Category: Sports

* It can’t come soon enough: the beginning of the NFL season. Enough of the Bucs storylines that range from who are the real “badasses” to what kind of footage HBO will ultimate feature about DeSean Jackson’s mansion and his Ferrari 488 GTB, which starts at about $250,000.

* With all the medical documentation connecting football, especially at the pro level, and CTE, you have to wonder how long Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones will remain a holdout. He has long rejected a link between football and CTE.

* Classy move by the Chicago Cubs to award Steve Bartman–of 2003 scapegoat infamy–a 2016 World Series ring. Can’t help but think that Joe Maddon had something to do with it.

* Winning a national championship in baseball wasn’t the finale for University of Florida sports success in 2017. UF swimmer Caeleb Dressel just brought home seven gold medals from the world championships in Budapest. He won three in one night. Michael who?

* How surprising–and ironic–that the Tampa Bay Lightning has not weighed in on the Confederate monument issue, but the Bucs and Rays have and spoke on behalf of its removal. The Bolts are actually neighbors–and ownership is known as avatars of enlightened new urbanism and all its synergistic, millennial pieces.

Speaking of the monument, Tampa lawyer and Democratic activist Tom Scarritt deserves plaudits for stepping up to offer his fund-raising services to move it. And County Commissioner Sandra Murman deserves a double take for actually wanting the Commission to consider holding a referendum on the issue. We know what can happen with a countywide referendumb that directly impacts the city of Tampa.

* It must have felt eerily like a Tampa Bay home game when the Rays recently played the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum. The opening night crowd: 9,736. The A’s are MLB’s other problematic franchise.

* “I’ve basically spent a conflict-free life, you know.” Just when you thought you had heard it all from O.J. Simpson.

* UF just announced its non-conference basketball schedule for the coming season. It includes Stanford, Florida State, Cincinnati, Clemson, Baylor and Incarnate Word. Say what? Although it sounds like a Catholic parish in my old Philadelphia neighborhood, it’s a private Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas, that has been a member of the Division I Southland Conference since 2013. For the record, it was founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

* Remember when “Heavyweight Champion of the World” was a very, very big deal? From Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano to Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson. Iconic status was a given. The current heavyweight champ is Anthony Joshua of England.

* I always root for the USA. But sometimes in soccer it’s a lot less chauvinistic. Case in point: America’s recent 3-2 win over Martinique in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match here at the RayJay. Martinique has a population of less than 400,000, about the same as Tampa’s. It’s like being a relative of Goliath and hoping he kicks that little upstart David’s ass.

* Congrats to the University of Florida. The Gators won the College World Series with a two-game sweep of LSU. It’s the ultimate for a program that has been around for more than 100 years. It also means that UF becomes the first SEC school to win national championships in baseball, football and men’s basketball–and the fourth program nationally to do it.

* Speaking of the College World Series, too bad the logistics don’t allow for the best pitchers to necessarily pitch in the finals. Teams have to get through the double-elimination prelims first where they throw their best arms in an all-out effort to advance. That meant, in this case, that UF star pitcher Alex Faedo, a first-round MLB draft pick who led the nation in strikeouts and won the CWS Most Outstanding Player award, didn’t pitch in the finals. It also meant that the Gators pitching depth was incredibly impressive.

* Taking one for the team: That had to be Joe Maddon last week, as he and some members of the Chicago Cubs paid an “unofficial” visit to the Trump White House while in D.C. to play the Nationals. They had all been there five months earlier for a World Series celebration with President Barack Obama.

Maddon said it was out of respect for the Cubs-owning Ricketts family that donated to Trump’s presidential campaign. Indeed, Ameritrade-founder Joe and Marlene Ricketts donated $1 million to a Trump Super PAC, and their son Todd was initially named deputy commerce secretary before stepping aside over financial entanglements. Another member of the family, Todd’s sibling Pete, is the governor of Nebraska and a vocal supporter of Trump.

Just a guess, but I’ll bet Maddon’s Hazelton Integration Project never came up in presidential small talk.

* Cautiously encouraging that there is an effort underway to put together a united Korean Olympic team for the 2018 Winter Games. The host city is Pyeongchang, South Korea. The impetus comes from new South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who advocates dialogue and reconciliation with North Korea.

