Category Archives: Sports

The Steve Bartman incident: a baseball & social analysis

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Preface: Every sports fans knows this event well enough and its run-up, so I’ll spare the reader a detailed account and skip to my analysis.

We’re nearing the 20th anniversary of this infamous sports incident, so let’s review how to avoid becoming a victim. 1) Know the ground rules on fan interference, especially if you have a front row seat. That’s a responsibility you have as a fan. 2) Stand up for your dignity at all times. Do NOT let yourself be abused for the sake of the team. 3) Give Fox Sports the middle finger when they keep focusing the camera on you after your fan mistake. I guarantee they will stop showing you on TV. 4) When the attention & scrutiny becomes too much, leave the stadium IMMEDIATELY. Don’t sit there and let fans hurl verbal abuse & beer on you. 5) Pick better friends. Evidentially, the two people to Steve Bartman’s right were with him, but never stuck up for him after the incident and completely abandoned him when they were escorted from their seats by security. 6) The next day, after you’ve been identified in the media, make a statement declaring your remorse for what you did, while also focusing the blame on the players & coaches in the field/dugout who failed. Make THEM own the responsibility for the Cubs losing, instead of absorbing the blame yourself. 7) Give the Marlins credit for a great rally. Just after the incident happened, Marlins LHP Mark Redman said to his team in the dugout, “Let’s make him famous.” They did. 8) If you’re gonna go for it (and I say don’t do it there!), then at least make the play. He missed badly, and that caught him more hell with Cubs fans. 9) Re-evaluate why you are a fan and what it means.

I’m one of those people who never hated Steve Bartman, or felt sorry for him. I felt like he needed to grow a pair. Recently re-watching the ESPN Film Catching Hell (2011) brought all these thoughts to me, and many of them weren’t mentioned in the documentary film. The film is a different experience now from when it was released, because the Cubs finally won it in 2016– thirteen years [!] after the Bartman incident.

In Catching Hell, there’s not enough awareness & discussion of Fox Sports singling out a spectator and making HIM the story, all in the name of bigger ratings. They kept going back & back to it, instead of focusing on the action on the field. Steve Lyons was a main culprit, and a good example of an ex-jock who isn’t qualified to be in a broadcast booth.

Furthermore, when Bill Buckner says he would violate baseball ground rules as a front row spectator if that situation came to him, I don’t believe him. I understand why he says it, but I don’t believe it, and neither should any baseball fan. Their experiences were completely different, and hard to compare, except that they were both made into scapegoats. ESPN has all the resources in the world available to them, and they still miss the story.

Catching Hell also had too much lame arguing that fan interference should have been called by the umpires. Two Cubs fans with too much time on their hands even made a 187-page legal brief on it, making their case for FI. Let me refute that weak stuff here. First, this was before video replay in umpiring, so the call on the field stands no matter what.

Second, at least half a dozen other Cubs fans were reaching into the field of play to catch the foul ball too. If hometown fans prevent their own player from making a play, and it’s too close to call on the field (as it was), then the umpires CAN’T bailout the Cubs. I’ve seen Yankees fans make way for Derek Jeter, etc, to make a play in the stands at Yankee Stadium. Same thing for fans at Fenway for their team, and of course they do the opposite when it’s an opponent going for the ball– and that’s their right as fans.

If Cubs fans weren’t ‘heads up’ like they should have been, then they deserve to suffer the consequences of their baseball ignorance. If fans turn a home field advantage into a disadvantage, then they only have themselves to blame– collectively. I believe Cubs fans hated Steve Bartman for two reasons: 1) his actions hurt their team’s cause; and 2) they know deep in their hearts they would have done the same.

Epilogue: After the Cubbies finally won the World Series in 2016, management & ownership did the right thing and sent Steve Bartman a World Series ring. By all accounts he was deeply moved & appreciative, while saying he didn’t deserve it. The truth is no one deserved it more. This guy who just wants to remain an anonymous Cubs fan took a bullet for the 2003 Cubs and was forced to endured shameful abuse from fellow fans & the entire media. No one deserves that.

The guy got too excited for a moment and did something he shouldn’t have done. No one died. This should have been the call, “Foul ball… out of play. Maybe some Cubs fans are a little too exuberant in their desire to catch a foul ball, as Alou is upset…” [replay, then live camera shot to the area– once. Then move on with the broadcast of the game].

Thom Brennaman’s call on Fox was similar to what I just wrote, but the producers in the truck kept pushing the cameras onto Steve Bartman, while color analyst Steve Lyons kept harping, “THAT could be BIG,” which gave Fox a compelling human narrative they could keep going back to, and they did. Steve Bartman should have sued Fox for malice. He may have, I don’t know, but he surely had a case. That’s why guys who looked like attorneys kept pushing their business cards in his face after his foul ball muff.

Being a sports fan is a dangerous thing, because it has the potential to become a drunken mob where things can get out of control. People are so passionate about sports that they lose their heads and do crazy thing they normally wouldn’t do. It’s the excitement of the game, the desire to participate and be a hero for 15 seconds, to be on TV, gambling & fantasy sports, etc. Some of that is vanity, or simply a natural desire to recognized for doing something good.

What the Steve Bartman incident teaches us is that if you get carried away with all this exuberance for sports in the form of fanaticism, it can come back to haunt you if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. Network TV cameras pick up EVERYTHING now. If you get caught in that situation, refer to my checklist at the top to avoid becoming a victim of circumstance.

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The sorry state of US soccer

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Preface: Many nations didn’t even allow adult women to play soccer back in the 1990’s. Muslim nations in particular. The US was the only country that allowed a large pool of boys & girls to compete together at a youth level. That helped catapult the USWNT to soccer dominance which lasted for 30 years. This is a follow-up piece to USWNT out early at World Cup 2023: no one cares

The USWNT trained at the sprawling Markham Woods soccer complex (AKA: Lake Sylvan Shores) in north Orlando, throughout the 1990’s and at least into the early 2000’s. It has multiple fields, and the USWNT shared this space with all the youth league teams, including my (then) step-son’s summer teams from 1998-2000. When looking in their direction (as every cognizant soccer spectator did back then), I immediately noticed it was men coaching the USWNT.

My step-son was a good kid and enjoyed playing soccer, though he never had any scholarship or professional ambitions, which helped him fit-in well with all the coaches he played for. His mom made him choose soccer over football in high school on my advice.

He actually liked band better, and played trombone during the football games, so he was much happier for it. I often remarked to her in the bleachers, “The Mount Dora football team sucks, but their band kicks ass– best in conference!” She would laugh, and was proud of that.

His summer coach was a good-hearted father whose son was the center-midfielder. Everyone got along well, and the coach would often admonish his young players for being lazy & unserious by screaming, “Do you see Mia Hamm over there?! She’s won two World Cups & Olympic gold, and she STILL gets pissed at herself when she fucks up! So why are you laughing at your stupid shit when you’re on the same field as her?!!” That was really good stuff from a boys summer league coach– I liked him.

After the USMNT made the Round-of-16 in World Cup 1994, MLS was born. I saw early MLS exhibition games at Disney/ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex which had opened recently in Buena Vista. We were given tickets from a cousin, the head secretary of WWOS— which is nice. They were sparse crowds, so we always had a good view. Up close, I instantly recognized Lexi Lalas, Tab Ramos, Eric Wynalda and the rest of these hippies & high-strung pretty boys by their “free spirited” west-coast playing style.

I saw it for real when I played my 1985-86 high school year in San Jose. These kids were talented for sure, and they had skills, but they were afraid to be really great, and that’s why they never won anything. I saw it over & over from the bench my junior year in San Jose. I finally had a great coach, and he knew I needed to catch up on skills before I could get serious playing time, but I was ambi-footed & serious about putting the ball in the net for my team.

I was excited to play for this coach my senior year, and was ready to dedicate my 1986 summer to getting better per his suggestions, but my family moved back to Wisconsin before the Cali soccer season ended and that was that. The level of talent & coaching in Oshkosh, WI wasn’t/isn’t anywhere close to Cali, so I only played summer league for a two more years, then gave soccer up for academics. Sports taught me a lot, including when to quit.

