL with a fall season.  How did that turn out?

The Power of Pixie Dust

After months of ruminations and allegations, the ginger Fuhrer finally got indicted. It was unexpectedly unexpected. The Teflon former world leader had erased more scandals than Olivia Pope. The Manhattan DA and Trump have been publicly sparring on unsocial media. Trump threatened to mobilize his whack pack. In the end, Trump feigned confidence and agreed to fly back to NY on Trump One and get booked into the system.  The shame for the fallen leader to have mug shots, fingerprints and a jumpsuit must be ravaging for his hair. For her part, Stormy D is ready to appear in court and local clubs in the area in and around the trial. It is hard to believe Trump would subject himself to the humiliation.  Does anyone know where AC Cowlings and the White Bronco are tomorrow afternoon?

 

The Yard’s fervor for college basketball has been well documented in this blog and during private therapy sessions.  We will stick with the blog to not further sully the tarnish. This year’s tournament delivered on every level.  There was a depth to the madness that has never been reached.  The Final Four was a mashup of first timers and one blueblood.  The Mountain West conference had never had a team in the elite eight let alone the Final Four.  The Aztecs of San Diego blew right through the mid-major glass ceiling into the championship game.  The Hurricanes of Miami were a nice story. Head coach Jim Larranga has built a sustainable threat in south beach.  The FAU Owls were the darlings of the dance and Boca Raton.  They went all David on the Goliath’s of Tennessee and Kansas State, landing in the Final Four as a nine seed. The Owls were 7.2 seconds away from that final until the Aztec snatched the dream and made it their own.  UCONN is the 800-pound silver back decimating opponents in their mist.

 

There have only been three other Final Fours before this year that did not include at least one number one seed.  None of the top seeds made it out of the third round under a barrage of delusional outcomes.  When all the talk was that only one time in NCAA history has a 16 seed beat a number one, Purdue got overwhelmed by a seemingly overmatched FDU. Top seeds were crashing brackets like it was the southern border.  Game after game unfolded in mystery, exposed its promise, and deposited a result on the court.  It was entertaining for the casual fan but withering for the nearsightedness of the Yard.  It is truly a great event reported locally and nationally after each narrative unfolded.

 

The Yard has been show running the Aztecs of SDSU for years. The gentlemanly excellence of Steve Fisher laid the groundwork for this team’s miracle run.  San Diego State has been the best basketball program in the state of CA the past years.  Consistently better than USC and most times UCLA.  They are the cream of the Mountain West and will be a top team in the Pac-12 in the coming years.  Go Aztecs!

 

Women’s basketball is having a moment.  This Women’s NCAA tournament was their best in history.  It is not an anomaly for this season but the reality of how far they have come.  The women’s game is more closely aligned with what Dr. Naismith intended with the peach baskets at the YMCA in Springfield. Now, they sparkled in their own madness, and we are not just talking about LSU coach Kim Mulkey. The female final four has been exhilarating.  The exploits of Iowa’s Caitlan Clark have been reported culminating with her player of the year victory.  She wished it culminated with a win over LSU, but she came up short on most everything but her three pointers.  She was heaving shots from Steph Curry land, but the pixie dust was all used up. 

 

It seems the pixie dust got trapped in the swirling vortex of LSU coach Kim Mulkey. Mulkey was the first to win a championship as a player at LA Tech, an assistant coach, and head coach.  She won an Olympic gold medal as a player, and this was her fourth NCAA title as a coach. She won three while coaching Baylor for 31 years.  She is a Louisiana girl to her core, and she wanted to go home and help the Bayou state.  She left a successful program in Waco to take over a 9-13 program in Baton Rouge.  She immediately made the Tigers a contender in year one and champions in year two.  She is one bad ass grandmother coaching on the sidelines in a pink boa.  All hail LSU!

The Sweetest Thing

It is no secret the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament is the penultimate event of our corporate calendar.  Work comes to almost a complete halt during the three weeks of March madness.  The bar is not set that high, but the diversion is intense.  UCLA’s third straight trip to the Sweet 16 is well sweet.  It has been a long time since the Bruins have enjoyed regular tournament triumphs. Wiki must go all the way to the pedestrian Ben Howland era to find that success.  Nick Cronin seems to be building a more sustainable program where McDonald’s come to play. They are flying alone as the rest of the Pac-12 did not make it to the dance or left early.

 

The Yard hosts a pool which has provided thrills and spills for everyone involved over the years.  The Yard’s best finish in 20+ years is 2^nd.  It is difficult to win the pool even with the Yard’s advanced analytics team.  In 2018, we were off to our greatest opening round in our nascent history.  The mighty Cavaliers of Virginia were the number one overall seed.  They were playing the #64 overall seed in the opening round.  The Tony Bennett coached Cavs were prohibitive favorites. The Yard and every other participant in the US knew that no 16 seed had ever won an opening round game.  Virginia went down 74-54 and torpedoed our bracket.  Purdue joined this two-university club last Friday night with less impact.

