Thinking out loud…while wondering about my own resolution for 2021…
· Happy New Year? We’ve been waiting for 2021 to get here since March.
· More like, Finally A New Year.
· The fresh start on the calendar allows us a chance to breathe, and to renew our hope and optimism that the next 12 months will automatically be better than the last 12. We perform this ritual every year.
· What is the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing(s) over and over again, expecting different results? Yeah, we’re totally nuts.
· How can we put any perspective into a calendar year so volatile, it’s likely to be read in history books and talked about like we still speak today of the Great Depression that began in 1929?
· How can we put any Great Expectation into the next 12 months when the previous 12 will stand alongside all historical moments for generations to come?
· So much sadness, so much selfishness, so much political puerility, and so little knowledge of what we’re doing in an ever-changing, constantly developing pandemic…it leaves me merely shaking my head. That’s all I got.
· But human spirit is a marvelous, wonderful realization. The coronavirus can’t kill that. Nothing can. The need to pick yourself up after you get knocked down – this is what we need to nurture, need to rally around, and develop so future generations can understand there is nothing we can’t figure out.
· It may take a while for us to get there, however. Just sayin’.
· The list of celebrities leaving us in the past calendar year is staggering. Some were Covid victims, some were merely victims of age and inevitability. Some were unfortunate victims of tragedy.
· Did you forget any of these wonderful people from our sports world? Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Lou Brock. Whitey Ford. Colby Cave. Phyllis George. Cliff Robinson. Gale Sayers. Tom Seaver. Phil Niekro. Don Shula. David Stern. Kurt Thomas. Kevin Greene. Joe Morgan. Reche Caldwell. Larry Eisenhauer. Tom Yewcic. Tracy Sormanti. Tommy Heinsohn. KC Jones. Tom Drennan. Lou Schwechheimer.
· Or from the entertainment world? Alex Trebek. Eddie Van Halen. Neil Peart. Max von Sydow. Lyle Waggoner. Mac Davis. Olivia de Havilland. Fred Willard. Jerry Stiller. Kenny Rogers. Charlie Daniels. Carl Reiner. Helen Reddy. Charley Pride. Regis Philbin. Ken Osmond. Dawn Wells. Little Richard. Orson Bean. Brian Dennehy. Sean Connery. Robert Conrad. Wilford Brimley. Kirk Douglas. Chadwick Boseman.
· Or these influential, historically significant people? Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Chuck Yeager. David Dinkins. Hugh Downs. Jim Lehrer. John Lewis.
· There were more, sadly. Our losses have been deep, and soul-shaking. They touched all of us. Here’s to the hope of brighter days ahead, and to our history changing – but never leaving us.
· We need to remember, for it drives us forward.
· Pro sports lost more than $11 billion this year. It’s hard to comprehend. And yet sports interest, particularly in wagering, is at an all-time peak. By the end of 2021, half the country could be active in sports gambling – New Jersey alone bet nearly $1 billion in November.
· But not in Massachusetts. Hard to see a growth industry when it stares you straight in the face.
· Bill Belichick is human, after all. In Bill We Trust? What happened to that?
· His ultimate failure within this season is as much a result of the economics within the NFL today as it is within his ability to recognize and draft talent.
· In both instances, the game caught up to him. So did much of the NFL, ostensibly copying him.
· And yes, let’s add the pandemic into this mix. It certainly didn’t help anyone, especially the HC and GM of the NEP, when a league-high eight players decided to opt-out for the year.
· Now – how does BB want to be defined in a historical perspective? We’re onto 2021? We’re still not certain how much longer he’ll coach the Patriots.
· But he didn’t suddenly forget how to recognize talent or forget how to coach-it-up.
· The salary cap space available should provide plenty of opportunity for the Patriots to find the talent and depth needed for a return to the postseason, at the least. Right, Miguel Benzan?
· A 3rd place schedule won’t hurt, either. But it all starts with finding a quarterback to lead the way.
· Bill the GM needs to help Bill the HC more than he may realize.
· Tweet of the Week, from @NFLResearch: “Cam Newton has joined HOF Earl Campbell as the only #1 overall picks in NFL history to have 70+ career rush TD.”