Sports also taught me that rich, spoiled Cali boys are the kind of teammates who always yell at you or try to show you up in front of everybody and never apologize for it. You would think a few of these hippies would understand karma or team philosophy, but no, they only care about themselves. They do whatever they want on the field, and waive off any criticism. THESE are the stars, and they are fixed– nothing can re-align that.

These enabled crybabies get where they are by politics, influence & money, more than actual talent. I’m not saying they were terrible, but I am saying they really weren’t that good, and most of it was for the cameras. The 1994 USMNT didn’t even have to qualify because the US was the host nation– for the first time ever. The time had finally come, and these pretty-boy brats simply had the right backing. That only gets you so far on the world stage, and the USMNT has never made it past a Round-of-16 in any World Cup. No one fears them.

Soccer was a winter sport in Cali when I played, as compared to a fall sport in the Midwest. Soccer is a winter sport in Florida too. I feel like soccer skills & basketball skills go together, and that young athletes should be allowed to play both. I think Bo Jackson would agree. California & Florida are where many of the best athletes come from, but forcing boys to choose in high school limits their ambidextrous skill development.

Basketball requires ambi-hand skills, while soccer is ambi-feet. If developed correctly, the ambi-skills reinforce each other, producing a formidable athlete. But in Cali, FL, and elsewhere in the deep South, where there is perhaps the most money for soccer, boys have to choose, as hoops & soccer are BOTH winter sports. Climate has something to do with this, so it’s a complicated regional sports issue, that seriously impacts the quality of the USMNT, and it goes unmentioned.

I saw a few high-school kids in Florida who tried to play soccer after fall football, but often they were too hurt from gridiron action. In some cases, it took most of the winter soccer season for them to recover. Just in time for spring football.

Football & soccer often share the same playing fields in high school, which is another factor in good ol’ boys insisting on staggering high school football & soccer, versus competing head-to-head with soccer for young boys talent. Football coaches get hysterical about their home fields during their season. They don’t want to share it with anyone. This is just some of the politics I’m talking about.

This needs to change for men’s soccer to improve. Otherwise, the US is giving up on men’s soccer. Soccer needs to compete with football for boys. NFL fans don’t want to hear that, and that’s the root of the problem. If soccer acquiesces to football, and insists on competing with basketball, then US men’s soccer will continue to stink.

The talent pool in soccer needs to be enlarged, and you can get that from parents who don’t want their boys playing football. Stuff like this never gets discussed when American fans ask, “How can the USMNT ever become competitive at the WC level?” It requires a revolution in thinking & in deed, because rotten politics controls every game. Politics controls the funding, the coaching, scholarships, grants, etc. They own the huge complexes. They have deals with the corporate media giants, with the Star-Spangled Banner waving behind them.

As this actors & writers strike continues, sports programming will become more coveted by networks looking for fresh content. Sports affects many levels of our thinking & actions. People LOVE sports, they want their children to play sports. It’s nearly a universal childhood dream to be a sports star of some type.

The hardest thing to do is get control of all these emotions that go into our passion for the game, and make rational objective decisions based on all the facts, to come to a conclusion of what’s the best course of action for the good of the game. That requires revolutionary leadership to start, and it’s finished when parents, fans & athletes come together everywhere to get rid of the filthy capitalist politics that are ruining ALL our sports.

Wrap-up: By the late 1990’s, most of the best soccer brains in the US went into helping the women’s national team, as they must have recognized by then that the USMNT was hopeless. These brains were mostly male, but there were more & more butch lesbians working their way up the coaching, political & media ranks. It has been an American feminist agenda to make US womens’ soccer entirely female at its highest levels. All these major phenomenons in womens’ soccer (positive & negative) happened exclusively, or at least most sharply, in the US.

Most soccer-crazy nations in Europe & Latin America viewed fútbol as entirely a mens’ game back in the 20th century. Now the big money is everywhere, so other nations have built better womens’ programs because they have better mens’ players to instruct them. This is why the USWNT is in so much trouble. They have neither the coaching, nor the skill required to beat the best on an equal playing field.

Globally, women’s soccer is now equal, in the sense that the US women don’t scare everyone anymore, Furthermore, they aren’t going to get better– they’ve peaked for the historical reasons I’ve outlined. The USWNT has milked it for as long as they could, but now it’s over, and they have no direction back to the top. You’re not allowed to even whisper that truth on ESPN.

You need more than talent to win at team sports. You need organization, a serious work ethic, and a spirit of community & sacrifice for the greater good. In soccer, if it’s not being taught at the elementary youth level, then it’s hopeless, because every other competitive nation is doing precisely that. You can never win when you’re always behind from the start.

It’s not difficult to find reasons why the USWNT won’t regain its past glory. The US team is no longer formidable, but beatable, and the whole world knows it, so they’re going to get everyone’s best shot from now on. It appears the USWNT is too proud to admit they aren’t the best anymore, which is a problem. So it’s a losing combination of 1) the opponents burning desire to beat those loudmouth American bitches, along with 2) hubris & denial on the US end.

I’ve got online friends from HS, college, and beyond who have raised boys & girls that play soccer. I’m sure they’ve read what I’ve posted with great interest, whether they agree with my conclusions, or not. My job as a sports blogger is to make readers think outside of the corporate box. Soccer parents have been led to believe that they are part of a great social progress, but are they?

Today’s young American boys & girls are behind on soccer skills because the coaching is so poor everywhere. None of these girls are the next Michelle Akers, or anything close. The US men never win. There’s too much mediocrity & politics at the youth & HS levels, and that’s a shame considering the ever-growing American interest in soccer over the past 25 years.

Furthermore, many of today’s professional athletes didn’t play in youth leagues or high school, like we did in the past. If you are recognized early as a prodigy, and your parents have the money, then you are sent to a sports academy, such as ING. Here, kids receive top-level, sports specific training– the best that money can buy. This gives these talented (& privileged) kids an unfair advantage at the collegiate & professional levels, because most kids have never seen that level of competition & skill in their sport.

This ‘youth talent drain’ into the private sector hurts broader youth development for the same reasons. Normal-level kids can’t improve if all the best players are at private institutions. Soccer, tennis, golf, even basketball are now dominated by this private sports academy model. It has created an unlevel playing field for athletic scholarships, etc, and stagnated overall development in every sport– to the benefit a privileged few.

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USWNT out early at World Cup 2023: no one cares

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Is anyone going to miss these bitches? Megan Rapinoe misses a PK that would have won it (she didn’t even put it on-frame), and then she smiles & shrugs it off during the post-match presser. Is that a leader? Is that a role model? She’s too chicken-shit to put a GW PK on-frame [!], and then none of her teammates call her out for her shit. This USWNT totally mailed-it-in for World Cup 2023. This is so far from 1999, it’s pathetic.

This is what happens when a MeToo campaign takes over an institution. Megan Rapinoe is a LGBTQ+ activist, a pawn of the CIA Democrats. This 2023 USWNT had no soul, because their appointed ‘leader’ is soulless.

Her Subway ad campaign (which has been scrubbed from YouTube) goes down in marketing history as perhaps the most disastrous commercial blitz in TV/internet history. In 2021, loyal customers STOPPED going to Subway until corporate pulled all their Megan Rapinoe advertising spots, as they were killing local franchises EVERYWHERE. Subway needed Steph Curry again, and QUICK!

People just don’t like her, and it’s not because she’s a lesbian– it’s because she’s unappealing. She’s not nice, honest, or brilliant, and she’s certainly not pretty. It’s a universal male fantasy to turn a hot lesbian straight, but I (like many others) have no such desire towards her. I only mention that because it’s important to women. It’s a different standard when measuring women athletes. It doesn’t matter how many titles you have, if you are marketable, then you’re shit.

I was a soccer player in middle school & high school when the sport was in its infancy in the US. Boys & girls played together on summer league teams and in high school– on JV & varsity. I was a soccer step dad in the late 1990’s, and I remember our then-family watching the 1999 Women’s WC final, USA v China, live on ABC. It was maybe the most dramatic sports contest ever, with the US winning in PK’s.