 

Until this weekend, there has never been an NCAA Men’s basketball tournament game played in Las Vegas.  The NCAA can be a bit judgy and it was judged Las Vegas is not up to the high ethical standards with which the NCAA holds itself.  Those are some murky waters shrouded in the billions generated from television and merch.  They do have a really nice campus in Indy that costs a fortune.  It is the NCAA sanctuary of hypocrisy. Finally, the clouds broke, and our sports and gambling Mecca was awarded this very Sweet 16 matchup. This first time Sin City Sweetness has our Bruins facing off against Gonzaga again.  These two universities have staged some classic battles. In 2006 at San Jose, UCLA trailed the Adam Morrison led Zags for the entire game.  The deficit was as many as 17.  The Yard was cursing the television and small children within earshot.  Then with three minutes left, and Morrison halfway through his collegiate victory lap to the final four, UCLA went all carpe diem.  Gonzaga suddenly sagged and the Bruins pounced on their insecurities like a prom night diva. When Luc Richard Mah a Boute scored underneath with ten seconds left, the Bruins had their only lead of the game at just the right time. UCLA celebrated with Adam of the scraggle crumpled and crying at halfcourt. In 2020, heavily favored Gonzaga clashed with the upstart Bruins all the way to the final seconds of overtime, nailing a half court winner.  The Bruins are limping into tonight’s contest.  We are still working the phones for a press pass.

 

Baseball season is coming on the heels of the tournament.  The Dodgers home opener for 2023 is a night game on Thursday March 30. Huh? March Madness will be in its final throes of psychosis and Dodger baseball will be on the air. It is like when Jupiter and Mercury go into retrograde.  The synapses will be firing in all four cerebral quadrants.  It will be a different year for the Blue crew.  Justin Turner, Cory, Cody, and Trea are all gone.  Gavin Lux was the heir to the infield before his season ended.  The WBC was exciting this year with so many MLB stars playing. Mookie and Mike Trout helped the US get to the championship game against Japan.  Ohtani like Mookie and Trout. Ohtani striking out his teammate Trout to win the whole thing was historic and he did not get hurt doing it.  The Mets Edwin Diaz was not so lucky during Puerto Rico’s semifinal victory.  He celebrated getting that last out and tore something and he is out until 2024.  Lucky for Diaz he just signed a five-year $107 million guaranteed deal with a $12 million signing bonus.  We could not be happier with Diaz’s good fortune with his new deal.  We are more elated that Mets owner Steve Cohen took another major blow to his 2023 hopes for a NY title.  He has already mocked the MLB salary cap and now $20 million got flushed.  We do not like Cohen and his ill-gotten billions very much.

 

The Lake Show is still playing basketball in the NBA.  They have been playing surprisingly well of late even with Lebron out and Davis playing part-time.  The prodigal son D’Angelo Russell returned to Babylon. He seems to have matured during his sojourn. Swaggy P and Izzy Azalea are no longer a thing, and the locker room is not as toxic as his rookie season.  The Lakers have done many machinations since Kobe retired.  They tanked and got lottery picks for the first time in a long time. First round draft picks Julius Randle, Russell, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma were all traded away and would be a great young nucleus, but it was not to be.  They are all thriving elsewhere while Laker fans are left writhing.

 

Lebron brought another title in that truncated season but little else. He passed Laker Legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar to become the all-time scoring leader.  It was a monumental achievement during a mediocre season.  Jabbar and James have a frosty relationship that was on full display in the awkward mid-game recognition.  Kareem had to finish college while Lebron went straight from HS to 27.6 points per game at age 18. No one will ever catch James for a scoring record. It will last forever because no one will ever play that long at that high level as James has.  He is the GOAT. 

 

Fun fact: When Kareem broke Wilt’s record, it was against the Utah Jazz.  The fun part is the game was played in Las Vegas at the Thomas and Mack.  The NBA was struggling a bit with the Mormons, so they spiced up the season with a few home games in Las Vegas. Everyone except the NCAA got that remedy.

Pivot to Madness

On the one-year anniversary of their brute invasion, Russian leader Vladimir Putin declared that China and Russia are deepening their ties.  It was kind of a “Xi Jinping got my back” moment for Vlade.  He went on further to say their strengthening relationship will bring stability to the world. We have seen the world become increasingly unstable since Russia invaded Ukraine.  We do think the world would stabilize some if Vlade withdrew.  Russia and China have always been wary allies.  There is not an ideological bond except for the ruler for life bromance.  They are like the Gambino and Genovese families brokering a truce.  It works well for a while and then someone ends up with two slugs in the head at Humberto’s Clam House.  China and Russia blast the West. The US is China’s largest trading partner. China needs work for their 112 million factory workers. Average annual income in the US is $97K; Average annual income for a Russian household is $16K. Do the math.