The two Koreas have never fielded a united Olympic team. However, they have marched together at opening ceremonies at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

* Speaking of the Olympics, the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo will have some innovative, new looks. Changes include mixed-gender events, including a 4-x-400-meter mixed relay in track, plus sport climbing and surfing.

* The Rays are understandably disappointed and frustrated that projected starting shortstop Matt Duffy has, due to (a left heel) injury, not been able to play at all in 2017. Recall that Duffy, formerly of the San Francisco Giants, was traded for starting pitcher Matt Moore last year. For added context, however, keep in mind the season that Moore is having for the Giants: a 3-8 record with a 6.04 ERA. Seems like an eon ago–not four years–that he was an All-Star and finished 17-4. Arguably, Moore hasn’t been the same since Tommy John surgery in 2014.

* Not that we needed Warren Sapp’s reminder, but there should no longer be a justification for pre-high school tackle football. Period.

* Congrats, Dave Andreychuk, NHL Hall of Famer. Finally.

* Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred continues to sound upbeat when it comes to the Rays stadium saga. “Hats off to the governments in St. Pete and Tampa,” said Manfred. “They have given Stu Sternberg, the owner of the Rays, the ability to look on either side of the causeway to find the site that’s best for the team.”

We’ll take the optimistic tone, although it’s now old news. Meaningful progress beyond looking around Tampa Bay would be a real “hats off” occasion.

* Speedy new Bucs wide receiver DeSean Jackson is not your basic game breaker. He’s also a producer of the many-years-in-the-making biopic “All Eyez on Me” about the late Tupac Shakur. Los Angeles native Shakur was a rapper, hip-hop artist and activist whose songs typically revolved around violence and racism.

Jackson, who also was born in Los Angeles, acknowledged in a Tampa Bay Times interview his identification with Shakur. Not discussed with Jackson: The movie is actually narrated by Shakur from prison–where he had been serving time for a sexual assault conviction. Hardly a footnote.

* OK, we’re only approaching mid-June, but, still, who would have thought the Rays would have a better record than the Cubs? Likely not Kevin Cash–or Joe Maddon.

* If the Rays wind up being July “sellers,” the two names being bandied about the most: closer Alex Colome and starting pitcher Alex Cobb. Especially the latter. Cobb is less than five months from free agency.

* The Tampa Bay Times noted that Target Field, where the Minnesota Twins recently hosted the Rays, was worth emulating when it comes to stadium design and synergy priorities for the Rays. Target, pointed out the Times, is on a relatively small footprint and is surrounded by bar/restaurant activity. One key component, however, was omitted. Target Field has a transit stop. Huge factor.

*American men’s tennis is nowhere internationally these days. But that’s hardly the case for post-Tiger Woods, American golfers. American Dustin Johnson is ranked first in the world, and four other Americans are in the top 15.

* The Lightning reported season ticket sales passing the 14,500 mark. For perspective, in 2010 it was 4,000.

* I look in on college baseball’s Super Regionals to see how the Florida schools are doing and who will be advancing to the College World Series in Omaha. One other reason is to see a sport–worthy of its ESPN coverage–with its share of schools that are hardly sports powers. While this year’s Super Regionals included the familiar likes of Florida, Florida State and LSU, it also included the less-familiar likes of Sam Houston State, Davidson and Missouri State.

That’s more likely to happen in a non-revenue sport, and it’s good for college baseball.

* The only “perfect game” I ever saw in total, in live time, was the 1964 one tossed by the Philadelphia Phillies Jim Bunning. Sunday, June 21, Fathers Day. We all watched it on TV. It’s what we did as a Philadelphia family after mass at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church and a late scrapple-and-egg breakfast.

Bunning, 85, died recently and the memory of that game came cascading back.

Bunning had 10 strikeouts and threw only 87 pitches. He was all business and looked the part. He didn’t tug at his cap to affect a hip angle or need to tuck in a necklace or overly massage the ball or fondle the resin bag or amble about the mound or work on an intimidating stare. The 6-0 win over the Mets at Shea Stadium took 2:19. The day was still young.

Later that night, Bunning was on the Ed Sullivan Show. There he looked more like the guy who would eventually become the only Baseball Hall of Fame player to have served in Congress. Representing Kentucky–in very conservative, non-Philly fashion–Bunning served six terms in the House and two in the Senate.