Like many, many others, I still remember the players on that team because they are worth remembering. In 1999, a group of determined under-appreciated young women changed the sports world forever. This 2023 USWNT wasn’t a group of women coming together as a team for a greater good, but a bunch of self-serving bitches wearing the same-colored jersey. That’s why they lost.

I mention my personal history because that’s how girls soccer started in the 1980’s. Boys had to play with girls, and we had to play nice– even in high school. All the girls who stuck it out were better for playing with boys. It wasn’t easy (on all sides), for sure. Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, etc, all had to deal with those circumstances. It pushed them, in a way girls can’t be pushed today, because there are now girls soccer leagues everywhere– as it should be. It’s all part of global sports progress.

Postscript: So where does the USWNT rank globally now? They finished 2nd in their Group, and lost in the Round of 16 in Australia 2023. That objectively means they are anywhere from 9th to 16th globally. The competitive edge the USWNT has had over their global opponents, starting from the inaugural women’s World Cup in 1991, has been completely eroded. What is the cause? Politics is always a factor in big money sports, and women’s soccer is clearly no exception. The wrong choices are being made for the wrong reasons, and this is what you get. I leave it to the experts analyze the details– that’s what they’re supposedly paid for.

No longer can the USWNT waltz onto the World Cup stage & dominate, or even win. They couldn’t even score this time around. Lack of skills, creativity, chemistry & poor player development are the reasons. Too many egos need to be massaged all the time, and that creates resentment for team players. This drains a team, and it’s almost always the reason a team loses, at any level. You might not expect this ugly pettiness from the USWNT, but then you would be giving them too much credit.

The resources the US sporting establishment has poured into girls/womens soccer since the 1990’s have helped keep the US women ahead of everyone else– through World Cup 2019 which they won. The USWNT had a huge head start by the process I described above in my personal experience. There were hundreds-of-thousands of other boys like me who played fair and (unknowingly) helped develop the original USWNT. I only mention this because I’ve never seen it written anywhere else, yet it surly had the impact I’ve described.

Now that it’s all-girls leagues, US soccer is going to struggle to recapture the glory of its early years. How are you going to make players better when it’s favoritism, enabling & cynical politics at every level? This is the reason why the men’s national team always sucks. I don’t ever see the USWNT team returning to prominence on a world stage. Other counties such as Sweden & China are far better organized at this point. The processes that have undermined the quality of women’s soccer run too deep in American society, and are also part of a global revolution to come.

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Jets acquire HOF QB Aaron Rodgers from the Packers

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Monday evening, it was announced that the Green Bay Packers agreed to deal quarterback Aaron Rodgers and their 2023 first-round pick (No. 15) and a 2023 fifth-round pick (No. 170) to the Jets for New York’s 2023 first-round pick (No. 13), a 2023 second-round pick (No. 42), a 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 207) and a conditional 2024 second-round pick that becomes a first if Rodgers plays 65% of the plays this season.

This is a convoluted deal that doesn’t end until 2024 with a lot to unravel. In short, the Packers get a 2023 2nd-round pick, while swapping their 5th for the Jets 6th, etc. There was lots of haggling over the past months, but what we see in the final deal is that not much moved. The Jets were offering a 2nd-round pick and likely a 4th-round pick, while the Packers needed to get more. They only way that was going to happen was by getting conditional picks based on Aaron Rodgers’ performance with the Jets. The excessive haggling in the exchange of picks is a way of making the return for Aaron Rodgers look bigger than it really is from a Packers’ standpoint.

The conditional 2024 pick depends on Aaron Rodgers staying healthy & playing all season, and it’s the best the Packers could do with the mess they created for themselves. In essence, the Packers have to give the Jets their blessing in this deal, in the hopes of maximizing their return in the form of a 1st round pick in 2024. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers & the Jets will be trying to win a Super Bowl. Give Aaron Rodgers credit for protecting himself after the Packers moved up to draft Jordan Love in 2020. He played a tough situation beautifully.

There seems to be very little appreciation for what Aaron Rodgers did for the Packers among the Lambeau faithful. Players are never perfect, even though this is what fans often expect. Serious fans embrace their stars (warts & all) because they are rare and in the end it’s about winning. For whiners & complainers, that’s never enough. So to them, welcome to 5-12 for awhile, give or take a win or two.

The Packers ominously lost to the Vikings to start 2022. A dropped opening 75-yd TD pass loomed over their season. They responded by winning three straight before hitting the skids losing 7 of 8 games. At that point, Aaron Rodgers was the only one who still believed the 4-8 Packers could make the playoffs and stated it to the press. The Packers responded by winning 4 straight to put themselves in position to make the playoffs with a home win over the Lions in Week 18. Every Packers fan saw that result and felt the disappointment of all hope draining away. Every Packers fan felt that if they could’ve beaten the Lions then they could’ve made a run in the playoffs— woulda, coulda, shoulda.

But realize it was #12 that gave everyone that hope. He couldn’t deliver, largely because the Packers didn’t have #17, etc. The lying part about Packers management is their not admitting to Aaron Rodgers (and the public generally) that their plan has been Jordan Love in 2023 ever since they traded-up to draft him in 2020. Aaron Rodgers was the first to understand this.

Lying & deceptive management really cost the Packers here. Since their ‘secret’ plan was to go with Jordan Love all along, they should have kept Davante Adams and let Aaron Rodgers go (or traded him) last off-season. Davante Adams would have likely stayed for a quick rebuild, and everyone in the organization would be on the same page. Instead, Packers’ management wasted 2 MVP seasons from a HOF QB by planning for the future instead of trying to win it all when they had a chance. Special teams was particularly an Achilles heel.

The fact is the Packers never had a great player to galvanize their defense after Charles Woodson departed. Brett Favre had Reggie White. The Packers missed an opportunity to get J.J. Watt when he left the Texans a few years back. That’s the kind of difference-making player the Packers needed to get past the 49ers/Rams/Bucs. Just when a bold move was required for winning, Packers management was positioning itself for the upcoming rebuild.

Beyond this, Packers special teams were atrocious in Rodgers’ final years. Blocked punts & kicks, fumbled returns, allowing big returns, missed extra points, penalties, etc. That final playoff loss at Lambeau to the 49ers, which turned on a blocked punt, was emblematic & inevitable. It defies reason & credibility to blame this mismanagement on the QB, but it’s the easiest thing to do. Where’s the organizational accountability?

Many NFL fans are front-runners by nature. Do hardcore Packers fans realize how many ambivalent NFL fans just signed up with the Jets and how many they just lost? That’s a sad day for any organization. It hurts in all respects. The Packers entire future is now hinged on Jordan Love and there are unrealistic expectations which isn’t fair, inviting failure. If this kid isn’t the next Patrick Mahomes or Jalen Hurts, he’s a disappointment. This is all on management, not Aaron Rodgers.

Sat 29 Apr 2023 3:30 PM CDT

Packers fans are numb right now, so this draft is like, “Yeah, whatever.” The Packers, who have been in existence for over a hundred years and have more wins than any other NFL franchise, just traded way their most valuable player ever. Why? Because management never established a real relationship with Aaron Rodgers. Stars come with their baggage, which must be MANAGED, as no human is perfect. When it was time for Tom Brady to leave the Patriots, he did so quietly & gracefully with the blessing of the entire organization and their fan base. That’s because Bill Belichick had a relationship with him. None of that happened with Packers management & Aaron Rodgers.

My analysis of the situation is that Aaron Rodgers wanted to finish his career in GB, but Packers management had other plans. I understand most Packers fans disagree with that assessment, but I stand by it. I say that most Packers fans are too emotional to get this, because football is such an emotional game. But it’s also a business, which means there will always be people in ownership & management who want to run things their way, no matter the cost. That problem doesn’t go away until it’s handled.

Another disappointment in this trade is that Packers fans were looking for closure, and they haven’t got it. The conditional draft pick in 2024 ties the Packers to Aaron Rodgers for at least two-thirds of next season. It was bad enough they had to deal him, but they needed to finish it cleanly. Two 2nd-round picks in 2023 were the best they were going to get from the Jets, and that’s what they should have settled on, so they could move on. Instead, Packers management mucked it up again, and no one in Packerland is happy with this deal. I understand that everyone gets to keep their job until the season starts, but when the product on Lambeau Field pales to what it has been for the past 30 years, Packers fans are going to demand accountability in the front office. I’m merely articulating what most Packers fans are thinking and afraid to say.

