While publicizing the ESPN coverage of the US Open that began yesterday, one of the talking hairdos there said that Torrey Pines would be the “epicenter of the sports world” for this weekend. The hyperbole doesn’t bother me but when you consider that Torrey Pines is in La Jolla and may straddle the San Andreas Fault, I think the writer might have chosen a better metaphor there.
ESPN and NBC – who will pick up coverage over the weekend – are taking advantage of the astronomical facts of life for this tournament. Since it is on the West Coast, they can play golf at normal times out there and extend coverage into prime time on the East Coast. In addition, the folks in the northern hemisphere are just about to come upon the longest day of the year meaning there is ample daylight for golf until about 11:00 PM EDT. Some golf snobs are unhappy that the television moguls are having such a large input into things like opening round pairings and tee times and the lengths of the rounds. The fact of the matter is that television is paying a tidy sum to put the US Open on the air and when any sporting event goes for “maximum dollars” they must submit to “lessening of control”. That is true even for golf…
Just in the first day’s coverage, I think I heard about Tiger Woods’ knee and its surgery six jillion times. If this keeps up, the American Society of Orthopedic Surgeons and every physical therapist in the US should give thanks to ESPN and NBC. There will be an awareness of the health of the human knee and the surgical/rehab regimens needed to maintain the health of the human knee as never existed before.
Memo to ESPN and NBC:
1. We know Tiger Woods had surgery on his knee in mid April.
2. We know that his surgeon did a fine job.
3. We know that Tiger Woods worked hard in rehab.
4. We know he did not play a round of competitive golf on that knee coming into the US Open.
5. If you MUST tell us something about Tiger Woods’ knee, can you work on it a bit and come up with something we don’t already know because you’ve already told us about it 39 times?
In the world of boxing, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. says he is retiring. Since he is only 31, Mayweather has at least another 6 years in which he can retire and “unretire” without having anyone bat an eye. After that, he can come out of retirement to pull down a payday about once every 12-15 months if he wants. I was not buying the “retirement angle” when I first heard it and then another shoe dropped to make me even more skeptical.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. reportedly will sign on with one of the “mixed martial arts” companies to the tune of $200M and a possible ownership share of the company. Excuse my cynicism here, but I have this strong inclination to believe that this $200M is about as real as the reported $250M that MLS led everyone to believe they would pay David Beckham to play soccer. That is not even close to correct and I suspect that the $200M that Mayweather will supposedly take down is not all cash money out of the exchequer of the mixed martial arts company.
The NBA has been trying to sell itself as a fan-friendly league for a while now. The following tidbits make you wonder if they actually know what the family fortunes of most of their fans might be. Prior to Game 4 of the Finals this year, Stubhub.com had courtside seats to the game on sale for $22,800 each. Normally these seats go for $3700 with another $200 on top of that for a pass to use the Valet Parking at the Staples Center. There was no mention about whether or not the Valet Parking pass was included in the Stubhub offering…
Any Lakers’ fan who ponied up that kind of bread for a courtside seat to Game 4 has to be seriously considering medication today. The Lakers led by 24 points in the first half of the game and led by as much as 20 points in the third quarter. Then the Celtics rallied and won. If the Lakers come back to win the championship after that loss – leaving them at a 1-3 deficit in the series – it will be the biggest comeback since Lazarus.
Up in Buffalo, there is a strange situation unfolding. Bills’ running back, Marshawn Lynch, is the subject of an investigation in a hit-and-run traffic accident. This is not like the time when Randy Moss nudged a traffic officer with his car; this is reportedly a full-blown hit-and-run accident involving a pedestrian. It happened in late May and the investigation continues. What is strange is that as of yesterday, Lynch had not spoken to the police about it. His lawyer has spoken to the police and his lawyer says that he and his client have cooperated with the investigation. Do not ask me to explain that one; it makes no sense to me either…
Now the District Attorney seems to be getting tired of all this and says he will issue subpoenas for three Bills’ players alleged to have been in the vehicle at the time of the accident if they do not cooperate with police and answer questions. Those subpoenas will compel grand jury testimony and I would think that the agents/lawyers who advise those other players would be able to communicate the problems that may arise from giving false testimony to a grand jury. Recent history should provide guidance in the cases of:
Jones, Marion
Bonds, Barry
Clinton, William
Nonetheless, I have come to realize that the capacity of athletes to receive bad advice and act on it and/or their ability to ignore good advice and do something counter-productive is virtually limitless. I have no idea what happened in that incident; but given the fact that the investigation has dragged on for a couple of weeks and that the DA is threatening to use his subpoena powers just to get to talk to witnesses makes me think this one is not headed to a happy ending.
The headline on a recent column by Charlie Walters in the St Paul Pioneer-Press was:
“Tarvaris Jackson improving as Minnesota Vikings quarterback, Matt Birk says”
To which I say:
I should hope so!
Finally, here is an observation from Greg Cote in the Miami Herald:
“Parting thought: Ever watched Jeremy Hermida try to play right field for the Marlins? It’s like watching a blind man try to catch a butterfly.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…