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Bar Chat

08/29/2022

Rory Rory Rory!

Add-on posted early Wed. a.m.

MLB

--The Mets opened a 3-game series at home against the Dodgers, Mets fans hoping for at least one win, and it was a poor start Tuesday in the opener, a 4-3 loss as former Met Jake Reed, released by the team earlier in the year, got his first major league save for L.A.  The Mets’ trade deadline DH duo of Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf, along with the other deadline pickup, outfielder Tyler Naquin, are killing us after all three got off to a fast start.

But the Mets (82-48) are still three games ahead of Atlanta (79-51), which fell to the pesky Rockies (56-74) 3-2 last night.

Back to the Dodgers, after starting out the season 45-28, they have gone a stupendous 45-10 since.

--After I wrote the Yankees had righted the ship with five straight after their worst stretch in years, they promptly lost three straight, Saturday, Sunday and Monday to the lowly A’s and Angles, including Monday night’s 4-3 loss in Anaheim.

Aaron Judge did club his 50th home run of the season Monday, but in his MVP showdown with Shohei Ohtani, Ohtani’s two-run homer, his 29th, was the difference maker for L.A.

For New York, Frankie Montas made his fifth start for the Yanks since being acquired from Oakland and he’s largely sucked (4 runs in six innings vs. the Angels).  Actually, a 7.01 ERA as a Yank.

The Yankees have lost 16 one-run games since June 19, tied for the most in that span with the Rangers, according to Stathead. Their lead in the AL East down to seven over the Rays.

New York did rebound Tuesday with a 7-4 win over L.A., Judge hitting No. 51, the Yanks avoiding a big loss when it appears starter Jameson Taillon suffered only a right forearm contusion after being drilled by a line drive in the second inning.  He might be able to keep his next start.

The Yanks (79-51) are four games back of the A.L.-leading Astros (83-47) for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

--Albert Pujols hit No. 694 Monday night in Cincinnati against Reds reliever Ross Detwiler, the 450th different pitcher, a big league record.  The Cards won it 13-4.

It was the eighth homer in August for Pujols, tying Barry Bonds (April 2007) and Carl Yastrzemski (July 1983) for the most in a single month by a player aged 42 or older.  Albert had just seven the first four months of the season.

He’s also now two homers behind Alex Rodriguez for fourth all time at 696.

--Since I’ve been on Patrick Corbin 20 losses watch, Sunday, Corbin was effective for a third straight start, six innings, 1 run, and getting the win, the Nationals besting the Reds 3-2.  Corbin is 5-17, his ERA down to 6.56!

But what made this rather startling was that it was the first time in 44 games that a Washington starting pitcher recorded a ‘W’!  [43 was easily a franchise record.]

--The Major League Baseball Players Association has sent out authorization cards to minor leaguers asking them to formally declare that they want the MLBPA to represent them.

“Everything we’ve achieved as an organization is tied to the players at that time being willing to stand for what they believed was right and fair,” Tony Clark, MLBPA executive director, said in a 4 ½-minute video message shared with minor-league players.

“That’s how this works.  That’s how it happens. And so the question becomes whether or not you as a part of this player group, at this time, are willing to take that stand.  If you do, the possibilities are endless.  If you don’t, it’s going to be remarkably difficult for any group of players that comes after you to make the decision at that time, in that climate, to unionize. I believe you are the right group. I believe you are the right players, and I believe that this is the right time.”

The MLBPA wants to use the authorization cards to demonstrate to the National Labor Relations Board that there is sufficient support for the MLBPA to represent them in any collective bargaining negotiations.

But while this is a lengthy process, it’s an important first step in addressing what everyone knows is a huge issue, the pathetic pay for the vast majority of minor leaguers.

Some players on 40-man rosters who play primarily on AA or AAA teams are counted as members of the MLBPA, but the vast majority of them are not.

Golf Balls

--The 9-event Fall season for the 2022-23 campaign begins in two weeks in Napa, Ca. 

Last year among the Fall winners was Max Homa, Sam Burns, Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory, and Viktor Hovland.  And two now LIV golfers, Talor Gooch and Jason Kokrak.

Of course going up against football isn’t easy, which is why they are all on Golf Channel.  But with a win and, say, a top five finish, you almost ensure qualifying for next year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, which will be limited to 70 golfers.

I covered in great detail all the changes the PGA Tour is making, at least those that we know of, and for now we’re all kind of running out of new things to say.

Cameron Young, who two weeks ago was rumored to be leaving the Tour for LIV Golf, only to have little talk of this last week during the playoffs, announced after Sunday’s round that he was staying on tour.

“I mean, frankly, I have decided to stay,” Young said.  “So, I don’t know, it’s a really difficult situation, because it’s not really anything anyone wanted to happen.  I think it wasn’t meant to be this hostile between the two.”

Young added that the recently announced changes for the 2023 PGA Tour season swayed him to stay.

“Frankly, throughout the whole process with (LIV Golf), I was very interested.  I think they have a bunch of good ideas and are doing some cool stuff,” Young said.  “With some of the changes coming (to the PGA Tour), that’s kind of what really helped me decide to kind of stay and pursue those goals that I have for myself like making a Presidents Cup team and a Ryder Cup team and winning a major, when all of that is just uncertain if you go.  It’s a tough place for me because, you know, I’m very young and there are a lot of factors.”

--Rory McIlroy noted after his win Sunday how he never led the tournament until making a 7-footer for par on the 16th hole – the 70th hole of the tournament.

“On the 70th hole is a nice time to take the lead of a golf tournament,” McIlroy said.  “Or the 52nd hole if you play somewhere else.”

I didn’t note this Sunday, but for the record, Rory’s third win of the season brings his PGA Tour victory total to 23.

--So now the likes of Rory are heading to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, England, next week, the DP World Tour’s flagship tournament, and there are likely to be up to 18 LIV golfers (who hold their fourth event this weekend in Boston) at the BMW, which is going to be most uncomfortable for a lot of folks, including Rory, Matt Fitzpatrick, Billy Horschel (defending champ), and all the LIV golfers, who have not been prevented as yet from competing in DP World Tour events…critical for them as it’s the only way for them to accumulate World Golf Ranking points…and qualify for majors (such as being in the World Top 60, a standard cutoff).

Rory said of the problems with LIV in attendance at the BMW: “If you believe in something I think you have to speak up, and I believe very strongly about this.  I really do,” he said.  “I hate what it’s doing to the game of golf.  I hate it.  I really do.  Like it’s going to be hard for me to stomach going to Wentworth and seeing 18 of them there.  That just doesn’t sit right with me.

“So yea, I feel strong.  I believe what I’m saying are the right things, and I think when you believe that what you’re saying is the right things, you’re happy to stick your neck out on the line.”

--Bob Harig / SI.com

“Phil Mickelson’s last appearance at East Lake for the Tour Championship was four years ago, and given how things have transpired, he will probably never be back.