Obviously the 2023 season is all about quarterback development for the Packers. It starts with preventing Jordan Love from getting too injured, too quickly. Concussions need to be a red flag. DON’T be like the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa. Jordan Love’s situation will probably be similar to Justin Fields with the Bears the past few years where he’s been running for his life most of the time.

All this begs the question, “Who’s the Packers backup QB?” Smart game-planning combined with an adequate backup option, can prevent a team from wrecking its young quarterback. From what I’ve seen from current Packers management, I’m skeptical they can do this.

Who is the Packers backup QB in case Jordan Love gets hurt? I can see the headlines now: “Love Hurts”. A washed-up starter would’ve been ideal for the Packers in 2023, but unfortunately they’ve all been signed. Unless they get creative with a trade or pull off some magical late free-agent signing, the Packers are going low cost on this which is risky.

As a final point. It’s ridiculous that only one team was in on Aaron Rodgers. What the hell are the Vikings, Colts, Commanders, etc, doing? This collective stupidity made the Packers situation much worse. Some people call it “collusion” but since these owners & executives all talk to each other regularly and it’s reported, it’s considered to be out in the open, so it’s more accurately understood as typical ownership/management stupidity.

There are always a minority number of franchises that are hapless and don’t know how to seriously compete. This is true in all sports, but most profoundly in the NFL. Too much owner/management stupidity is what allowed Aaron Rodgers to go to the Jets on their terms. It was Packers management (& their fans) who got squeezed. Packers management having no meaningful relationship with their franchise superstar made this drawn out divorce all the more messy & painful, with a bitter aftertaste that lingers.

Post Script: Sunday April 30, 11:30 AM CDT

In the NFL at any given time there are only a handful of franchises who know what they are doing. The Patriots, Chiefs, 49ers, Rams, Bucs & Eagles are among today’s teams. The Bills, Bengals, Jets & Giants are legitimately trying to get there. The rest include the (relatively few) up & comers (Lions), the perennial flakes (Vikings, Cowboys, etc), and the hapless (Bears, Jags, etc) to some degree or another. With Aaron Rodgers at the end the Packers were always somewhere in between, below this top tier while above the second. The NFC North has been by far the weakest division in the past 20 years, meaning with a healthy HOF QB the Packers easily dominated most seasons. Now they will be hapless. The Packers desperately need the right veteran backup so Jordan Love survives 2023. If Packers management is serious about what they are doing, then impress us skeptics by addressing this.

Aaron Rodgers has been remarkably durable over his career, only getting hurt enough not to play, twice. There’s only one Brett Favre. In 2013 the Packers were 5-2 when Aaron Rodgers went down against the Bears. They finished 8-7-1 and lost to the 49ers in the Wild Card. The Pack were 4-1, when #12 broke his clavicle against the Vikings in 2017. That season they finished 7-9 with a cast of nobodies at QB, when there was a free agent available who could have helped, but Packers management (like all the rest), blackballed Colin Kaepernick. That blacklisting was collusion. Following media reports from ESPN which stated Colin Kaepernick’s settlement was in the range of $60-80M, the former 49ers QB and teammate DB Eric Reid received less than $10M total from the NFL settlement, as reported by the WSJ in 2019.

The final take home lesson here is that you can’t naively believe the NFL’s reporting or the narratives promoted by any of their teams, from ESPN down to the local news, because it’s almost all fake. There are analytics sites with stats (old school & advanced) to help you figure things out if you need that help. Whatever metrics you use, it’s inferences & conclusions should match reality. Packers reporting on Aaron Rodgers has been filled with misdirections, deflections, petty criticisms & throwing their star QB under the bus. If you buy this, then you’ve been duped. Please seek help.

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The NCAA Tournament & NIL rights

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The NCAA Tournament is more random than ever. This is because all the best high-school ballers either skip college, train in Europe, or are one-and-done. The game isn’t as good as it was from say 1979 through the mid 1990’s. When Shaq left LSU after his sophomore season, after he would have been the #1 overall pick after his freshman year, it seismically shifted the NBA draft standard for college kids.

Today, to win in the NCAA Tournament a team must grow through experience to play well TOGETHER when it matters most. Experienced teams with low seedings now make more Elite 8 & Final 4 runs. Miami was a good example in 2022. Virginia coached by Dick Bennett when they won it, etc. Please note that much of this pertains to women’s hoops too. It used to be a #1 or #2 seed was pretty-much guaranteed to make the Sweet 16. Not so anymore.

Smaller conferences have gotten more competitive, while the bigger conferences (blue bloods) suffered most from the talent drain. NIL rights changed everything too. If a state has laws passed for NIL rights, they ignore all NCAA rules.

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Roger Goodell cancels Bill-Bengals MNF game: A true Hollywood story

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After Roger Goodell conferred with the top Vegas bookies & ESPN fantasy leagues for three difficult days, it was decided by the owners of football to be in their best interest to cancel the Bills-Bengals game. According to NFL records & the Black Hand, it never happened.

The NFL had cancel this game, but they REALLY didn’t want to. League officials & executives needed to confer behind-the-scenes with bookmakers & the biggest fantasy leagues for council on what to do, which is why it took three long days for the NFL to make it’s final decision, when it really had no choice from the start.

The fantasy leagues are a particularly sticky situation, because those are hardcore football fans who invested 4+ months in drafting, building & cheering their teams. The Bills-Bengals game was to be the final MNF contest of the season, and it’s the Super Bowl in most fantasy leagues. If this event had happened during a typical Sunday afternoon game, it wouldn’t have been as harmful to NFL interests. But it happened on Monday night, when the entire sports world is tuned-in, and not just any Monday night, but the biggest MNF game of the season.

Instead of being a nationwide football festival, the plug was pulled & the excitement killed. Most sports fans understand the situation and don’t blame the players, or cry foul, but there are interests that want to make sure this NEVER happens again. Docking wages for leaving the field would probably be bad optics for the NFL, so look for the owners to get together after the post-season and establish a “protocol” to prevent players from mutually leaving the field before a game is finished. Owners consider what happened as an unauthorized work stoppage, and that is strictly prohibited by the powers-that-be. This could become a CBA grievance if the owners take too much of a hard-line stance.

So how did Roger Goodell arrive at his judgement, three days after an on-field medical event stopped the Bills-Bengals MNF game, with the players refusing to resume the contest? First, the NFL Commissioner had to take heavy flak from all the East coast dweebs screaming in his ear about sponsors, ratings, fantasy leagues, etc– imagine a scene from Network (1976) and apply it here. After absorbing all this abuse, Goodell then had to fly to Las Vegas and stay at the Flamingo to take a meeting with Ace Rothstein & Nicky Santoro. After that, he had to hustle over to the Tropicana to see Moe Greene, and you know what that means— Don Barzini. Roger Goodell had to earn his paycheck this week.

Nicky Santoro: Hey commish, what happened?! I got all these betting slips and I don’t know what to do with them. I’m thinkin’ I’ll keep all the money. What do you think, Sam?

Ace Rothstein: You’re the muscle end Nicky, I just tell you the point spread.

Nicky Santoro: So commish, a player feints on the field, he’s taken-off, and the game just ENDS?!! Since when do we do THAT?!! Are we gonna put pink dresses on them next? [Lots of expletives…] I’m feeling like a chump for holding all these markers. The game was two nights ago!! [Lots of expletives…] I’m just trying to run a respectable bookmaking business here, I gotta pay the winners & collect from the losers to get my vig, you understand? How can I pay when there’s no game?!! [More expletives…] Since I’ve been holding this money for so long, I’d almost feel like a chump to return it. I’m thinking I’ll keep the money. What do you think, Sam?

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Nuances of the Milwaukee Brewers dumping Josh Hader

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David Stearns dealt ace lefty closer Josh Hader to the Padres for a demoted closer, two fringy prospects, and a pitcher they DFA’ed 2 days later. They did this because ownership didn’t want to pay Josh Hader’s final arbitration raise this winter. It’s a chicken shit move, I agree.

