Thinking out loud: Providence athletics making big strides

Thinking out loud…while wondering if this year's 'slowest sports week' can measure up with last years'…

• For the first time in the history of Providence College athletics, more than $7 million was raised during the past fiscal year.  That may not be a lot of dough for places like Alabama, Ohio State or Texas…but it's a significant number for the Friars.

• Does UConn need a loan?

• It marks 12 straight years for fundraising numbers to top the previous year.  School President Father Brian Shanley, Athletic Director Bob Driscoll and Senior Associate AD Steve Napolillo are the primary movers-and-shakers behind the effort – but you knew that already if you're a giver, didn't you?

• Raising funds to create new scholarships are on the agenda for 2020.  It ain't your grandpa's PC anymore, and that's probably a good thing.

• The USA Pan Am games basketball team, featuring five Providence players on the roster, will hold an open scrimmage for season ticket holders July 24th at Alumni Hall, with a limited number of tickets available to the public.  15 Big East players are auditioning for the final 12 roster spots, with the competition held in Lima, Peru beginning July 31st.

• Team USA will feature all collegians, except for two roster players who have brief European pro experience.  They'll play five games in five days, opening with the Virgin Islands, Venezuela and Puerto Rico (Aug. 2) in pool play.

• Think that USA-Puerto Rico game might mean something?  Especially for the Puerto Ricans?  Every team except for the USA will feature predominantly professional athletes.  Should be a telling test for the Big East…and for Ed Cooley as a USA head coach.

• The bracket for the Wooden Legacy in Anaheim was released this week, and the Friars will open on Thanksgiving Day against Long Beach State.  Game Two will be against either Wake Forest or the College of Charleston, depending on a win or loss on Nov. 29th.   

• National power Arizona could be waiting in the finals for Sunday, Dec. 1.  The Friars lost in the 2015 Wooden finals to Michigan State.

• Following a second Frozen Four appearance in the past five seasons and a school-record sixth straight NCAA bid, PC's hockey schedule for the fall will feature seven games against NCAA teams (out of a possible 15) from this past year.  

• Nothing like jumping right into the fire – the Friars open their season at home October 5th against Hockey East rival Maine.

• And to cap it off this week, the Providence athletic department tweeted out a few facts on the recently completed academic year – including an average student-athlete GPA of 3.22, and 17 student-athletes recording a 4.0.  Those aren't numbers anyone can quibble with.

• Who is arguing for equal women's World Cup pay?  They're already getting that, and more.  As a percentage of revenue, women's team members earned four times what the men make – based on event revenue earned. 

• Make more money, earn more money.  Simple.  Isn't that the American Way?

• Cup MVP Megan Rapinoe said this week we should listen more, talk less.  And I agree with her wholeheartedly.

• But I thought that point was kinda ironic, seeing as she apparently has little use for anyone who doesn't believe what she believes.  True acceptance of others doesn't come from acceptance of only those you love…or tolerate. 

• She knelt for the national anthem, and eventually stood for it only under orders from US Soccer. 

• Tolerance?  More like convenience.  It's the height of hypocrisy.  Ok Megan, you be you.  But showing up at the White House would go a long way toward showing us all you aren't a hypocrite.   

• I thought Twitter might explode after Kemba Walker announced he'd be wearing Antoine Walker's old #8 jersey. 

• The Celtics just lost thousands on jersey sales, didn't they?  Just sayin'.

• Got Tacko?  The Celts need a spot for him on the final roster – and best guess is, they'll find one.  Tough to defend against or score over 7-foot-6.  That's special for a team that may be lacking defensively next season, outside/inside of Marcus Smart.

• Gerschon Yabusele was waived this week, which tells me Tacko Fall might be hanging around.  Wonder if ex-Friar and former 2nd round pick Ben Bentil could have produced more than Yabusele did?

• Oh, and Kyrie Irving is dead to me.  Good luck, Brooklyn.

• And as much as it might pain me to say it, so is Average Al Horford.  Dead to me.  Lou Merloni's nickname for Horford lives on, however.

