* First things first with the Rays: No reliable closer, no prospect of playing into October.
* As to the ExRays proposal, a lot rides on the meaning of “negotiations.” Is talking to—or conversing with—Montreal’s Stephen Bronfman, sans a paper trail—an actual legal loophole? Or just wink-and-nod rhetoric? Is this not unlike what the meaning of “is” is?
* “Signing the brief was not only the right thing to do, but is also best for our business.” That was Brian Auld, Rays president (and Rowdies’ vice chair), referring to the Rays joining more than 200 major American corporations signing on to an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of workplace rights for the LGTBQ community.
* I was watching—OK, transfixed by–the last 10 minutes of the U.S.-UK Women’s World Cup semifinals from the health club I work out at. But for the first few minutes, it was beyond frustrating to tell which team was which. I’m (obviously) not a hard-core fan and the easily identifiable Megan Rapinoe was not in the game. A small patch on the jersey indicates country. That’s it. Until there is a close up of an individual player, it’s hard to tell the difference between teams, especially when they are demographically similar, in this case mostly white with a player or two of color. If this were Nigeria vs. Iceland, it wouldn’t be a problem.
And BTW, if we’re going to reference a clock, why not actually stop it when there are delays—whether for injuries, controversial calls or when the soccer ball goes careening out of bounds? Having a prominent clock and approximating “stoppage time,” however steeped in tradition, still seems oddly incongruous.