“But he was on plenty of minds this week at the season-ending Tour Championship, especially in light of what went down prior to the tournament, when commissioner Jay Monahan announced some sweeping changes that will see a significant increase in prize money going forward along with the top players in the game coming together more often.

“Sound familiar?

“While many of the words that caused Mickelson considerable grief back in February were viewed as harsh – and caused him to go into exile for four months – there is a sense that his underlying message was heard.

“Vindication is likely too strong a word to characterize how this went down, but Mickelson might be sitting somewhere nodding his head and saying, ‘What took you so long?’

“When you get past the rhetoric associated with his ‘obnoxious greed’ comments concerning the PGA Tour and his belief about using the LIV Golf League as leverage to extract more from the PGA Tour, you are left with a couple of truths.

“Mickelson has long believed that the star players are not compensated in relation to their worth; that there are too many tournaments and that the big names should play together more often; and that the PGA Tour was sitting on a pile of money that should be going to the players.

“While his complaints about not getting to own his media rights were off-base – no sports league grants that to players, otherwise television rights fees and marketing agreements would prove to be far less valuable – he seemingly had a point as it related to other issues.

“ ‘He probably didn’t communicate it very well,’ said PGA Tour veteran Adam Scott of Mickelson.  ‘I think the hardest thing for the Tour is it’s trying to be all things to all people.  It’s a very, very hard thing to do.  It’s impossible to please everybody.  They certainly can’t have everybody happy, but you’ve got to please someone.

“ ‘And I think that’s kind of what Phil might have been trying to say. He’s been on Tour a long time and maybe he felt that strongly about it.  With all of the things going on, I think it’s fair to say that the balance of the pro game was a little bit out of shape.  Hopefully these are steps to get the balance.’….

“(Scott added): ‘With no ill feeling to anyone.  I think our product has been diluted.  Our players were spread thin.  And that’s changing, hopefully, that’s been identified and rectified. And it’ll be good if the market responds and hopefully that is what they want to see.’

“Billy Horschel has been a harsh critic of LIV Golf and was not willing to go so far as to give Mickelson and LIV Golf credit.  ‘When I heard that, it irked me a little bit,’ he said.

“Horschel noted that Mickelson was not the only player ‘on his high horse’ about seeking change for the Tour.

“ ‘There has been a lot of talk among the top players over the past few years about what they would like the future model to look like,’ he said.  ‘It just allowed everything to speed along a little bit.

“ ‘I have tremendous respect for Phil but I can’t give him credit for what our product looks like.  I give credit to the entirety of the PGA Tour, and finally, all of the players getting together and deciding what we wanted and giving them a blueprint of what it should look like and how it should go.’

“No matter where you stand on the issue of LIV Golf and all of its disruption, it happened, in part for some of the reasons Mickelson – and others – outlined: The lack of guaranteed compensation in golf as well as the notion that stars were underpaid.

“LIV went off the charts with its commitment to such efforts.  The PGA Tour has responded with more modest but certainly not inconsequential upgrades.

“The PGA Tour’s season is complete, with the next event not for another three weeks to kick off the last wraparound schedule.

“LIV Golf resumes this week….

“And the debate will continue.”

Commissioner Jay Monahan’s announcement that the top players will be required to play all of the “elevated” events and 20 total in order to be considered for the lucrative Player Impact Program surprised some of the Euro players, like Jon Rahm, though he was at the players only meeting in Delaware that helped lead to this change.

Actually, as Bob Harig points out, with the Scottish Open being a dual PGA/DP event, the BMW, and just two other Euro related events, Rahm and his ilk fulfill their obligation.  As in 23 events worldwide over a year.  In 2019, Rahm played in 25.

--As Eamon Lunch wrote in Golfweek: “Somewhere in Greg Norman’s conscience (stifle thy snorts!) he must dread a day when the Crown Prince Googles the achievements of the players for whom he is paying spectacularly over market value.”

Speaking of which, yes, it’s a major disappointment that Cam Smith left the PGA Tour for LIV.  He’s a good guy, highly likable, a probable star winning 4 or 5 majors the next decade, at least.  He’s soft-spoken but has charisma in his own unique way.  He’s the assassin out on the course.

But I wrote long ago we knew we were in trouble with Cam when he commented that he was leaving things up to his managers, guys basically his age who are licking their chops over a huge management fee.  You can see it.  Cam would make a fortune under the new PGA Tour setup.

But he told Golf Digest Tuesday that another reason why he is joining LIV, aside from the money, is he wants to spend more time in his native Australia, and he’d probably get a chance to host an event Down Under.

Smith also said he loves team golf, and it’s something “I wish I could have more often.”  But in signing up for LIV he just forfeited his spot on the international team in the upcoming Presidents Cup.

Meanwhile, Joaquin Niemann is another good guy with charisma and talent.  As I said last time, I’m just disappointed.

As for the others…Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale, Anirban Lahiri and Harold Varner III, these are the folks Eamon Lynch is referring to in his quote.  Like Whoopty-damn-do.  And Varner really is an idiot for making the move.  He could have easily been in the top 20 players in the PIP program, even without winning!  He’ll end up giving up gobs of money and have zero legacy.

Yet Tuesday, Varner told Golf Digest it was all about the money.  Yeah, he won’t have to earn it, for however long his contract is for.  And he talked about his Foundation.  Whatever.

Back to Smith, a lot of the remaining stars on Tour are thinking like Adam Scott.  “He’s a good mate of mine.  I play a lot of practice rounds with Cam.  I’ll miss out on that.  It’s one less good player that I have to beat, though.”

I’m frankly surprised Scott himself is still with the Tour.  

--In case you were wondering the source of my vitriol against attorney Larry Klayman last time, he’s defending Patrick Reed in his defamation suit against Golf Channel and Brandel Chamblee.

The same Larry Klayman who back in February tweeted: “Brandon [sic] Chamblee of Golf Channel and Others Have It Right: Don’t Sell Your Soul to the Murderous Saudi Regime Which Gave Us September 11!  There Is No Justification to Get Into Bed With the Saudis Other Than Pure Greed!”

NFL

--What a near tragedy we had in Washington, D.C., as Commanders rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. sustained multiple gunshot wounds in an attempted carjacking/robbery in the city.  He was then released from the hospital on Monday and was included on the team’s 53-man roster, which Coach Ron Rivera said gives the Commanders more time to get the doctors’ opinions.

Robinson was shot in his knee and glute area.  The bullet apparently went through the knee but did not damage any ligaments.  We’ll see.

College Football

The season kicks off in earnest this weekend.

But first on Thursday we have West Virginia at 17 Pitt, and Penn State at Purdue.  Wake Forest fans are eagerly awaiting our opener that night against VMI to see if our new starting quarterback, Mitch Griffis, has the potential to fill in for Sam Hartman (until Hartman can return, whenever that is).