• Smart:  Giannis Antetokounmpo registering for the trademark "Greek Freak."  He did this more than a year ago and is suing a t-shirt maker for using it for personal gain. 

• Not so smart:  Me, for not registering "Holy Moly," a phrase I've used on-air for nearly 40 years in describing big or exciting basketball or football moments.  My Dad used to say 'holy moly' whenever I had done something wrong as a kid.  And now, ABC-TV has a game show out by this name? 

• Dad found this out and called me this week.  He started with, "Holy Moly, John." 

• This is the weekend for the "Big 3" to make its' appearance at the Dunk in Providence, with a Saturday tripleheader.  Former PC and URI stars Ryan Gomes, Cuttino Mobley and Lamar Odom will be featured, and the coaches are a "who's who" of HOFers – Rick Barry, Nancy Lieberman, George "Iceman" Gervin. 

• A reminder:  College football celebrates its' 150th anniversary this season.  And for all the Bama-Ohio State-Oklahoma-Texas talk out in the universe, unbeknownst to most denizens of New England, here's a strange-but-true factoid you can use.

• The first college football game ever played featured two Eastern teams, Princeton against Rutgers, in 1869.  Yes, THAT Rutgers. 

• Bonus factoid:  Touchdowns were worth only four points in 1869.  The Scarlet Knights had trouble getting in the end zone then, too.

• Rookestradamus is feeling pretty chipper these days, after seeing the photos of the Brady and Gronk workout last week in California. 

• A former NFL GM was quoted this week in the Sporting News he also believes Rob Gronkowski finds his way back to a field near you this season.  #Gronkreturns #Rookestradamussaidsofirst

• Not for nuthin', but who knew ex-Patriot all-Pro defensive tackle Richard Seymour was now one of the world's elite poker players?

• One thing I'll definitely be watching early in training camp – running backs.  I fully expect Sony Michel to pick up where he left off, but I'm not sleeping on Alabama rookie Damien Harris.

• New coach, new GM, new star, relatively new QB.  And yet, SNY said this week the Jets will make the playoffs.  THIS year, not in 2075.

• But one thing the Jets do have going for them – they face the Patriots twice in the season's first seven weeks – so there's a chance for surprise, and a chance to gain momentum later even if they get shellacked twice.

• Sorry, but football is just better around here when hearing the derisive J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets! chant and it has meaning, amiright?

• The P-Bruins will open their season October 5th at Lehigh Valley, with the home opener October 12th at the Dunk against Rochester.

• Jim Bouton's passing this week at 80 years of age might be a mere footnote for Red Sox fans, or even some Yankee fans.  But it should be noted that his highly successful novel Ball Four – not to mention his all-star pitching career – went a long way toward making baseball fun for this long-ago teen.

• His book, detailing the 1969 season spent going from the penthouse (NYY) to the outhouse (expansion Seattle Pilots) was, as they say, "LOL funny."  Hard to believe that 50 years have passed.  But there was much about 1969 that shouldn't be forgotten, and I'll bring that up from time to time here before the calendar page turns toward 2020.

• Like the fact Bouton beat the Red Sox twice in '69, pitching for an expansion team.  But I digress.

• Bouton humanized baseball, by focusing on real people and real emotions.  He said, and wrote, whatever came to mind, no matter how funny, bawdy, painful or cringeworthy it might have been.  His writing was honest, and hilarious.  Ball Four was a 'tell all' tale before the genre became popular.

• To this day, three of my closest friends and I still call each other "Rooms," which was Bouton's nickname for his roommates and road companions (male only, of course). 

• Part of Bouton's mystique and hilarity came from the true-to-life stories he told, which also for a time kept him estranged from his former teammates and from baseball.  But one of his best stories had to have been about the one-and-only Mickey Mantle.

• Here's an excerpt of Bouton's Mantle tale, courtesy of NPR: "(In the book) I said Mickey Mantle had a home run with a hangover. And, you know, it was more of a story about what a great hitter he was, what a great player he was."