The key to this deal (and it’s a long-shot) for the Brewers is LHP prospect Robert Gasser who posted a 4.18 ERA across 18 starts at High-A Fort Wayne this season. Lefty reliever Taylor Rogers isn’t close to Josh Hader, and OF Esteury Ruiz is a bench guy with no pop. RHP Dinelson Lamet needed Tommy John surgery after 2020, but refused and went with platelet rich plasma [quack] treatment instead. It failed probably costing him his MLB career.

“Dinelson [Lamet] has a good arm and was included in the trade to help balance out the deal,” said David Stearns. “As subsequent transactions played out, the roster fit became a little tougher. We are hopeful we will be able to keep him in our system.”

So why did the Brewers trade Josh Hader, only to DFA a guy in that deal two days later?  The answer is that Padres GM AJ Preller made David Stearns take Dinelson Lamet because he wanted to dump him. The GM rule is: if someone dumps to you, you get to dump (something less) back. When someone dumps the best closer in baseball, and you get to dump an arbitration expensive pitcher who has been derailed by injuries, that’s quite a nice gift.

This was a shameless dump by Brewers ownership, comparable to when the Rays dealt ace LHP David Price to the Tigers in 2014. That move deflated the team & killed their season. Rays GM Andrew Friedman left for the Dodgers after that season, and Joe Maddon went to the Cubs. The Mets have been after David Stearns for awhile and this deal may finally convince him to leave. He didn’t want to make it.

It’s the RF Christian Yelich extension ($26M per thru 2028, then $6.5M buyout) that hamstrings them. The Brewers made the same mistake with RF Ryan Braun and didn’t learn. That’s the truth Brewers front office & ownership can’t tell you.

The fans aren’t fooled. David Stearns had been asked by the Yankees, etc, for years about Josh Hader, and he always refused them by putting an exorbitant price tag on his elite, cost-controlled closer. Then Stearns gives Hader to the Padres when no one expects it. What explains that?

When David Stearns was told by team owner Mark Attanasio to trade Josh Hader, he must have realized that this was going to be his end in Milwaukee. David Stearns knew all the consequences, it’s his job to know. Viewed as his last trade deadline as Brewers GM, Stearns made sure the Yankees didn’t get Hader. It was the best he could do. This was a payroll dump to an organization Stearns could tolerate. I believe the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals & Dodgers were considered intolerable, meaning Brewers fans would never forgive him.

As mentioned, the Mets are interested in David Stearns, and have been for some time. Therefore he couldn’t trade Hader to them, as it could be construed as a conflict of interest down the line by MLB. Stearns had to trade Hader to a team he wasn’t going to potentially interview for this winter. Those were his interests in a deal he didn’t want to make. Knowing all this makes this murky deal much more understandable.

Ownership didn’t care about the return, so it’s the team & fans that lose. It’s yet another reason I’m against private ownership, because roughly 99.9% of Brewers fans hate this deal. The entire team hates the deal. After this season, David Stearns will be allowed to talk to other teams and he will get snatched up by one that has the payroll to win a World Series. The Brewers window to win, which opened in 2018, has now been closed by ownership.

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Universal DH Era

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The MLB players & owners finally came to their senses and their lockout was settled amicably by March 2022. Opening Day was moved back only one week to April 7, with many doubleheaders to come this summer. The big story of the MLB season is the universal DH and the deadened baseball. I like both.

Slugging percentage has been quelled, and in many ways this unofficially ends (or at least suppresses) the steroid era. Owners now have the power to unilaterally manipulate the baseball as the players get stronger. That’s easier than moving the fences back in all 30 MLB parks.

Once again you have to be a true slugger to go opposite-field upper deck, and that’s the way it should be. I’m going to commend both sides, players & owners because it appears each side actually listened to the other. They both found a way to respect the game and move it forward for the fans. Analytics have been a HUGE part of this. Online criticism & commentary gets noticed when the money is this big. It certainly wasn’t the haters in the fake sports media that led the charge for this improvement. All they do is blabber & rant.

Less than two months into the 2022 MLB season I’m christening this the Universal DH era, as this rule change has radically impacted the game in a good way, which is refreshing. Pitchers no longer have to take batting practice, work on bunting, learn batter signs, and ultimately stand in a batter’s box and try to execute.

That’s one less place for them to get injured. The bases are another, as pitchers now don’t have to concern themselves with running the bases, unless they volunteer to be a pinch runner for their manager in need. It creates a completely different dynamic for them to channel themselves and stay healthier.

That’s a LOT off of their workload, as now they can concentrate exclusively on being a pitcher on the mound. Look at how pitchers have done in 2022 by comparing the slashline batting stats from the past five seasons this one inclusive. You would think that with pitchers not batting, the slash lines for MLB hitters would go up, since starters no longer drag down the league average. But it’s the opposite.

MLB  BA  OBP SLG

2022 .238 .309 .383    (thru May 27)
2021 .244 .317 .411
2020 .245 .322 .418   (60 game season, universal DH)
2019 .252 .323 .435
2018 .248 .318 .409

BA is down 6-8 percentage points, OBP is down 8-12 percentage points, and SLG% is down at least 30-40 points. This gives pitchers a chance again. Another thing that has helped pitchers is K-zone technology, which hold umpires accountable. It’s harder than ever to be a good MLB pitcher, or even an average one. Fielding, holding runners, avoiding sign detection, umpire performance, etc, are all measured by MLB front offices, scouts & fans*.

* To be honest, much of the fan interest in analytics is fueled by gambling promoted by ESPN, etc. This gambling addiction explosion started with fantasy sports, and was accelerated when ESPN began broadcasting Texas Hold ‘Em poker, promoting it as a mainstream sport, but I digress.

This analysis of the universal DH rule impacting MLB pitching mostly applies to starters, as relievers don’t hit as a rule, but they had to as they developed. All these distractions of being an incompetent batter are now gone at the highest professional level, so the rules for developing pitchers now change everywhere. It’s more specialized, and you have to commit to a position earlier now. MLB is a global game, with a re-codified international draft, Japanese League transfers, etc.

Now the rules are the same in the AL & NL for the first time in MLB since 1972. That makes sense. This allows pitchers to hang around longer, which is good since they don’t grow on trees. The universal DH also makes the game much easier for the manager in the dugout. No longer will a manager have to consider taking out a strong pitcher with a few innings left, for a pinch hitter. This helps the bullpens of all 30 teams, and keeps relievers healthier. Fans, players & owners like that. It took a lockout that threatened the entire 2022 season for owners & players to get this done.

The idea is that pitchers have needed a break ever since José Canseco. The newly expanded post-season, with a third Wildcard is fine too. The two teams with the best records in each league get byes, while the best-of-three play-in series are entirely at the field of the teams with the better record, or tie breaker winner.

That respects the 162-game season, which hasn’t really happened since 1993, the last season before MLB adopted the Wildcard. Expansion in the 1960’s ushered in the pennant race era from 1969-1993, where you had to win your division (East & West in each league), to get into the post-season. This set up two 7-game league championship series to determine the World Series match-up. It was cruel & elegant. But MLB expansion (Marlins-Rockies, then Diamondbacks-Devil Rays) necessitated a third (Central) division in each league, and thus the Wildcard was stillborn in 1994.

Big-spending franchises that were previously shut out (Red Sox, Giants, Cubs) by perennial powerhouses like the Yankees/Dodgers, benefited from the Wildcard system. It began in 1994, but that season was cancelled by MLB commissioner Bud Selig after his owner colleagues provoked a player’s strike, which denied the owners of their coveted post-season television, attendance and merchandising revenues. The 1994-95 MLB players’ strike was a bitter dispute that dragged on too long. Opening Day wasn’t until Tuesday, April 25, 1995 for the Dodgers-Marlins, and the next day for everyone else.