Then Saturday…11 Oregon at 3 Georgia in Atlanta; 23 Cincinnati at 19 Arkansas; and a huge one, 5 Notre Dame at 2 Ohio State.  7 Utah at Florida is also intriguing.

U.S. Open

--I watched along with a lot of you I’m sure Monday night as Serena Williams overcame the emotions, and early nerves of her last U.S. Open to prevail over Danka Kovinic of Montenegro, 6-3, 6-3.  It was a celebrity-packed capacity crowd, Bill Clinton getting it on with Dr. Ruth (or so it seemed…rather creepy).

So it’s on to Wednesday against No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.

--Meanwhile, Tuesday night, Emma Raducanu, who made a dream run to the U.S. Open title last year, was shocked in her first-round match, 6-3, 6-3 by Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

And Naomi Osaka lost late last night, falling 7-6, 6-3 to late-blooming American Danielle Collins. Collins, 28 and the 19-seed, made it to the finals of the Australian Open in January.

--Rafael Nadal won his first-round match, not that easily, against wild card Rinky Hijikata of Australia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.

Stuff

--Last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Daytona, the last to decide all the playoff spots, was truly a mess.  It was slated for Saturday night, rained out, they started Sunday morning, I was watching, rains came, lots of accidents, long delays, and with three laps to go on the last restart, Austin Dillon avoided a final massive wreck to win it.

But along with Dillon, Ryan Blaney grabbed the last of the 16 slots for the 10-race playoffs that start this weekend at Darlington, edging out Martin Truex Jr.

A disappointed Truex said after: “We gave away plenty of points throughout the season.  It is what it is.”

--Looks like the Knicks, according to ESPN, are finalizing a four-year, $120 million contract extension for RJ Barrett, which is less than the rookie max extension of five years, $185 million, that the Knicks were not about to cough up.

There had been talk Barrett was going to be part of a deal for Utah star guard Donovan Mitchell, who all Knicks fans, and Mitchell himself, would love to see make his home at the Garden.

So does this mean the Knicks won’t get Mitchell?  Not necessarily.  The New York Post said New York is the only place Mitchell can go now and the Jazz are after four unprotected draft picks the Knicks cold offer.

--After just four games of the Premier League season, Scott Parker was sacked as manager of Bournemouth after the disastrous 9-0 loss to Liverpool the other day.

--Follow-up…the ‘fan’ at the Duke-BYU women’s volleyball match in Provo last week who yelled a series of racial slurs at Duke’s Rachel Richardson was not a BYU student, but was sitting in the student section.  

Richardson praised BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe, who she said came to talk with her at the team’s hotel the next morning.

“One thing I can say is he’s probably one of the most genuine people that I’ve ever met,” she said.  “I very much so felt heard and felt seen during that conversation.

“I could see like how sorry he was and honestly shocked that it happened,” Richardson said in an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

Seems to me Richardson handled the situation perfectly.  She’ll go far in life.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted early Sunday p.m.]

College Football Quiz: Name the only five in CFB history to throw for 15,000 yards.  Here are the initials…not necessarily in order.  L.J., T.D., C.K., T.C., G.H. Answer below.

MLB

--The Mets after losing two to the Yankees this week, had four games with the Rockies at Citi Field, before the Dodgers come into town. The Braves were continuing to breathe down the Mets’ necks, the lead 1 ½ games entering Thursday’s Rockies-Mets contest.

And the Mets proceeded to take care of business the first three, winning 3-1, 7-6, and 3-0. 

In the opener, Jacob deGrom threw six innings, one run, 9 Ks, but while improving to 3-1, 2.15, he did not good dominant.  Mets fans will, however, take this every day the rest of the season.

The Mets had a stirring come-from-behind, ninth-inning walk-off win Friday on a Pete Alonso single.

And then yesterday, the game was almost secondary to the events of hours earlier…the Mets’ first Old-Timers Day since 1994!

Owner Steve Cohen has hit all the right notes since taking over the from the hated Wilpons.  First and foremost, Cohen is a passionate Mets fan, which the Wilpons never were.  [Ed. they were Dodgers fans, due to Fred’s connection to Sandy Koufax.]

Second, Cohen has been a highly successful investor and he just gets it.  So he’s made it a point to make sure fans, and former players, feel like they are part of an historic franchise, which is what the Mets are, for all the bad times, and it was terrific to see three players from the original 1962 Mets take the field.  Sixty-five former players and managers from every era were in attendance.  Just very cool, and frankly, touching.

And as things were wrapping up, the Mets announced they were fulfilling the dreams of Joan Payson, the team’s original owner and co-founder who was both instrumental in bringing National League baseball back to New York, but also having all-time New York / San Francisco Giants star Willie Mays back to play his final games as a Met.

Payson’s wish was to retire Mays’ No. 24, and all of us were shocked this was then announced yesterday.

Mays, 91, was unable to attend but sent a statement that read in part:

“The Mets retiring my number? Number 24?  Man, that’s the best.

“You might lose a lot of details after so many years, but what I can never forget is the way it felt to be back in New York City playing for the fans.  Mets fans are loyal.  Mets fans are passionate.  Mets fans are loud….

“I want to thank Steve and Alex Cohen for making this day possible and embracing Mets history.  New York was a magical place to play baseball.”

Watching, I have to admit I shed a tear.  A super gesture for one of the greats of the game in his waning years.

Our Uncle Stevie is the most popular New York sports figure in town, at least for the day.  I mean you never heard such ovations for a sports team owner as we heard at Citi Field yesterday.

“These are simple things.  I think the fans just want to know you care, and want to know that ownership is listening. That’s all I’m trying to do,” Cohen said.  “I’m doing this for the fans, and so I’m listening to what they have to say. I don’t always have to agree, right, but it’s important to me to know what they’re thinking and it’s important to me that they know that I care.”

I also can’t help but add a lot has been made of Mays’ final two seasons at Shea, of him fumbling and bumbling and his story is always brought up when other sports stars seemingly refuse to exit the stage gracefully.

But as I’ve noted many a time, I was in the stands in 1972 when Willie homered in his first game as a Met, and for crying out loud, the guy had a .402 OBP that season in 195 at-bats, hitting .267.  He was fine.  1973, though, he was finished, yet he had big RBIs in both the NLCS and World Series.

Anyway, looking for the 4-game sweep this afternoon, the Mets’ bats were limp against German Marquez and the pen…just 3 hits…Marquez seven innings, one hit…outdueling Max Scherzer, seven innings, one run, and the Metropolitans lost it 1-0.

--The Braves and Cardinals play tonight, the Mets having caught a break Saturday when St. Louis rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth off Atlanta closer Kenley Janesen for a 6-5 win, the Mets lead 3 games, but then they lost today.  So it could be 2 after tonight.

