It was a busy week again. Here’s a look at some top stories and sidebars.
News Item: NBA playoffs carry on
By the time you see this Golden State may have closed out Dallas (down 0-3 as I write this) for a place in the NBA Finals and it’s possible Miami will have the Celtics on the brink (or on vacation) after their embarrassing “Back To December” non-effort to put them down 1-2 after somehow resting on the laurels of an impressive 25-point Game 2 win. Game 4 on Monday will show whether they’ll bounce back as they did vs. the Bucks or continue with the turnover fests of Games 1 and 3.
As for the Warriors, while they’ve faced a pretty weak field out west, they’re proving me wrong after I said last November I thought their glory days were over. Despite playing less than 70 games for the fifth year straight, 32-year-old Steph Curry has shown he’s still a major force as GS has gone 11-3 behind his 25 points, five rebounds and six assists per playoff slash line.
News Item: It’s not whether Brady will be any good on Fox, but whether he’s worth $375 million
I learned a long time ago not to question Rupert Murdoch when he spends what seems like a ridiculous, unrecoverable amount of money on something related to broadcasting. That moment came when Fox Sports outbid the field by over $100 million to bring the NFL to his fledgling Fox Network. The other three more established networks whined that you couldn’t make money at that exorbitant rate. Except that’s not what he was after. He wanted stations around the country who wanted/needed NFL games on their station to become Fox affiliates. So what he actually bought was an entire network overnight, which made those seemingly titanic rights fees chicken feed.
I have no idea how or whether the 10-year, $375 million Brady deal will be recouped by Fox. But I know they usually have something up their sleeve. So I’m guessing there’s a plan in place, and if I have to bet (no pun intended) it probably will have something to do with the emerging new revenue source sports betting will provide the NFL over the next decade.
News Item: Do people watch games because of announcers?
I’d love to see the research on this question. I know I don’t. I watch for the teams playing and put up with the rest or enjoy it a little bit more if it’s someone like Ian Eagle and Charles Davis or the Van Gundy brothers in the booth.
News Item: Parcells shut out again
It’s becoming an annual thing to congratulate the newest New England Patriots Hall of Fame inductee and then rant over the exclusion of inductee Bill Parcells. First congrats to Vince Wilfork for his most deserving honor. A great player and a true Patriot in every way during 11 years in Foxboro.
But Bob Kraft, what about the Tuna? Since I’m not in the room for the discussions I can’t say it is simple pettiness over the ugliness of his departure and the border war that followed. And far be it from me to pat Parcells on the back, because his behavior at the end was questionable and far from gracious, so I understand the hard feelings.
But enough is enough. That happened 25 years ago and if the Hall is to stand for anything more than a feel-good summer day for Bob it should honor all those who made the Patriots dynasty what it is. Parcells and Drew Bledsoe are Nos. 4 and 5 behind the Big Three for bringing the stability and legitimacy that got every football fan’s attention while laying the foundation for what was to come, including bringing Bill Belichick here as an assistant under Tuna.
I know you have a rule for one inductee per year voted on by fans. Sorry, break it. If you need a clue as to how dumb fan voters are, look at any starting line-up for the MLB All-Star game. There’s nothing I hate more than Hall voters suddenly realizing a guy like Dennis Johnson or Ron Santo belongs in after he passes on. Parcells is now 80. So, Bob, make an exception. Put Tuna in, because he earned it and you should be a big enough man to make happen.
News Item: Sideline reporter during playoff game
Sometimes it’s prudent to ask what planet people are living on when they make decisions that simply defy common sense. One such incident is the NBA forcing coaches to speak to sideline reporters at the beginning of the second and fourth quarter when a playoff game is going on. I think it’s pretty stupid and generally useless during the regular season, but during the playoffs teams’ seasons are on the line and their being forced to take attention away from a critical moment to answer some question is insulting to players, coaches and the fans whose teams are playing in such important games. Come on, Adam, wake up and fix this nonsense and give greater respect to the game itself.
News Item: Belichick pokes the bear
Bill Belichick gets pounded by the media, often unfairly. OK, make it sometimes unfairly. I get his desire for playing it close to the vest and how the media can cause distractions, often for little reasons beyond bringing attention to itself. But I have no sympathy for Coach B because he brings the vitriol on himself. Take what he did last week. The NFL has a rule that each team must make its assistant coaches available to speak to the media twice each off season. So what does he do, schedule those meetings a month after the draft and five weeks before summer camp opens on back-to-back days in mid-May when no news is going on. An unnecessary provocation just to poke the bear. So you reap what you sow, Bill.