The fact that both players & owners cooperated to settle their differences (for now), and play ball brings a measure of hope to die-hard fans. They say “hope springs eternal” in baseball, but much of that is naive. Baseball is big business, just like all professional sports everywhere. Championships are won in the off-season, like when the Dodgers acquired RF Mookie Betts. Or when the Nationals let RF Bryce Harper & manager Dusty Baker go, and signed free agent LHP Patrick Corbin and brought in Dave Martinez to manage their dugout in 2019.

On the other end, there’s no hope for the Pirates or Reds in 2022. The Cubs are now almost finished dumping assets for prospects, and will be done by the 2022 trade deadline. The Rockies & Diamondbacks have no chance in the stacked NL West. The Giants, after a swan song for Buster Posey’s final season in his Hall-of Fame career, succumbed to the Dodgers in 2021, and that was that.

The Giants still spend a ton to remain respectable, which is okay, but it’s not enough to win without another HOF-er. Ever since LF Barry Bonds was retired by MLB in 2007-08, the Giants have focused on pitching, drafting & development. That’s how they won 3 WS, 2010, 2012 & 2014, one as a Wildcard. They finished 6 GB the Dodgers in 2014, won the NL West by 8 games in 2012, and by 2 games in 2010. The Diamondbacks won the NL West in 2011. There was much more inter-divisional balance back then.

Now it’s the haves & have-nots. The Brewers are the “haves” in the NL Central as long as their pitching holds up. The universal DH helps Craig Counsell manage his rotation, and gives them a better chance in the post-season where pitching matters most. The Brewers have never won a WS. I predict the Brewers or the Padres are going to be the next MLB team to lose their virginity, so to speak.

The Milwaukee Brewers have the formula with pitching and developing it internally. They get the best out of their starters and keep them relatively healthy. Can they keep it going? The LF Christian Yelich extension cripples the Brewers financially, and they really can’t afford it. His back is injured and this has sapped his power. The Brewers are paying him $26M per season through 2028, with a $6.5M buyout.

That’s why I favor the Padres in this quest to be World Series christened. The Padres have more payroll, and they need it against the Dodgers. People who don’t follow the NL West don’t fully appreciate how the Dodgers win. They have the most talent & money. They draft & develop. They’ve had an international presence since forever. If you’re bad, or even borderline, the Dodgers don’t just beat you, they punish you. It’s demoralizing if you’re trying to develop young players with fragile psyches.

It’s why Padres GM AJ Preller had to trade young LHP Eric Lauer to the Brewers for more experience & consistency in RHP Zach Davies in 2020. After one good season, Davies was flipped to the Cubs for RHP Hu Darvish. The Padres need frontline championship starters who can face the Dodgers. That, and Coors Field with Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, etc, can blow-up a LOT of young pitchers.

That was a real possibility for Eric Lauer (above), so his brilliant GM did the right thing by trading him to a NL competitor for maximum value. The NL Central works better for Eric Lauer, so the trade benefits everyone, both teams, AND all the players involved. That’s rare, and therefore noteworthy.

It is instructive to note that the Brewers & Padres have made many recent deals with the Rays which have benefited all sides. See: SS Willy Adames, 2B/UT Jake Croenenworth, OF Manny Margot, RHP Drew Rasmussen, etc. This is a NL round-up, but I will throw-in that the Rays are a really smart organization, so GM’s need to know what they’re doing when dealing with them, otherwise the Rays swindle the other side even when they are dumping. The Rays are always dumping. Baseball Reference has the Rays around $75M for 2022, which is bottom-five (or close, it’s murky) in MLB payroll again.

The Cardinals are an organization that knows what they are doing, so they will hang around and probably snatch a Wildcard in 2022. This is a franchise that benefits from post-season expansion. This is the final MLB season for 1B/DH Albert Pujols, C Yadier Molina & RHP Adam Wainwright, so the Cardinals are in it to win it for sure.

The NL East is the murkiest division in the senior circuit. I have never believed in this version of the Phillies, as they have too many holes. The Nationals are rebuilding, and made a HUGE mistake re-signing RHP Stephen Strasburg to that crazy extension. He basically hasn’t pitched since, due to injuries, and that was the obvious risk. That may cost them LF Juan Soto.

The Marlins are futile, and new GM Kim Ng busted with her first free agent splash in LF Avisail Garcia. Historically speaking, GM’s don’t get many second chances to spend with Marlins ownership. Clearly, the Mets have the divisional edge in payroll. In March, team owner Steve Cohen said the Mets “probably will” go over a $290M payroll for the 2022 season. Spending over that threshold gets taxed by MLB at 80%. Here are the new CBA numbers on the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT):

Tax tier  Threshold    Tax rate
First        $230 million   20%
Second   $250 million   32%
Third       $270 million   62.5%
Fourth     $290 million   80%

It’s hard to determine exactly how much MLB owners are taxed when their franchise goes over the CBT, as it’s formulated by average annual value of all (multi-year) contracts, salary dumps, etc. Suffice to say I see the $270M threshold (3rd tier) as the divider for many MLB owners who don’t want to pay 62.5% tax on anything. 32% is more doable for a MLB owner willing to spend over $250M, but 62.5% bites hard at $270M. Maybe once as a final plunge, otherwise only the wealthiest, most egotistical owners will spend that kind of money. Usually it’s a bad idea that fails, but uncontrollable egos won’t listen to reason.

The Mets signed FA RHP Max Scherzer, and RHP Jacob deGrom isn’t getting any younger, so the Mets are in World Series-or-bust mode in 2022. The Mets finally have an owner who can afford to spend what their fans expect, but health remains an organizational issue they need to solve to compete for a championship again.

The Braves benefited immensely from the Padres collapse in 2021, as AJ Preller only tried for Max Scherzer at the trade deadline and he lost out to the Dodgers who also acquired SS Trea Turner in their deal with the Nationals. No one else available was worth him trading for, so AJ Preller throwing in the towel on 2021 opened up the acquisition market for GM Alex Anthopoulos, who retooled the entire Braves outfield at the deadline at a bargain, which helped them win the WS. The Braves had been languishing for much of the 2021 season, until they got reinforcements who payed-off bigtime, while the Mets collapsed. The Braves would have been buried in the NL West with the Dodgers & Giants in 2021, and through 1993 that’s where the Atlanta Braves were.

As a reminder, the previous two trade deadlines before 2021, Padres GM AJ Preller had gobbled-up much of the best available talent to surround their young phenom SS Fernando Tatis, Jr who was brought up in 2019. Short outings from their starters, inconsistent defense (Tatis, Jr in particular), and injuries derailed the Padres by August 2021. Their off-season began with Preller firing manager Jayce Tingler, and then snatching Bob Melvin from the A’s, who are again in dump mode. AJ Preller double-dipped (again) by also getting LHP Sean Manaea from Oakland, and added FA RHP Nick Martinez from Japan.

The Padres have RHP Mike Clevinger back from his 2nd Tommy John surgery, but it’s still questionable what they will get out of him. He is currently on the IL with a triceps issue. Rookie LHP MacKenzie Gore is the key for the Padres. With LHP Blake Snell, RHP Joe Musgrove & RHP Hu Darvish, the Padres have 7 starters. They are stacking the 4/5 spots in their rotation on normal rest, while being prepared for the doubleheaders to come. An example of stacking would be Nick Martinez going 5 innings, then MacKenzie Gore going 3. This gets the game to their closer, without using regular relievers.

As a note, the Brewers did this very successfully in 2021 with Eric Lauer. It’s a strategy that wins in the post-season. Bullpens are typically chewed-up by October. The trade deadline can bring in reinforcements, but as a rule, managers should stick with starters, and use 4/5 starters as relievers in the post-season.

Pitchers now must face at least 3 batters per relief appearance, and that can be an eternity when a bullpen guy blows up and loses a championship, like the Astros in 2019 to the Nationals in Game 7. RHP Gerrit Cole will never forgive Astros manager AJ Hinch for that, and he shouldn’t. The metrics have been clear on this since Moneyball (2003). As a manager, don’t use your 3rd-or-4th best reliever in an elimination situation, unless that’s all you’ve got. Starters on short rest are always better.