· My buddy Pete posted this – and it makes a lot of sense – when putting the Buffalo Bills’ surge into the AFC East title room into perspective: “Don’t pick on the Bills. They haven’t won a playoff game since ‘95, hadn’t made the playoffs since ‘99, this is only their 5th winning season in 20 years, and their glory days were losing 4 consecutive Super Bowls (‘90-‘93). Have a heart.”
· Yeah, good for Buffalo.
· But there is no doubt, if you heard or listened to their sideline this past Monday night, they wanted to rub it in.
· Think their offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, wanted to show what he could do? He was once turned down by BB to be the Patriots’ QB coach, and actually started as a defensive assistant.
· He was also the Patriots’ tight end coach before leaving after the 2016 season. Think New England could use some help there right about now?
· Love those J-E-T-S. They can’t even lose the right way. Two straight wins have taken them out of the “Tank for Trevor” race. Jets gonna Jet, I guess.
· Lame Duck = Adam Gase. But some other team, somewhere, will hire him. Maybe the Patriots.
· The NFL has an easy way to recoup some of the billions in lost revenue from this Covid-encrusted season – add a game to the schedule for next season. And they will.
· The announcement won’t come for a while, but that 17th regular season game is going to be added…which will soften the financial blow from this year – estimated to be in the neighborhood of $4 billion.
· Not for nuthin’, but it will be the league’s first expansion of the schedule since 1978. Long overdue. And with NFL media contracts expiring after next season, ownership ain’t dumb.
· And like helmet ads in the NHL and jersey logos in the NBA, expect to see uniform ads in the NFL, too. And not just on practice jerseys, either.
· This is the owners’ chance to strike, while the iron is hot. And make up for a lot of lost, little dollars.
· It will also mean the league’s salary cap may NOT drop, as presently expected, to around $175 million from the present $198 million. Which would be further good news for New England.
· Hey, Dwayne Haskins is out there. He even cleared waivers. Any takers?
· Has there been a more recent plunge from grace than what he’s experienced? First round pick, highly compensated QB, team captain…to the cut list. And it’s all self-inflicted. Stupid is as stupid does.
· He’ll try, but I have serious doubts JE11 ever plays again. In New England or elsewhere.
· Boston College tight end Hunter Long was named an all-American this week. Psst. Hey Bill? Here’s one.
· The latest tally: 18 college bowl games have been cancelled this season. The Texas Bowl in Houston was cancelled this week between TCU and Arkansas with Razorback players at the airport, boarding their plane to Texas…after the Horned Frogs kept turning up players with positive Covid tests.
· As a result, ESPN is losing about $25 million in advertising revenue from the lost games alone. And you wonder why they laid off hundreds of employees in November?
· They’re also down 17 million subscribers over the past decade, and just promised $300 million annually to the SEC for football and basketball TV rights, starting in 2024.
· My buddy “Big E” sez he was listening to one of those self-help gurus during a recent Zoom call, and they were discussing manic depression. The instructor asked the group if anyone knew how to diagnose someone who walks back and forth, screaming at the top of his lungs one minute…then sits in a chair holding his head in his hands the next?
· Big E raised his hand and answered, “a basketball coach?”
· Nothing like being tested early. Two OT wins in their first three Big East games. But are the Friars testing themselves needlessly?
· DePaul is better than advertised. They will beat a few unsuspecting foes unless they beat themselves down first.
· Providence bested Butler in the rematch only a week after the crooked shooting performance at Hinkle. David Duke was two dimes away from a triple double – and Ed Cooley said afterward we should expect that of David.
· The game is slowing down for him. That’s trouble for future foes.
· Villanova is on a Covid pause, with coach Jay Wright and another staffer turning up positive. UConn and Xavier have emerged from recent hibernations. PC and St. John’s, by this count, are the only two Big East programs that have not (yet) paused from internal testing.
· Knock on wood, reverse whammy. It always works for Joe Hassett on the radio.
· Nationally ranked Creighton is the next Big Test for the Friars in the Big East at Noon Saturday. There isn’t a shot they don’t like or pass up.
· Pass that test, the national hype train gets back on track in Friartown.
· Seton Hall – and Harvard grad transfer Bryce Aiken – is heating up. They blasted Xavier in Cincinnati Wednesday in a game that was never close.
· UConn lost freshman Andre Jackson to injury for six weeks, but Akok Akok is close to returning in the middle. And the Huskies, if they can stay healthy and find more consistent support for James Bouknight (like ex-Rhody guard Tyrese Martin?), they look ready to break out.