 

Florida is a bastion of conservative values and politics.  Governor Ron DeSantis has a blunt force trauma personality.  He is pro-life, anti-Critical Race Theory and finished with the woke.  He will be throwing his cap into the ring as an electable version of Trump.  He and Trump despise each other, and the first debate will be a classic if Trump survives that long. The Yard was shocked to find that Florida is passing a law that dogs can no longer hang their heads out the window of a moving vehicle.  We reached out to all our reliable sources, and it is true, no more dog heads flapping in the wind out the car window. Ruh-Ro! It is a canine catastrophe. A shocking development for all Florida pooches.  The Dog Lobby is already barking it up the tree.  Rescue dogs are demanding to be relocated to states that allow them to put their heads out the window freely.  Cats have been clowning dogs for decades for their window antics.  They are pleased with this development as part of their world domination plans. It should be a hot topic come election season.

 

Since the inception of the Yard in 2007, our publishers have posted 185 missives on the internet.  There are countless others that are spoiled by procrastinating them into irrelevance. Many never made it from the bowels of the laptop to the HTTP.  The Yard has written more blogs about college basketball than any other.  UCLA did it to us with those miraculous teams of the late 60’s and 70’s. John R. Wooden was our Yoda.  We have travelled to a galaxy far, far away since those halcyon days. UCLA is back in the national discussion under the stellar coaching of Nick Cronin.  Cronin has brought Cincinnati toughness and discipline to the Bruins much the way Wooden brought Indiana discipline to the U in 1947.  Nick has a long way to go to be in the conversation of great UCLA hoops coaches, but we like his style.  The tournament is wide open this year.  Duke and North Carolina are finding their way after their legends retired. UCONN is back in the national mix for the first time in a long time.  Houston could be the real deal or poseurs.  Alabama basketball is playing better than the football team and that does not happen often.

 

In these turbulent times when the news always seems disturbing, the Yard suggests that you pivot your attention to the NCAA basketball tournament.  The tournament begins in earnest on March 16 at 9:15 AM Pacific.  There will be sixteen basketball games that day and another 16 on Saint Paddy’s day.  The games will be coast to coast and every hamlet in between.  Big schools like Purdue, UCONN and UCLA should be dancing that weekend.  There will be Bonnies, Screaming Eagles and maybe a Great Dane also.  There will be a Cinderella team this year, maybe to the finals. There will be upsets in the first round.  Brackets will be blown by the end of the first day.  There will be a last second game winner and critical missed free throws.  We can only hope the Bruins are on the positive side of those events on their march to Houston.  Even for the casual basketball fan the local energy and enthusiasm for these 68 schools is inspiring. Some of the blue bloods are bloated with NIL laden student athletes. The rest are there for the love of the game and their degree.  They will be taking their game to another level because they won’t be playing at the next level.  For three weeks in March, heroes are born through the legends they create. Join a pool and get some skin in the game. Every game will be televised.  Work and Vlade will still be there in April.

Las Vegas, baby!

It seems that social media was not thrilled with Rhianna’s halftime show at Super Bowl 57.  Many felt her performance was very sexualized and unsuitable for family entertainment.  If anyone watching the show had previously heard her music or seen her moves, she is not shy with her lyrics or her crotch. She is three months pregnant, and she accented her growing baby bump.   The halftime shows always seem to get pilloried.  Adam Levine ripped off his clothes.  Justin exposed Janet’s right nip. Katy Perry had a renegade dancing shark. The first three Super Bowls had college bands for halftime entertainment.  Carol fricking Channing has been involved in two shows.  Up with People checked in three times to entertain the nation during the biggest game.  The show kicked into something different when Dianna Ross serenaded us all for the XXX Bowl.  Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, and Tom Petty have rocked it from midfield.  Yard favorite was Prince jamming Purple Rain in a driving rainstorm at SB XLI in Miami. We watched this year’s game and enjoyed the show.  The game was one of the best Super Bowls in recent history. It was thrilling from the opening drive to the first commercial and the final winning field goal.  There was a defensive touchdown, a 2-point conversion and 73 points. Prop bets were being cashed all day long.  The halftime show is a 15-minute diversion of this five-hour spectacle, get over it.