--The Yankees righted the ship, winning five straight, including Friday night in Oakland as Aaron Judge hit No. 49 for all three runs in a 3-2 win over the A’s. Gerrit Cole was strong over 7 1/3, 1 earned, 11 Ks, as he moved to 10-6, 3.31.

But Saturday night, New York fell 3-2 in 11, Oakland’s Adam Oller and the bullpen holding the Yanks to one hit for the game, Oller going eight innings, allowing just the hit and a walk.

The Yanks, though, also had to put reliever Aroldis Chapman on the 15-day injured list for a “pretty bad infection,” in the words of manager Aaron Boone…as in an infection to his leg  arising from a new tattoo!  What a freakin’ jerk.  It sounds awful…everyone around the team using words like “severe” and “significant.”

Chapman, who had lost his closer job to Clay Holmes, had been doing well of late, holding opposing hitters to a .164 batting average (9-for-55) in his last 19 appearances.

--Last week the Dodgers roughed up Marlins ace Sandy Alcantera with six runs on 10 hits in just 3 2/3 in a 10-3 loss in Los Angeles.

Last night in Miami, Alcantera got his revenge, throwing a complete game in a 2-1 win, Alcantera now 12-6, 2.13.

The Dodgers took comfort, though, in Dustin May’s performance.  In his second start back from Tommy John surgery, he yielded two runs in six innings, 86 pitches, as it’s clear he could be a real force in the playoffs.

L.A. also received good news in that Clayton Kershaw threw a four-inning simulated game Saturday, lining him up to return to the Dodgers’ rotation Thursday or Friday.

--The Mariners and star rookie Julio Rodriguez are finalizing a massive long-term extension that, for starters, is for $120 million through the 2029 season.  But following the 2028 season, Seattle can exercise an option for an additional eight or 10 years, depending on where Rodriguez finishes in MVP voting in the preceding seasons.

If the Mariners turn down the option, J-Rod can exercise a five-year, $90 million player option after the 2029 season or hit free agency just shy of his 30th birthday.

Bottom line, if Rodriguez maxes out his MVP escalators, the total value of the deal could be $470 million through 2039, or 15 years after I die.  [This is the way you have to look at these things, kids.  You’ll figure it out when you get older.]

Now we haven’t seen what exactly the escalators are, but bottom line, it could be a team friendly deal through 2029.

The $470 million number, however, will be used by Shohei Ohtani (free agent after 2023) and Juan Soto (after 2024 season) in their negotiations.

[Ohtani threw seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win over Toronto on Saturday, moving to 11-8, 2.67.  At the plate, 27 home runs, 75 RBI, .861 OPS.]

--It took a while…a month…but the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card with a 9.5 grade from grader SGC – the “finest known example” of a 1952 Topps Mantle – sold with Heritage Auctions for $12.6 million including buyer’s premium.  It’s the most ever paid for any sports item, card or memorabilia.

The previous record for a sports card was $7.25 million, set earlier this month by a T206 Honus Wagner card.

It’s a pretty amazing story.  To shorten it, Alan Rosen, known as “Mr. Mint” in the card business way back, found out about a man in Quincy, Mass., who had inherited a home from his father and in the attic was a 1952 Topps set, lots of Topps cards, including “dozens of Mantles.”

Rosen was prepared for the find and paid out $125,000 in cash to the man for all the cards…5,500 1952 Topps cards, including all those Mantles.

That was 1986.  In 1991, Rosen sold one of those ungraded Mantles for $50,000.  For 31 years, the buyer was anonymous and finally, Anthony Giordano’s sons convinced him to step forward, get the card graded and part with his beloved Mantle.

It’s this card that went for $12.6 million, in no small part because of the well-documented provenance from the most storied find in hobby history.

Rosen died in 2017, with Beckett Media calling him “bigger than the hobby.”

Golf Balls

--Scottie Scheffler started off as the No. 1 seed for The Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, Ga., and after two rounds he was still first, gunning for the $18 million bonus going to the FedEx Cup title winner.

Having started out at -10 for having the first seed, after 36 holes, Scheffler was at -19.

Scheffler -19…65-66 on the par-70 course
Xander Schauffele -17…66-63, having been seeded fourth (-6)
Jon Rahm -13…67-63, having started at -3.

Weather interfered Saturday and they had to finish up the third round Sunday morning and it was still Scheffler on top.

Scheffler -23
Rory McIlroy -17
Schauffele -17
Sungjae Im -16
Patrick Cantlay -16
Justin Thomas -15

Tons of money on the line beyond the first-place haul.

And wow, what a start we had…after seven holes…

Scheffler -20…+3
McIlroy -20…-3
Im -19…-3

A six-shot swing in seven holes, and after Rory bogeyed the first.

After twelve holes….

Scheffler -21
McIlroy -21
Im -20

Im then double-bogeyed 14, but birdied 15.

Rory bogeyed the long par-4 14th after a poor approach shot.  Scheffler a solid 2-putt for the par.

Scheffler -21 thru 14
McIlroy -20…14
Im -19…15

But Rory with a spectacular birdie putt on 15…Scheffler pars it.

McIlroy -21
Scheffler -21
Im -19…thru 16

Rory and Scheffler then hit poor approach shots on the par-4 16th.  But Scheffler’s is worse.

And their approach shots aren’t good.  Scheffler in the greenside bunker, Rory flying it over.

But Rory huge up and down for par, Scheffler bogeys it.

McIlroy -21 thru 16
Scheffler -20…16
Im -20…17

On to the par-4 17th…both in the fairway, Scheffler’s short of Rory’s, and Scottie hits a terrific shot, better than Rory’s approach…both on the green.

But both only par it…Im then just pars the 18th, an easy par-5.

Scheffler and Rory then hit their tee shots on No. 18 in the fairway, an accessible second shot.

And both hit poor second shots!  Holy Toledo!

But Rory just needs to par and force Scheffler to birdie.  Scheffler is in the bunker, Rory in the rough.

Scheffler goes first and hits a very poor shot over the green.  Rory just needs to get on the green.

And Rory gets the par, ditto Scheffler.

Rory McIlroy the winner in a tumultuous triumph!!!  Forget that he wins the FedEx Cup a third time…and $18 million…it is a win for the PGA Tour.

Unreal.  Suck it up, Greg Norman, and your band of Saudi losers.  By the way, I can’t write what I just did in Saudi Arabia.  I’d be put in jail!  Maybe executed!  Do people understand that?! 

Salma al-Shehab, a 34-year-old mother of two, was jailed about two weeks ago for 34 years for her social media activity.  She was a PhD student at Leeds University in 2020 and 2021, during which time she tweeted in support of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, including the high-profile case of Loujain al-Hathloul, who spent three years in prison for leading a campaign to allow women to drive.

We know this is Saudi Arabia. 

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--With the regular season over, all eyes are indeed on LIV Golf and their expected announcement of other golfers jumping ship, including Cam Smith.  Mark Leishman, Harold Varner III, Joaquin Niemann, Anirban Lahiri and Cameron Tringale are also expected to compete in next week’s LIV event in Boston.