· This week in Storrs, CT, UConn won its’ first Big East game since beating Providence in March of 2013 by beating DePaul. Don’t think they’ll wait almost eight years for the next one.
· Catch it online at bigeast.com or on your favorite podcast provider…or, on a Westwood One radio affiliate near you and Sirius XM. The return of This Week in the Big East hits the airwaves next week. Show should drop on Friday and will hit WW1 and SXM next Saturday.
· How about this for locals taking home the weekly hardware – PC’s David Duke was selected to the Big East Honor Roll; Bryant’s Michael Green was named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week by CollegeInsider.com, and Cumberland, RI native Tyler Kolek grabbed his first Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Week award at George Mason.
· Rhody has had their beaks in a twist for the last couple of weeks but may have begun straightening themselves out by coming from behind to beat St. Bonaventure Wednesday.
· Jeremy Sheppard led a balanced attack that didn’t need Fatts Russell to win – for a change. The Rams host St. Joe’s Sunday.
· Bryant, off to its’ best-ever DI start at 7-2, is off until Thursday and Friday next week at home against Central Connecticut.
· Talk about your preemptive strikes…Arizona banned itself from postseason play this year after a 7-1 start to their season. They are, of course, hoping to stay a step ahead of the NCAA’s (and the FBI’s) heavy hand. They shouldn’t.
· Duke’s women’s team cancelled the rest of their season this week because the team didn’t feel like being “Covid entertainment” for the public? Ladies, puhleeze. We’re woke. And no one is that interested.
· Your concerns are genuine, of course…as long as your true feelings are likewise. If TV money were a factor, I think we all know what would be happening here.
· Ex-Celtics assistant Kara Lawson is running the Duke women’s program, now the only Power Six men’s or women’s basketball team to quit thus far.
· PC’s young Hockey Friars have a Friday/Saturday double date with Vermont this weekend, after a rough outing against UConn.
· And while the coaching staff holds down the fort at home, head coach Nate Leaman is leading the charge for the USA Junior National Team at the World Junior Championships in Edmonton. Team USA had back-to-back shutouts this week over Austria and the Czech Republic to the tune of 18-zip.
· The AHL made it official this week – they’re back, as of Feb. 5th. Good news for the Providence Bruins, even without fans, who now need to figure out just where they’ll be able to skate.
· The end is never neat and pretty. So it was for TB12, so it is for Big Z. Loved his grit, his class and style. All good things do come to an end – see Patriots, above. We turn the page.
· Longtime friend and one-time ESPN radio partner Joe D’Ambrosio is leaving his day job at WTIC-AM in Hartford after 28 years. Joe D also called the UConn football and basketball broadcasts for nearly three decades before a station switch two years ago – and he has been a signature voice in Connecticut TV and Radio, behind the mic for several of the state’s biggest sports moments.
· Their loss is going to be your gain, Joe D. Best wishes, my friend.
· Mary Ann > Ginger. Does anything else need to be said? If you know about or watched ‘Gilligan’s Island’ in the 1960’s, or have watched it in syndication since then, you know of what I speak.
· Dawn Wells played the lovable and iconic Mary Ann on that deserted island. While she was typecast in her role and had career difficulties in the years that followed, she always embraced her character from the TV sitcom. That quality made her more likeable through the years.
· Sadly, she passed away this week from complications due to Covid at age 82.
· KC Jones, as has been said before, was the perfect ‘antidote’ for Bill Fitch when he took over on the Celtics bench in 1983. He continued the winning tradition with two more titles in ’84 and ’86, bringing his total to 12 championships won, eight as a player. Only Bill Russell and Sam Jones won more.
· Perhaps that’s one of the greatest epitaphs a coach or an athlete can have – being considered a ‘winner.’ And, maybe fair, honest and decent, too…which KC definitely was. As a young reporter covering the ’86 Celtics while working in San Antonio, none of the Boston players would stop to speak when they arrived in town, rolling right on by my microphone and probing questions as if I were invisible.
· I knew the drill. But KC stopped. He went out of his way, even tapping me on the shoulder after four or five players kept walking away from my camera and questions.
· He didn’t have to do that. But he did, and I thanked him for it. I’ll never forget it. All class. RIP, KC.
· My New Years’ resolution? Be more human. Or at least, act more like one. That’s tough for a lot of people to do these days.
· 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! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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