In conclusion, it’s the National League and this DH rule change that’s the story in MLB in 2022. The NL now has the benefit of the DH. The only other year the NL had this was in 2020, the 60-game pandemic shortened season, and it was understood that it was only for that year. It took the 2021-22 lockout with 100 days of posturing and then finally some serious negotiating by the interested parties to get uniform rules which make the game a bit more fair & interesting. As far COVID-19 goes, it’s still with us, and remains a factor in professional sports. It will be until it is eradicated, and it will take a LOT more than a 100-day stand-off between millionaires & billionaires to get that done.

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Novax the sick Djoke

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Preface: Omicron isn’t mild. That’s a political lie meant to numb you to the dangers of letting the virus rip, which has been the US government’s policy from the start, first with Trump, and then continued under Biden/Harris. We need a Zero COVID strategy, globally, to end the pandemic.

The Novak Djokovic ruling in Australia reinforces an anti-scientific & eugenics stench among the capitalist governments. For those not up-to-date on the situation, tennis star Novak Djokovic who is unvaccinated, has been allowed entry into Australia, despite strict entry requirements– which Novax doesn’t meet. He was allowed to work a deal with the Australian Open organizers and government officials, despite the protestations of the VAST majority of Australians who have been living under some of the toughest COVID mandates in the world. It’s been widely seen for what it is: another generous exception granted to the privileged, while the rest of us have to “live with it.”

Last week, Novax arrogantly posted on Instagram that he had obtained a visa to travel to Australia and would be participating in the Open. This incited a firestorm of opposition among the people of Australia, who have been living under stringent COVID mandates on vaccination, travel, masking, etc, for months in an effort to contain Delta & Omicron. It was this mass eruption of democracy that forced the Australian government to temporarily rescind Novax’s visa when he arrived.

The fake media keeps writing it up as if there was a “mix-up” or some government confusion over their visa policy, etc. The toiling masses can’t be given credit for preventing a corrupt anti-vaxxer from buying (& lying) his way into their country and being allowed to do whatever he pleases because he’s privileged. That’s not a narrative the fake media is interested in, but it’s what happened. The reactionary court ruling to allow Novax entry, overturns the will of the Australian people.

What it confirms is that if left up to the courts, a right-wing agenda will always be validated– from Julian Assange to Kyle Rittenhouse. This can be traced all the way back to Bush v Gore in December 2000. Anti-vaxxers are free to spread COVID as an ideological pillar of class rule. Vaccines, lockdowns, masks, testing, and science in general, are vilified as violations of “individual rights,” while the social rights of the VAST majority are dismissed. Novax is the $220 million martyr for the anti-vaxxers. Oh how they pity him & his suffering! The hypocrisy is staggering.

This situation was turned into a nationalist issue for reactionary purposes. Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic wrote last week, “Our bodies are doing everything to see that the harassment of the world’s best tennis player is brought to an end, immediately.” Novax’s father, Srdjan Djokovic lashed out at the Australian authorities, claiming his son is a martyr comparable to Jesus Christ, “Our Novak, our pride. Novak is Serbia and Serbia is Novak… They are trampling over Serbia and by doing that, they are trampling on the Serbian people… The leader of that faraway land, Scott Morrison … dared to attack Novak and expel him before he had reached their country. They had wanted to throw him to his knees, and not just him, but our beautiful Serbia… We Serbs are a proud European people. Throughout history, we have never attacked anyone, we only defended ourselves.” Djokovic’s mother Dijana claims her son is a “revolutionary” who was “changing the world.” All this because Novax won’t get vaccinated.

Anti-vax Nazis compared Novax to Julian Assange during this drama, which was ludicrous. Assange is a hero for telling the world the truth about imperialism. Assange is suffering in a real prison for that. Novax is just another entitled reactionary, grandstanding for himself, a symbol of hope for the hopelessly ignorant. Anti-vaxxers all claim “natural immunity” as their defense. If natural immunity was enough to stop COVID, then the pandemic would be over already. But it isn’t.

The anti-vaxxers uncritically accepted Novax’s claim that he had ‘natural immunity’ from COVID, by testing positive on December 16, 2021. It’s now very likely that his ‘positive test’ claim was a lie to get Novax around the vaccine requirements for a visa. The timing couldn’t have been better for an unvaccinated individual wanting to participate in the Australian Open.

A fake positive test can be obtained the same way a fake vaccine passport can be manufactured. If ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Antonio Brown tried it, then why not Novax? One of the requirements for a visa is that you don’t bring danger or harm to any of citizens of the country you are entering. The Australian government wasn’t interested in any of this, or asking Novax about not masking/isolating after his supposed positive test. Those facts & questions would be very inconvenient.

Novax has now been confirmed as unvaccinated by the government of Australia. If he was actually COVID positive on Dec 16th (which is highly questionable), he refused to wear a mask or quarantine himself, as required by Serbian mandates. That’s not a national hero or a martyr, but a selfish & ignorant elitist. Anti-vaxxers & COVID denialists are the political equivalent of flat-Earthers & holocaust deniers. That’s why the vast majority must reject them and their Malthusian ideology.

The bigger issue is that this AO event shouldn’t even be held, until we’ve eliminated COVID. To all the people attending indoor public places & outdoor super-spreader events without a mask, I must insist that you just don’t get it. I’m talking about the BIG picture. This isn’t coming from jealousy or any other form of hatred, but from science. You’re too wrapped up in your personal interests, and this is what is perpetuating & worsening the pandemic.

I am the first person to publicly call this pandemic what it will be known as in history: the Coronavirus War. It’s the war to prevent WWIII. Please step back and look at the big picture, which starts with how WE are going to end this pandemic. It can’t be just a few of us, it has to be the VAST majority of people who have ethics & respect science, along with all those willing to sacrifice for a better world. Join the fight on the good side of the Force, because WE deserve better than 2021.

Fri 14 Jan 2022 09:22 AM CST

Breaking update: Novax’s visa was cancelled a few hours ago, for a second time on the basis that his presence could “excite anti-vaccination sentiment”. His legal team is appealing the decision of Alex Hawke, the Australian immigration minister. Novax will soon be interviewed by Australian immigration officials, with a full hearing to take place on Sunday morning (Melbourne time), the day before the Australian Open begins. The chances of the immigration minister’s ruling being overturned are remote according to legal experts.

The sick Djoke presented false information on his visa form, saying he hadn’t traveled outside Serbia for the 14 days before flying to Australia, but social media has photos of him in Marbella, Spain over the holidays. As a rule of visa law, no one gets away with that. That’s not a “minor oversite” or “mistake” in filling out a visa form, but a false declaration to gain admittance. The political pressure this situation has created for the Australian government has been enormous.

On Monday (Jan 10), Der Spiegel claimed that when it scanned the QR code belonging to Djokovic’s PCR test at 1.19pm German time on December 16, it said: “Test result Negative.” However an hour later, after another scan, it said: “Positive.” Several others – including New York Times journalist Ben Rothenberg – reported the same findings, with Rothenberg also posting a photo of the two different results. When anyone tried on Tuesday it returned universally positive results. It’s now clear that Novax’s ‘positive’ COVID test is surely a fake, as many of us suspected from the start.

Novax always has a convenient excuse for his lies & blatant disregard for the health of others. It gets to the point where no one believes him anymore, just like the little boy who repeatedly cries wolf. If Novax keeps trying to press his luck with his legal appeals, staging fake protests, etc, Australia may decide to ban him for 3 years. Most foreigners would have already received this ban, if they tried to pull what he did. The Australian government doesn’t want to do this, but this sick Djoke was never very good at reading the political situation.

Fri 14 Jan 2022 4:034 PM CST

There’s a lot to digest from all this, and since the verdict is now assured with only a few footnotes to be added, I’ll make my final comments & sign off.

What offends the most from start-to-finish are several things. First is the fanaticism masquerading as seriousness in discussion by the anti-science crowd. Everything is right-wing talking points, junk science & attacks from the anti-vax mob. They don’t want any kind of rational discussion of the facts, they just want to rant & then fight. In a word, they are impossible. These Stalinists & Nazis are working together as the Axis around US/UK imperialism in the Coronavirus War.