Obviously, Smith’s departure would hurt a lot.  I’m disappointed in Niemann, if he chooses that path.  The others?  Who gives a damn?  Varner would truly be an idiot.  Fine, get your money. What’s your legacy.  Right now, your legacy is you can’t win on the PGA Tour!

Nothing on Hideki Matsuyama of certainty, yet.  That would also hurt.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have reportedly been served subpoenas as attorney Larry Klayman (an amazing piece of shit), the lawyer who filed lawsuits against Golf Channel and Brandel Chamblee on behalf of Patrick Reed, seeking $750 million in damages, attempts to bring the superstars to court to testify about the players-only meeting that took place during the week of the BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware.

Klayman claims the meeting was “anticompetitive and violative of the antitrust laws vis a vis the LIV Golf Tour and its players,” and that the changes the PGA Tour revealed Wednesday are an attempt to “emulate LIV Golf, while continuing to allegedly harm LIV and its players by, among other alleged anticompetitive acts, working to deny them world ranking points to compete in major tournaments such as the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.”

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has been subpoenaed as well.

All three are to appear in court over the period Sept. 21-27.

Klayman said in a statement:

“This is not a personal ‘thing’ against Woods, McIlroy and Monahan, it’s about getting information about what occurred at the players’ meeting and generally with regard to allegations in our complaint that the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and their commissioners Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley, are allegedly colluding in restraint of trade and the antitrust laws to harm the LIV Golf Tour and its players.”

Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak, two new LIV golfers, dropped out of the complaint on Friday, joining Carlos Ortiz and Pat Perez, who also bagged out of the antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour.

But in the face of LIV Golf luring away more golfers, Commissioner Monahan, speaking Wednesday at the Tour Championship, revealed a series of significant changes to the tour’s ecosystem.  Having previously committed to eight “elevated” events in 2023 with purses in the $15 million to $20 million range, the tour will add four more to the 2023 schedule, the specific events still to be determined but each increasing its overall prize money payouts to $20 million.  This is in addition to the four majors and the Players Championship.  Top players will also play three other tour events of their choosing, thus committing them to a 20 event minimum schedule, with all of them playing in up to 17 of the same events.

The eight previously announced elevated events include the three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Dell Match Play and the Memorial.

Monahan also announced on Wednesday that there would be changes to the Player Impact Program (PIP), notably a doubling of the payouts ($50 million to $100 million) and the number of players being recognized (10 to 20), as well as the changes to the formula used to determine the ranking.

On the other end of the spectrum for its members, the tour is creating an Earnings Assurance Program, which will guarantee all exempt PGA Tour players who play at least 15 events will be paid a minimum of $500,000 for the season regardless of whether they earn that much in tournament prize money.

So with the changes, the tour can count on its biggest stars playing together more frequently.

Rory McIlroy, part of a players only meeting of 24 of the top players the other week with Tiger Woods, said the PGA Tour being comprised of individual stars setting their own schedules was no longer viable or entertaining.  “I think today was a great step in the right direction,” he said.  “I think if you’re trying to sell a product to TV and to sponsors and to try to get as many eyeballs on professional golf as possible, you need to at least let people know what they’re tuning in for.

“When I tune into a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, I expect to see Tom Brady throw a football. When I tune into a Formula 1 race I expect to see Lewis Hamilton in a car. Sometimes what’s happened on the PGA Tour is we all act independently and we sort of have our own schedules, and that means that we never really get together all that often.”

At the same time, the creation of the Earnings Assurance Program looks out for rising talent.  For rookies and returning members, the $500,000 will be given up front, with earnings drawn against the cash advance.  Players who fail to earn $500,000 will be paid the difference by the tour.

The final change Monahan announced was a travel stipend of $5,000 paid for each missed cut to non-exempt PGA Tour members in the 126-150 category.

Jordan Spieth said: “Most importantly, I think players coming together to continue to want to make the PGA Tour better is really the silver lining here.  I think we all wanted to make the product better, so we wanted to get together to do that with Tiger and Rory helping run the show, and I thought it was really great.  I listened to Jay’s remarks, and I feel like the PGA Tour has a lot of momentum right now.”

Eamon Lynch / Golfweek

“A little more than six months elapsed between Phil Mickelson boasting that players had ‘leverage’ over the PGA tour and the revelation on Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club that proved the greatest leverage belonged to those who remained, whose loyalty increased in value as the pace of defections to the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series quickened.

“As PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan fought to ring-fence and then rally his troops in an effort to destroy the evil empire’s (or kingdom’s) Death Star, the price of player loyalty grew exponentially. The final bill he received isn’t cheap, but still represents helluva value given the alternative he faced.

“For not much more commitment, top players receive a lot more reward: significantly increased purses, often fewer guys to beat for the money, enormous bonus programs not dependent on performance, and an opportunity to benefit from the substantial adjacent wealth surrounding golf, owning equity in the innovative digital stadium concept announced by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy….

“Wednesday showed that the Tour’s biggest names have cemented their position atop the food chain.

“ ‘We all sort of are our own little independent businesses and we sort of try to compete against each other, and I think this is the first time in a long time where we sort of all sat down and were like, let’s try to be business partners,’ McIlroy said.  ‘How can we all pull in the same direction here to benefit everyone and to help the entire Tour and to help each other basically.’

“As with any workplace, the Tour has always had a schism between the Have Nots and the Have Yachts, with each camp routinely grumbling that money headed in the other direction ought by rights be coming to them instead. The new future that Monahan outlined won’t do much to heal the divide….

“But Wednesday’s unveiling was a long-overdue acknowledgement by the PGA Tour that its business cannot be based on mollifying a swath of members who are well-compensated for comparative mediocrity.  Every major sports league is built around the stars who drive engagement and revenue.  Fans and sponsors expect it.  The PGA Tour is finally moving to guarantee the product it provides both.

“There will be griping about the new dispensation, of course, some of it defensible.  It creates a caste system of tournaments as those not elevated to star status struggle to draw compelling fields.  Using the controversial Player Impact Program to define ‘top’ players eligible for lucrative events throws a lifeline to struggling fan favorites (like Rickie Fowler) that other criteria – the world golf ranking – would not….

“But the gravy doesn’t drip down to the developmental Korn Ferry Tour, the chief pathway to the main circuit.  Nor was there news about fast tracking top amateurs onto the Tour.  That leaves an opening for LIV to grab the rising talent pipeline, but that would require a strategy of developing talent rather than paying a premium for established stars. There’s no real evidence of that long-term game plan from LIV.”

Yes, there are serious issues remaining.  No. 1, what happens to the other tournaments, like a Honda Classic, or the Valspar Championship?  We’ll see.