 

 

The Yard can no longer keep pace with the Super Bowl and the whole Roman Numeral thing.  Once we get into the “L’s”, it is over.  Las Vegas Baby gets SB 58.  We will figure out the ancient numbering system before February 11, 2024.   The Yard helped bring the Raiders to Las Vegas through our marginal grass roots blog campaign.  We are hoping owner Mark Davis remembers our unflinching support of the Raiders with a few passes for the game.  It will be historic.  The Super Bowl is one of the busiest weekends of the year in Las Vegas and the game is somewhere else.  There are usually 250-300,000 revelers in town to drink, bet, drink, gamble, drink and watch the game on television.  The NFL does not even allow the casinos to advertise that they have a Super Bowl party; everything must be called The Big Game.  We can only imagine how many fans show up when the game is in town.

 

Patrick Mahomes is brilliant.  He is signed for the next ten years, and the Chiefs will be 6-1 favorites to win the title every single one of those seasons if he stays healthy.  He is not the GOAT yet, but he is already grazing in the pasture.  Patrick is a great leader for coach Andy Reid.  He talks the talk and walks the walk although we think he walks funny.  He is on his way to Disneyland, and he is ready for Tomorrow Land.  We were disappointed when the Eagles went down with that last second field goal. We wanted to lay a Benjamin but backed it down to a Grant at kickoff.  Another dead president has left the wallet. The defensive holding call at the end was questionably decisive in the outcome.  Eagle James Bradberry admitted he grabbed JuJu’s jersey a smidge.  Up to that point there had been 8 penalties called for 42 yards. Nothing major and that penalty was only a five yarder.  It was critical because it gave KC a first down that allowed them to run down the clock and kick the winning score. We know Lebron was Twitter mad for sure.  Players want consistency from the officials and that type of call had not been made all game.  So why in the last 1:57 with an uncatchable ball does the ref make an unthinkable call?  With the flag in the pocket and not on the turf, KC still gets the FG, and the Eagles get the ball back with that 1:57 and a timeout.  That would have been a potential thrilling finish as well.  You know what they say about potential?

 

Jalen Hurts is brilliant as well.  He has not signed for ten years.  He is about to have his Brinks truck moment.  He should be an 8-1 SB choice for a decade.  Hurts had an MVP season. He has the passing precision and physicality that few QB’s except Josh Allen possess.  Mahomes was leading the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years while Hurts was finishing his college career at Oklahoma.  Jalen had already been involved in two championships at Alabama.  His freshman year for the Crimson Tide was magical.  He was the first true freshman to start in over 30 years.  Alabama went undefeated and won the National Championship.  His sophomore year he played well until the National Championship game.  Nick pulled Jalen in favor of the much-heralded Tua Tagovailoa in the second half.  Tua rallied the title from a 13-0 to a second consecutive title.  Tua leap frogged Hurts as the starter for 2018 season.  Jalen stayed with the Tide and played often but was not the starter.  Tua got hurt in the title game and Hurts helped rally the Tide, but they went down to Clemson.  Jalen went to play for Lincoln Riley in Oklahoma for his senior year.  He ended up getting drafted as a second-round back up to Carson Wentz for the Eagles.  He was not given high consideration as an NFL starter.  He proved all the pundits wrong with his 2022 season of excellence.  His fumble returned for a TD was a disaster and potential turning point in the SB.  But Hurts came right back at the Chiefs with a 75-yard scoring drive on the ensuing kickoff.  He picked himself off the mat and kept his birds in the game until a squishy penalty decided it.

 

Enough already about football.  It is over and the Yard had another solid year of not losing too much trying to predict outcomes.  The important thing is catchers and pitchers have reported and Opening Day is about six weeks out.  It is time for Dodger baseball and the other guys also.  The Dodgers were relatively quiet during the off season while the Friars have been spending money like a 1970’s George Steinbrenner.  The $100 million + deals the Padres are inking seem unsustainable.  Manny thinks so also, and he will be opting out for 2024.  The Dodgers still have the best farm system in the MLB.  Let the O’Malley’s and Cohen spend to win.  The Dodgers are built to win, we hope they win another WS title soon!  This year’s edition will be missing pieces of their collective soul.  The 2023 season will start with Bellinger, Seager and Turner all wearing different uniforms.  Mookie and Freddie are the new leaders, and we think the kids could be alright.  Over the next few weeks, we will establish our spring training cadence. We do have a three-week planned diversion into the madness of College hoops and Bruin dreams. 

 

Postscript: Derek Carr is the Raider all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns.  He has had a solid career with the silver and black.  Carr was a second-round pick in the 2014 draft and has earned his keep. Hell, the Raiders drafted Jamarcus Russell with the first overall pick in 2007 and he had 41 turnovers in 31 games and a 65 QB rating while slurping his drank.  So not sure how high the bar is set for that position on the Raiders.  Carr was ok.  He signed a team friendly contract with Josh McDaniels to lead the rebuild with the old build.  Derek is humble, religious. Better than average QB.  The Raiders are moving on and so is DC.  We will be missed but not mourned.