• ""We had been out the night before, having a few drinks, and Mickey came to the clubhouse the next day, and he was a little hung over. So, you know, Ralph Houk said, 'Don't worry about it. Sleep it off in the trainer's room. We'll put somebody else in center field.'"

• "Anyway, the game goes extra innings. We need a pinch-hitter in the 10th. Somebody went to wake up the Mick. He comes out, put a bat in his hands. He walks up to home plate, takes one practice swing and hits the first pitch into the left field bleachers, a tremendous blast."

• "Guys are going nuts. He comes over, crosses home plate. Actually, he missed home plate. We have to send him back for that. He comes over to the dugout, and he looks up in the stands, and he says, 'those people don't know how tough that really was.'  Then after the game, the sportswriter said, 'Mick, what did you hit?'  And he said, 'Well, it was very simple. I hit the middle ball.' "

• DDOS (Dog Days of Summer) happenings?  Well, Tyler Thornburg decided not to stay with the Red Sox in Pawtucket, and he was released this week.  That's two rights correcting a wrong.

• But as Pete Abraham of the Globe pointed out this week, they should have moved on from him earlier, and saved a couple million.  Therein lies the real problem over the issue of not adding more salary when the team needs help – poor decisions from above.

• This is a 'what-have-you-done-for-me-lately' sport, in case you haven't noticed.  That the Sox won the World Series last year means squat for this year.  It's a very, very short leash around here.

• For two reasons – one, we're spoiled.  Two, we're wicked smaht.  Or we believe we're smahtah than most, anyway.

• The MLB all-star game received record-low TV ratings this year, tying previous record-low numbers from 2016.  And the sport still doesn't think it has a problem?

• Hey MLB?  I don't think baseball in London is the answer, either.

• The sad story of the formerly described "Midsummer Classic" shows the ratings have steadily declined over the past 20 years – ironically, since the '99 game in Boston – and over the past 10 years, Sports Media Watch reveals the numbers are down by more than 40%.

• What to do about it?  I thought the home run derby was fine this year – thanks to the individual performances of Vladdy Junior and Mets' rookie Pete Alonso – but it would improve if they'd just put a chunk of cash out there in centerfield, and "winner takes all."

• But the all-star game itself?  Never thought I'd say this – but I'd like to see baseball bring back the World Series home field advantage for the winning league.  Incentive is a great motivator in this country, especially in sports.  Players these days, for the most part, act as if they would rather go home for three days than play in a meaningless game.

• And I really can't blame them.

• Mookie Betts' red-carpet outfit was a joke.  C'mon Mookie, you make more money than that.  Weak sauce.

• Media Line of the Week, from Mark Patinkin of the Providence Journal – on the groundbreaking for Polar Park held in Worcester: "It marked the disgraceful failure of our politicians to hold onto one of Rhode Island's crown jewels."

• As per the above matter, truer words have rarely been spoken.  Looking right at you, Speaker Mattiello and Governor Raimondo. 

• Tweet of the Week I, from @Mark_Hodgkin: "It seems like we have seen Federer-Nadal so many times over the past 15 years. But you never know how many times we'll see these legends on the biggest stage."

• Tweet of the Week II, from @darrenrovell: "$15,643: CHEAPEST cost for a pair of tickets, on StubHub including fees, to the men's Wimbledon semifinals with Nadal playing Federer.

• And I know my friend Edward in East Providence would have NO problem coughing up that kinda quid…if he has it.

• And if he does, we need to be better friends.

• @CDeakin90 sent a Tweet this week from vacation in Florida: "Tell people I am a Patriots fan and they look like I just spit on their child! Guess that's the problem with supporting the champs!"

• Chris:  News Flash – it's gonna get worse than that for you when they roll through next season, get Gronk and Josh Gordon back, and return to the Super Bowl as they climb the #StairwaytoSeven.  There may not be a more-hated team in the history of professional sport…outside of the Yankees, of course.

• Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send 'em to me! It's your chance to "think out loud," so send your questions, comments and local stories to jrooke@weei.com. We'll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...

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