My second irritation is with Novax, as all-around this was a shoddy production from him. Sloppy, lazy, ill-conceived & poorly planned. It’s execution could only end in failure & ignominy, with Novak Djokovic being played as a political pawn. From the side of science & democracy, we made an example out of Novax. Didn’t want to do it, felt we owed it to him… He thought because he’s such a great tennis player that he could transcend international politics by doing whatever he wants during a pandemic and get away with it. The people of Australia said, “Fuck you” to that, and Novax will soon be on a plane back to Serbia.

His family back home have been shameless conspirators in this fraud Novax tried to pull off in obtaining a visa. Right-wing nationalist elements all rallied around Novax & his lying family. All of them were in on this conspiracy to obtain an Australian visa by fraud because they all knew Novax was unvaccinated. All the anti-vaxxers supported every Novax legal argument, document & positive test as facts. If I’m the Australian PM, it’s a 3-year ban as stated by law. These transgressions warrant it, as (scientifically speaking) this was an attack on your border.

It’s the smugness that rubs raw with Novax. He expected to get away with it, so he didn’t make sure his COVID test indicated “positive” instead of the actual negative result. Anyone can (& will) check that QR code, and SCREENSHOTS will be the proof. Lazy & stupid people helping this sick Djoke in his camp & at the highest levels of the Serbian government. All because he won’t get vaccinated and can’t admit it. Marxists call that political cowardice. For all the anti-vaxxers reading this, I ask, “At what level does the hypocrisy get so ridiculous that you bail on him?” Intelligence & the far right have a preconceived limit on when to stop talking and start fighting, but they don’t want to admit it or identify where it is.

If your strategy to get into the Australian Open is to falsify documents & a COVID test, then at least do it right. Since your consider yourself a professional, and clearly have the money, then have a serious plan that can succeed or else don’t try. Don’t go out in public maskless after the proclaimed positive date. Stay isolated as mandated, and no one can dispute your story. Don’t travel to foreign countries within 14 days if the rules stipulate against it. For the respect of the Australian people whom you expect to welcome you into their country, it’s not asking too much. It insults EVERYONE’S intelligence when you disrespect people like that.

Once these documents in question were released to the media, it was too easy to investigate and expose all the inconsistencies & lies. It took like half a day, which begs the questions, “Why didn’t the government of Australia figure this stuff out since is wasn’t that hard? Don’t they have people who know how to investigate & handle this stuff at their borders?”

The best explanation here is that this was a backroom pay-off deal Novax set-up with the Australian Open & government officials, that went bad. Cinematically speaking, it compared to the end of La Femme Nikita (1990), except no Anne Parillaud & no style from Novax, who never spoke directly to the media nor answered their questions during this murky affair in which everyone got bloody. It was his lawyers, family and right-wing extremists that spoke for Novax, and they were never believable. That’s why it ends like this.

It’s an election year Down Under, so the 9-time AO champion has to leave in order to soothe the discontent of the Australian voters. A warning lesson from all this is that if Novax hadn’t been so careless & stupid, he could have easily gotten away with it, but it was the power of the people speaking their voices that sent Novax home before the Happy Slam begins.

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The unreality of identity politics in sports

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You don’t think we asked for more money? I mean, what are we screaming about? Nonstop! –– Megan Rapinoe

In case you haven’t noticed, women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe has been on the offensive in the media. She claims the USWNT deserves equal pay to the men, when it has already been proven in court that the women have been paid MORE than the men in the past decade. This lesbian athlete, now activist, has Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton & Joe Biden behind her, so she’s hard to stop at this time.

Draymond Green is correct in what he says, but politics are there in the media to distort the argument in favor of Megan Rapinoe’s reactionary agenda. All this is being driven by something much bigger than her.

It’s so easy to be bold when the field has been cleared for you. Megan Rapinoe always claims to be so educated, as compared to whomever she’s attacking. Yet she distorts facts, and won’t listen to reason, in any sense. For example, under capitalism (and Rapinoe is surely a capitalist), you are paid as an athlete according to what you can bring in economically. That was Draymond Greens’ central point during his Twitter storm, and Megan Rapinoe never honestly addresses it.

The NCAA basketball tournaments have just concluded for the men & women. Both were broadcast on TV networks & big cable channels. They were also available for free streaming on the internet. Basically, everyone who wanted to watch had access.

The 2021 NCAA men’s basketball championship game attracted 16.9 million viewers to CBS on Monday (April 5), as Baylor beat undefeated Gonzaga 86-70. It wasn’t even that close, as the refs really helped the Zags stay in it. That hurt the ratings as Gonzaga had an Off Night.

This was a 14% decline from the 2019 game. The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic, and the Virginia-Auburn (2019) championship game went into OT.

The two women’s Final Four games on Friday (April 2) averaged 2.2 million viewers for ESPN, and Sunday’s championship game between Stanford–Arizona brought in 4.05 million viewers. Both are up from 2019, with the semifinals improving by 22%, and the title game by 10.5%.

The men’s Final Four average audience for Saturday’s two games on CBS (11.81 million) was down 14% from 2019. The men’s Final Four suffered smaller drops than the most recent World Series, NBA & NHL finals, and college football’s national championship game.

But as we can see from the raw numbers, even under these media trends (women up, men down), women only draw ~ 20-25% of the viewers that men do. The truth is the interest isn’t as intense for the women sports, unless there’s a transcending superstar such as Mia Hamm, the Williams’ sisters, Maria Sharapova, or Danica Patrick.

Megan Rapinoe isn’t in that class. Being hyped “elite” anymore, ain’t what it used to be. There are egos & big money involved here, so people will be dishonest, but Megan Rapinoe’s appeal is very limited. She’s abrasive, and not beautiful. How do you market that to a mass audience?

In a rare moment of candor she notes, “We are getting obnoxious to ourselves, to be honest.” Think on that for a moment. This is a half-educated individual, with half-baked ideas, fed to her from half-hearted liberal supporters. Megan Rapinoe is a puppet on a string, and the worst kind, in that she doesn’t know it.

She represents a very limited strata of well-paid American athletes who believe they should get more, and are completely oblivious to everyone outside of their own interest group. Megan Rapinoe can tap into the reactionary #MeToo campaign as a woman, AND the LGBTQ…WXYZ campaign as a lesbian. Identity politics is still searching for its Holy Grail, a gay black women who is an athletic superstar. But as the song goes, two out three ain’t bad.

So all of you women teachers, don’t be fooled by this selfish poser. She’s a jock, which means she didn’t study in school, and speaks only for herself & the sponsors. All you women Amazon workers, don’t buy into this feminist crap which only seeks to divide men & women.

Feminists don’t care about workers on the job. You’re supposed to shut up & work, and then cheer for all of them on the weekends. All you girls in school, does that colored-hair phony have anything to say concerning crushing student loan debt? How about COVID-19 in the classroom? Girls are very affected by this.

Megan Rapinoe pontificates, “You know, just generally, the issue that we have with voter suppression in this country, I think everybody and every business and everything should be at the disposal to make sure that we’re influencing those laws in the right way.”

My first questions are: Who are “we,” and in whose interests are the laws to be influenced? She’s certainly not talking about working people, who are the ones that create all the value with their labor. By “we” she means her elitist colleagues. There needs to be more diversity amongst the oppressors. That’s the bottom-line argument of identity politics.

Then there’s is the issue of voter suppression. Socialists are systematically kept off election ballots– by the Democratic Party. This is an inconvenient political fact, which the likes of Megan Rapinoe always ignore. But facts are stubborn things. Any left-wing alternative to the Democratic party is censored & attacked by the deep state apparatus.

It doesn’t matter too much who the President is, because the deep state runs the show. The proof of that is the current US president clearly has dementia, and the VP is a puppet. So who’s running the country?

On October 31, 2019, former Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin (above) said to a live audience with reporters in the room, that he was grateful for the deep state’s role in prompting the Ukraine-gate impeachment of President Trump. “Well, you know, thank God for the deep state,” McLaughlin responded, provoking laughter and applause.

Until that day, those of us who had proclaimed its existence & massive influence were deemed “conspiracy theorists.” The deep state still isn’t completely acknowledged by the liberal media, as a cover-up for this nebulous institution, where all the political & economic levers-of-power are held.

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