Three’s Company
Don’t look now, but the already tight back and forth battle between the Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers atop the National League Central has turned into a triple threat match.
As the Pirates were being swept out of Wrigley Field last night, the Brewers were losing their sixth in a row and the Cincinnati Reds were winning their fifth in a row, climbing to within one game of the division lead.
The Pirates haven’t been any better than a one and a half games clear of second at any point this season, and have also never been more than two game back of first.
The Brewers, likewise, have never been more than a game and a half back or more than two games up.
The Reds, though, were as many as seven and a half games back after being swept by the Bucs in late April. Cincy was won 8 of 10, kickstarted in no small part by the arrival of top prospect Elly De La Cruz.
While the Brewers and Bucs play six times in the next 17 days, and the Reds play the Brewers nine times in July, the Pirates are already 5-2 against the Reds and don’t meet them again until August 12th.
The Many Faces Of Antonio Brown
Is he Antonio Brown? Is he ‘AB?’ Is he Ronald Ocean? Or Mr. Big Chest?
Or maybe, there was a whole lot of inadvertent truth when Antonio Brown, speaking of himself in the third person at an impromptu, shirtless Albany Empire press conference, said “The guy’s got like, three different personalities.”
This, just hours before the franchise was publicly booted from the National Arena League for… you guessed it, failing to make league-mandated payments on time.
Brown was made majority owner just under two months ago, when he was sold 47.5% of the franchise by fellow co-owner Mike Kwarta, for just $1.
Since then there’s been a mass exodus of employees, both players and behind the scenes personnel, from the Empire.
As it turns out, those employees got out when the gettin’ was still good, as Brown has now burned this opportunity to the ground as well, just as he seemingly does with every opportunity.
Sorry, I shouldn’t blame Brown when it could have been Mr. Chest, or Mr. Ocean, AB, or any of the other dozens of personalities who are usually busy making up new words and vying for positioning in his head.
How presumptulescent of me.
More Money Matters In Maryland
A couple of months after finally sorting out Lamar Jackson’s contract situation, the Baltimore Ravens spent their mandatory minicamp without their RB1, J.K. Dobbins, due to a contract dispute.
A 2020 second round draft pick who has played just 23 games in four seasons, Robbins is headed into the final year of his rookie contract and due to make just under $1.4 million this season.
While Baltimore has tried to add more receiving targets for Jackson over the past year and a half, their backfield is now down to just Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill.
Hard Knock Life
A staple of preseason NFL programming for most of the past two decades is having a hard time finding willing subjects this summer.
HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” limited by the rules the league has built around which teams can be forced to appear and which can’t, has had their possibilities whittled down to the New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders, Chicago Bears, and New York Jets.
And I didn’t list them in that order accidentally. It’s totally in reverse order of interest level.
The Saints, other than welcoming in Derek Carr, have little drama to put on display. The storylines in Washington are more organizationally based and likely the kind the league won’t want their media partner putting on display. In Chicago, the development of Justin Fields would be fascinating to watch, especially with the behind-the-scenes angle of Munhall’s own Luke Getsy as their offensive coordinator helping spur that development.
There is no question though which of these is the most appealing option: The New York Jets, with the arrival of Aaron Rodgers, would be captivating to watch.
Is he as controlling as he seems? Is he as eccentric as he seems? Have his skills eroded as much as last season’s results would seem to indicate? And can he adapt to a completely new environment for the first time in 17 years?
The latest HBO and the NFL have ever waited to name the “Hard Knocks” team is 2021, when the Dallas Cowboys were announced on July 2.
NSFW Jokic
Every great championship parade is good for at least one off-the-rails moment, whether it’s Troy Polamalu crowd surfing, Justin Schultz chug walking, or Olli Maatta passing out on his balcony.
While it doesn’t necessarily qualify as off-the-rails, Nikola Jokic did provide us with some gratuitous profanity during the Denver Nuggets parade in Denver yesterday.
The two-time MVP and 2023 Finals MVP personified the duality of inebriated man, declaring “You know that I told that I don’t want to stay on parade, but I f—king want to stay on parade. This is the best (unintelligible) f--king (unintelligible) f—king life.”
Warning: This video is NOT censored, but if you’d like to see it for yourself, you can click here.
Couldn’t have said it better myself, Joker. Who would ever not want to stay on parade?
Flu Game Jordans
Pittsburgh, particularly the area surrounding the Steelers’ North Shore stadium, will be a bastion of overpriced everything for the next few days as Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour comes to town.
This is right up there, though.
The Air Jordan 12s worn by Michael Jordan in the epic “flu game” of the 1998 NBA Finals, autographed, were recently auctioned off by Goldin Auctions for $1.38 million.
Is there any item of sports memorabilia you’d spend that kind of money on?