And how does this impact the European/DP World Tour.  Many of the Euro stars, such as Jon Rahm, are already voicing concerns that the 17 events they need to play in limits their opportunities to qualify for the Ryder Cup through the DP World Tour rankings.  Much will be said about this with the upcoming BMW Championship in two weeks, the richest event on the Euro Tour.  LIV Golf players will be competing in it, but are being fined, supposedly, for competing at Wentworth.

You’ll also hear more about the Player Impact Program (PIP) going forward which is critical to identifying the “top” players.  Among the factors going into the grading system will be internet searches, general awareness, golf fan awareness, media mentions and broadcast exposure.  The social media component is being eliminated.

Understand a player is only obligated to play 20 events (and the 17 mandatory ones), if they want to be part of the PIP.  You might say, who wouldn’t want to be, but those wanting to limit their schedules some will still be able to, and we have no idea how Jay Monahan and Crew are going to handle inevitable injuries…which has long been my question for LIV Golf.  You think Brooks Koepka is going to stay healthy?

Meanwhile, the calendar-year schedule starts in 2024, consisting of 34 full-points events from January through August, starting with the Sentry Tournament of Champions and ending with the Tour Championship.

What we do know is that we will have a season-long scramble to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which are going to be limited to the top 70 (as of 2023), not top 125 as is the case today.  Three events.  70 to 50.  50 to 30. Final 30.  No doubt the big 17 events will have more points than the others.  But that won’t make the others meaningless in any respect.  The next Tom Hoges and Scottie Schefflers will emerge from them.

And think of how important the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the playoffs, will become.

As for the new fall schedules (2023 on…), those tournaments will be for shaping who retains or obtains a Tour card.  The 70 players who qualify for the playoffs will be fully exempt for the following season, but then the fall will be used to determine who else (up to 125) gets status for 2024. The top 70 can still compete in these events as well.

THIS FALL, though, there are nine events, like in the past, that qualify for FedEx Cup points for the 2023 playoffs.

--Lee Westwood had a laugh at the major changes the PGA Tour announced in response to LIV Golf, calling many who ripped the rival league “hypocrites.”

Westwood – one of the defectors to LIV – said the PGA Tour is now using many of the same ideas of the new tour.

“It’s just a copy of what LIV is doing. There are a lot of hypocrites out there. They all say LIV is not competitive. They all point at the no-cut aspect of LIV and the short fields.”

“Now, funnily enough, they are proposing 20 events that look a lot like LIV,” the 49-year-old Westwood, who is incapable of winning on the PGA Tour said.  “Hopefully, at some point they will all choke on their words. And hopefully, they will be held to account as we were in the early days.”

Ah, Lee?  There remains a massive difference between the two tours. Most PGA Tour tournaments are 72 holes and have 36-hole cuts; whereas LIV exhibitions are 54 holes with no cuts, which remains the biggest reason why LIV Golf will not receive World Golf Ranking Points.

College Football

--Florida A&M was guaranteed $450,000 to play ‘Washington Generals’ to North Carolina on Saturday, A&M without 20 ineligible players, down to only seven offensive linemen.

The school was going to back out of the game, but Rattlers coach Willie Simmons said in a statement:

“The players didn’t feel comfortable playing under those conditions and they are all understandably frustrated with many of our internal processes in the certification process, so they decided not to play,” Simmons’ statement said.  “After a few more discussions with university leadership, including the president of the university, the players ultimately decided to play the game.  I support these young men 100% in whatever they decide and I’m extremely proud of them for advocating for themselves!”

So it seems as if there are some academic issues for A&M, or worse, as well as injuries, and how would they do against the Tar Heels?

Pretty well, all things considered.  The Rattlers (awesome name) trailed 28-14 at the half and just 35-24 after three, before Carolina ran away with it in the fourth, 56-24, quarterback Drake Maye with five touchdown passes.

In the other games in a limited schedule without a top 25 team on the field, you had stuff like Florida State beating Duquesne, 47-7.  I have to confess, I forgot Duquesne had a football team!

But in the lone game that kind of, sort of, mattered, first off, Nebraska’s Scott Frost should have been fired long ago…but now he really should after one of the true bone head calls in recent memory.

Playing in Dublin, Ireland, Frost’s Cornhuskers were up 28-17 on Northwestern when he ordered an onsides kick and it didn’t work.

“You’ve got to win in this business to keep your job,” Frost said after.  “That’s the way it is. I love the state of Nebraska. I love these fans that sacrificed to come over here.  We’ve got to get this turned around,” addressing the overall seven-game losing streak.

True, you wouldn’t necessarily expect Northwestern, 12-point underdogs, to score the final 14 points unanswered, but stupid, stupid, stupid.

NFL

--The season is two weeks away and the last thing you want are key injuries and the Panthers lost quarterback Sam Darnold to a severe high ankle sprain in their preseason game against the Bills Friday night.

Carolina had already given the starting job to Baker Mayfield, but Darnold is a good guy and will be a good teammate / sounding board for Baker.  He’s probably out six weeks.

--Tom Brady played well in his return from an 11-day absence tending to what have been described as “personal matters,” Brady 6-of-8 passing in a 27-10 Bucs loss to the Colts.

“It’s all personal. Everyone’s got different situations they’re dealing with,” Brady said.  “We all have really unique challenges to our life.  I’m 45 years old, man.  There’s a lot of shit going on.  Just gotta try to figure out life the best you can.  It’s a continuous process.”

When asked if he was able to address the issues he needed to address during his time away, and if he is in a better place now, Brady said, “I’m ready to go.”

Brady denied knowing about all the tampering issues surrounding other teams trying to acquire his services, but I now believe the stories that he has a serious business issue.  Don’t be survived if it rears up as the season goes along.  Just a guess.

--Just what the NFL didn’t need. Another high-profile sexual assault case.  After dealing with Deshaun Watson in an unsatisfactory way to all but Watson and the Cleveland Browns, now it’s about Buffalo Bills rookie punter Matt Araiza, already anointed a star for his booming kicks, and a rape allegation against him going back to his days at San Diego State.

Nancy Armour / USA TODAY

“The Buffalo Bills say they conducted a ‘thorough examination’ into gang rape allegations against rookie punter Matt Araiza, so everything is fine and everyone can relax.

“Because NFL teams have such a great track record of taking violence against women seriously.  Especially when it involves players they think can help their team.

“As more details came out Friday, with the attorney for the girl who is suing Araiza and two other former San Diego State football players for rape, gender violence and false imprisonment saying the Bills didn’t talk to him as part of their ‘examination,’ it’s clear that whatever the team did was neither thorough nor an actual examination.

“ ‘I mean, you can’t investigate when you don’t even ask the primary witness what happened,’ Dan Gilleon, the girl’s attorney, told USA TODAY Sports on Friday.