Bunning also had a killer quote in his farewell address to the Senate in 2010. “I have also thought that being able to throw a curveball,” he acknowledged, “never was a bad skill for a politician to have.”

* Finally. Jon Gruden will be inducted into the Bucs’ Ring of Honor. His predecessor as Buccaneers’ head coach, Tony Dungy, is already in the NFL Hall of Fame. Both were fired by the Bucs. Weird.

* In another testament to Tampa’s ascendance as a proven host of mega events, this city will be hosting the NHL All-Star Game January 27. It’s a big deal. It’s also challenging, since the weekend festivities will overlap with the Gasparilla Parade. Think security and mess transit.

* Local Gator football fans had to be pleased that UF coach Jim McElwain is making big strides in recruiting Tampa Bay blue-chippers. USF fans and Charley Strong had to be concerned. Recruiting prime local prospects–football and basketball–has always been an issue for the Bulls.

* Lightning owner Jeff Vinik’s full-page, color ad in the Tampa Bay Times was a thank you for fan support. It’s worth reflecting on. The Bolts sold out (19,092) every one of their 41 home games this season. Moreover, it was a reminder that the sellout streak goes back to the 2014-15 season. It’s now 107 consecutive sellouts at Amalie Arena–and (still) counting.

* First the good news. Attendance at USF home football games last season was up 41 percent. That was fourth best in the country. It comes with a winning season and top-20 national ranking.

Now for perspective. You only have huge percentage increases if you’re working from a modest base. For the Bulls, it was 26,500. It increased to 37,500.

Frankly, if USF replicates last season’s 11-2 record under new coach Charlie Strong, attendance should ratchet another 41 percent. At least.

I still go back to September 2007, when 67,000 packed RayJay to see USF defeat West Virginia. I was there. It was special. Average attendance that year was 53,000. It can be done.

* The Miami Marlins are having a 10-foot statue of the late Jose Fernandez made that they plan on placing outside Marlins Park. It will be finished in about six months.

That’s the call of owner Jeffrey Loria. Fernandez was a special talent, and in a relatively short time had become the face of the Marlins franchise.

But this also needs to be said. Loria should reconsider a larger-than-life statue of a person who negligently caused the deaths of three people.

* Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning are now early into their off-season of reflection and re-commitment after a disappointing, non-playoff season. But it was the season of blind-siding injuries that wreaked havoc with on-ice skill level and team continuity. It also saw an awkward goalie dynamic play out with the eventual, necessary trade of Ben Bishop.

Yet, somehow, this team finished with 94 points–only three fewer than last year, when it made it to game seven of the Eastern Conference final. Credit franchise depth for the contributions of all those unexpected replacements who were abruptly called up from Syracuse. (The Bolts were forced to use 37 different players in the lineup.) And there’s the continued development of Nikita Kucherov into a marquee player as well as the fast-forwarding young careers of future stars Jonathan Drouin, Brayden Point and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy

And credit head coach Jon Cooper for keeping it going through a strong finish. Plus kudos to the loud, interactive fan base: 19,092 every night. Our sports history is steeped in baseball and football. But this is a hockey town. Great facility, great location, great ownership–and great reminder of what it takes, regardless of sport.

* That well-noted, bottom-line comment by Brian Cashman, the New York Yankees’ general manager, was also a bit disingenuous. “Performance science is probably the next frontier,” he observed. “Managing the DL (Disabled List) costs and getting the most return on your investment is first and foremost.” He’s right, of course, but with an obscenely outsized payroll that is roughly three times that of the Tampa Bay Rays, he can still afford to overpay and write it off as the cost of doing business. And speaking of irony, how about “Cashman” as a Yankee GM?

* Remember when the Davis Cup was a big deal? Remember when American men’s tennis was a big deal?

* Florida Atlantic University made a commitment to go big time when it hired Lane Kiffin earlier this year as head football coach. Kiffin formerly coached the Oakland Raiders, the University of Tennessee and the University of Southern California. More recently he was offensive coordinator at Alabama. But Kiffin is also a big double-edged sword; he inevitably brings the baggage of controversy and fallout.

This  just  in: FAU, Kiffin and the state of Florida are now defendants in a fraud lawsuit. A former Alabama player alleges that Kiffin misled him to believe he had a job on the FAU staff in order to leverage his relationship with a recruit.

That didn’t take long.