“More likely, the Bills started and stopped with the date when the then-17-year-old girl said the assault occurred.  Because she said in her lawsuit that it took place during a Halloween party last October, when Araiza was still at San Diego State, it doesn’t fall under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

“Which means Buffalo’s ‘examination’ probably went something like this:

“ ‘So the NFL can’t suspend him because it happened before he was in the league, right?’

“ ‘Right.’

“ ‘OK. Matt, any of this true?’

“ ‘Nope.’

“ ‘All righty then, we’re good!’

“No doubt the Bills will take exception to this characterization.  But the circumstances of this look as shady as the ‘examinations’ the New York Giants and Chicago Bears did of domestic abuse allegations against Josh Brown and Ray McDonald, respectively, to say nothing of the ‘tremendous amount of time’ the Cleveland Browns spent vetting Deshaun Watson.

“We all know how well those turned out.

“Contrary to the claim by Araiza’s attorney that this is a ‘shakedown’ because Araiza is an NFL player, the girl immediately told her friends she’d been gang raped.  She reported it to police the following day, had a rape kit done and participated in phone calls with the men she believed assaulted her to help detectives gather information.

“This might explain why Araiza, a unanimous All-American last season who has been dubbed ‘The Punt God,’ dropped in the NFL draft, not taken until the sixth round.

“But even if the Bills weren’t aware of the allegations when Araiza was drafted – their statement Thursday night was crafty, saying they ‘were only recently made aware of a civil complaint’ – the girl’s attorney told USA TODAY Sports on Friday that he’d reached out to the Bills almost a month ago.

“Dan Gilleon said he sent assistant general counsel Kathryn D’Angelo an email on July 31, then talked with her by phone the next day.

“ ‘She said she would get back to me and she never did.  And then I followed up with an email to her saying, ‘Hey, two weeks ago you told me you’d get back to me.  You haven’t.’  And still no reply whatsoever.’

“To be clear, this took place long before the Bills cut veteran punter Matt Haack last week, clearing the way for Araiza to be their starter.  Which meant Bills coach Sean McDermott knew all of the graphic and horrible details cited in the lawsuit when he described Araiza as a ‘great kid’ during an appearance earlier this week on the ‘Pardon My Take’ podcast.

“According to the lawsuit, Araiza ordered a visibly intoxicated girl, who had just told him where she went to high school, to perform oral sex on him.  Led her into a bedroom, where several men took turns gang raping her and might have filmed it.  Voluntarily admitted, on a call that police were listening to, that he has a sexually transmitted disease – chlamydia, to be specific – and recommended the girl get tested.

“The girl also said in the lawsuit that the attack had left her bruised and bloodied, and that piercings in her nose, ears and belly button had been ripped out.

“Not exactly the actions of someone I’d describe as a ‘great kid.’

“Araiza refuted the allegations Friday night in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports by his agent, Joe Linta.  ‘The facts of the incident are not what they are portrayed in the lawsuit or in the press.  I look forward to quickly setting the record straight.’

“NFL teams have proven every time they’re given a chance that violence against women isn’t necessarily a disqualifier.

“When they say they’ve done a ‘thorough examination,’ what they really mean is that they’ve delved just far enough to decide whether a player’s talent makes him worth their trouble.

“The Bills have known about these allegations long enough to have cut Araiza loose if they wanted.  The truth is, they care about what he can do with a football, not what he might have done to a high school girl.”

Well, Saturday, the Bills announced they were releasing Araiza.

“Ultimately this is a legal situation,” Bills General Manager Brandon Beane said at an evening news conference at the team’s training facility in Orchard Park, N.Y.  “We don’t know all the facts, and that’s what makes it hard. But at this time, we just think it’s the best move for everyone to move on from Matt and let him take care of this situation and focus on that. And so we’re going to part ways there.”

--We note the passing of Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, 87.  Dawson led the Kansas City Chiefs to victory in Super Bowl IV and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as both a player and broadcaster.  He had been in hospice care in Kansas City since Aug. 12.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said he was “heartbroken” about Dawson’s death.

“Len Dawson is synonymous with the Kansas City Chiefs. Len embraced and came to embody Kansas City and the people that call it home.  You would be hard-pressed to find a player who had a bigger impact in shaping the organization as we know it today than Len Dawson did.  I admired Len my entire life – first as a Hall of Fame player on the field, and later as he transitioned into a successful broadcasting career.  Throughout his remarkable career, Len made it a priority to give back to the community that he loved.  The franchise has lost a true legend.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to Linda and his family.”

Dawson spent the first five years of a 19-season professional career as a sparingly used backup for the Steelers and Browns, but his career took off after he signed in 1962 to play for the AFL’s Dallas Texans (soon to be the Kansas City Chiefs) to play under Hank Stram, who had been an assistant at Purdue during Dawson’s stellar collegiate career.

Stram once called Dawson “the most accurate passer in pro football” and he was, for his era.

Dawson ended up with a 57.1% career completion percentage, leading the league 7 times in that category.  [Reminder, Joe Namath had a 50.1% career completion percentage.]  Dawson threw 239 touchdowns passes vs. 183 interceptions, also good for that era.  He led the league in touchdown passes four times.

Dawson led the Texans to the AFL title in 1962, and in 1966, took the Chiefs to another title, which meant a trip to the first Super Bowl, but K.C. was overmatched by Vince Lombardi’s Packers 35-10.

Three seasons later, after Namath’s Jets had upset the Colts, the NFL was still seen as the superior league and the Chiefs were double-digit underdogs to the Vikings. 

But the Kansas City defense dominated and Dawson played well (12-of-17, 142 yards), including a 46-yard TD pass to Otis Taylor that sealed the 23-7 victory.

Dawson was selected as the second-team quarterback, behind Namath, on the AFL’s all-time team in 1970.

Len Dawson was born on June 20, 1935, the ninth of 11 children of James and Annie Dawson in the blue-collar manufacturing town of Alliance, Ohio.

Premier League

--Week Four results of note.  Manchester United picked up its second win, 1-0 at Southampton on a Bruno Fernandes tally.  Chelsea beat Leicester 2-1.  Arsenal stayed perfect, and on top, with a 2-1 win over Fulham.  Man City handled Crystal Palace 4-2, as Erling Haaland had a hat-trick, six goals in his first four appearances.  And then we had Liverpool, tying a PL mark with a 9-0 blitzing of Bournemouth.  As Dr. W. and I were musing, boy, you worry about goal differential towards the end of the season if your team is in danger of relegation, a position Bournemouth might find itself in next May.

Today, my Tottenham Spurs stayed undefeated with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest, both goals by Harry Kane.

--They held the draw for the Champions League, with Group play commencing Sept. 5 and running to Nov. 2 – a period of just nine weeks vs. the normal 12 due to the World Cup commencing late November.

Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham represent the Premier League…32 teams in all, including the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain.

But there is a ton of discussion about the football schedule this season, and it all has to do with the World Cup, which is traditionally held in the summer, when the Leagues are off, so it doesn’t impede on the regular season.

This year, however, is a shitshow, and the Champions League will suffer as a result.

The World Cup, regardless of when it’s played, is exciting, and I’ve written it will be more so this year because it’s at Christmastime…it will add to the holiday spirit, mark my words.  Especially if the United States can advance out of the Group stage.

But it has done a number on the league schedules and as I’ve noted, if you have a team with lots of members participating in the World Cup for their respective countries, and then you tack on Tuesday and Wednesday Champions League tilts, it’s just not good.  Managers are going to have to be incredibly skillful in managing their key players’ time on the pitch and still win.

So there are some saying this is the demise of the Champions League and how everyone is tired of the same teams in the knockout round every year, with little competitive balance, but I look at it as just a really messy season.

U.S. Open

--Serena Williams takes the court Monday night in Flushing Meadows, New York, against Danka Kovinic in what could be her final singles match as she prepares to bow out. Serena and Venus Williams will be playing doubles for the first time in ages.

--Earlier in the week, Novak Djokovic confirmed he would not be playing in the Open because he remains unvaccinated and under the rules, unable to travel to the United States.  Djokovic, who won at Wimbledon in July, is one behind Rafael Nadal’s men’s record of 22 Grand Slams.

This is so stupid.

Stuff

--It really sucks that Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren will miss the 2022-23 season because of a Lisfranc injury to his right foot.

Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft, suffered the injury last Saturday while defending LeBron James during a pro-am in Seattle.

The 7-foot-1, 195-pound Holmgren averaged 14.0 points and 8.4 rebounds in five games for the Thunder earlier this year in the Vegas Summer League.

This is a bad injury, especially for someone with his build.

--Duke University women’s volleyball match on Saturday was moved to an alternate location in Provo, Utah, after racial slurs were hurled at a Black player from the crowd during Friday’s match with BYU, school officials said.

The incident prompted BYU to apologize and ban a fan identified as a perpetrator.

Lesa Pamplin, godmother of the Black Duke player, wrote on Twitter that while playing her 19-year-old goddaughter, Rachel Richardson, had been subjected to racist slurs every time she served.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus.  A police officer had to be put by their bench,” Pamplin tweeted.

“Many adults failed my goddaughter,” Pamplin said in a statement.  “Every American should be enraged that a young lady was subjected to hateful, demeaning language.”

Just pathetic.  I’m biting my tongue because I didn’t hear if the guy was a student.  If he was….

--Sad story out of California.  A young mountain lion shot by police died in surgery at a California zoo on Friday, after the animal was startled by a tranquilizer dart and jumped at an officer in a suburban neighborhood.

The lion, estimated to be a year old, was about 75 pounds.

A resident of Hollister, about 100 miles south of San Francisco, had spotted the lion on their front porch and called police at about 4:42 a.m., the Hollister Police Department said in a statement.

When California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers tried to tranquilize it, the lion ran out of a bush toward a police officer, officials said.

“Fearing for the life and safety of the officer, two officers fired their rifles at the mountain lion,” the police statement said.  “We could not place the life of the animal above human life, which is why the officers fired their rifles at the scene.”

The lion jumped a nearby fence into a side yard where it was tranquilized again.  That’s when officers found a “pass-through bullet wound to its torso,” said a spokesman for the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

“We did not consider the mountain lion to be a public safety threat.  It had not acted aggressively,” the spokesman said, noting that the goal was to return the animal to its habitat.

The officers acted appropriately.

--Vanessa Bryant was awarded $16 million in damages over photos from the scene of the 2020 Kobe Bryant helicopter crash.  The award was then reduced to $15 million due to an error on a key form.

Bryant is donating it all to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit that continues Kobe’s and Gianna’s legacies by offering opportunities to underprivileged young athletes.

--Finally, as we approach the anniversary for the tragedy at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, a word on legendary sports broadcaster Jim McKay.

McKay won 13 Emmy Awards, the initial one in 1968, making him the first sports commentator to receive the honor. He is also the only one to win Emmys for sports and news broadcasting as well as for writing.

For more than 60 years he brought sports into the homes of America on Wide World of Sports, the Olympics and many other programs that captured the essence of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Aside from the Olympics, some of us remember him for his work at the Triple Crown races and the Indy 500.

Bob Costas once said of McKay: “You never felt what he expressed wasn’t genuine.  You never felt his reaction was ‘What’s called for here is a tear.’”

But McKay, who died in 2008, will be forever known for his coverage of the 1972 Summer Games.

Frank Litsky and Richard Sandomir / New York Times:

“During the Munich Olympics, as he left the hotel sauna and was about to go into the swimming pool on his only day off, he received word that Arab terrorists had invaded the Israeli living quarters in the Olympic Village.  Mr. McKay hurried to the studio and for 16 consecutive hours, he anchored ABC’s extraordinary news coverage, with field reporting from Peter Jennings, Howard Cosell and others.

“The episode ended with the killing of 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and trainers.  When that word reached Mr. McKay, he said he thought that he would be the person who told the family of David Berger, an Israeli-born weight lifter whose family lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio, ‘if their son was alive or dead.’

“He looked at the lens and said, ‘They’re all gone.’

“When ABC finally signed off, Mr. McKay, physically and emotionally spent, returned to his hotel room.  Only then did he realize he had been wearing a wet swimsuit beneath his trousers.

“The next day, Mr. McKay received this cable from an old CBS colleague: ‘Dear Jim, today you honored yourself, your network and your industry. Walter Cronkite.’ ….

“Looking back on Munich in 1997, the 25th anniversary of the Games, McKay told Richard Sandomir:

“ ‘It was the loss of whatever innocence there was in the world.’”

No one understood at the time it was also the true beginning of international terrorism.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/24/74: #1 “(You’re) Having My Baby” (Paul Anka with Odia Coates)  #2 “The Night Chicago Died” (Paper Lace)  #3 “Tell Me Something Good” (Rufus)…and…#4 “Feel Like Makin’ Love” (Roberta Flack…awesome tune…)  #5 “I Shot The Sheriff” (Eric Clapton)  #6 “Waterloo” (Abba)  #7 “Wildwood Weed” (Jim Stafford)  #8 “I’m Leaving It (All) Up To You” (Donny & Marie Osmond)  #9 “Rock Me Gently” (Andy Kim)  #10 “Keep On Smilin’” (Wet Willie…B- week…)

College Football Quiz Answer:  Five to throw for 15,000 yards, including bowl games with one exception.

Case Keenum 19,217…Houston
Timmy Chang 17,072…Hawaii
Landry Jones 16,646…Oklahoma
Graham Harrell 15,793…Texas Tech
Ty Detmer 15,031…BYU…bowl stats not included*

*Prior to 2002, the top four playing post-2002, bowl stats weren’t included and Detmer played 1988-91.

Loved watching Timmy Chang.

Brief Add-on posted by noon, Wednesday.

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