Thinking out loud…while wondering where the next 'gate' controversy might come from…
· 19 years ago, our world changed forever. Six months ago, our world changed forever, again.
· Could we please stop changing our world now? Or, could we change it with good news?
· It's great that college football is back – even if you aren't a fan. The NFL is back, too. And that is exciting.
· But it's still weird to be playing the college sport without Ohio State, Michigan, USC or Stanford involved. Even weirder to play NFL games without fans, and games with stadiums partially filled.
· The Big 10 and Pac-12 might – might – try to start up later in the fall with a renewed commitment to rapid virus testing. So they tell us, but don't let them fool you completely…they see everyone else already kicking off.
· And there is hope that a limited number of fans can appear in currently empty NFL stadiums this season – including Foxboro at some point when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will allow it.
· Restaurants and struggling-for-life businesses appear poised to join the parade to the 'new normal,' whatever it may be, in lower-risk cities and towns. Perhaps fans-in-Foxboro may be, too.
· Sixty years ago this week, the Boston Patriots hosted the Denver Broncos in the first regular season game in American Football Conference history played at Boston University's Nickerson Field.
· There were 21,597 more fans there than will be at Gillette Stadium this weekend.
· Rhode Island high school football will wait until the spring. Connecticut is off for the fall, as is football in Maine. Brown, Bryant, URI and UConn won't be kicking off this fall, nor will any of the other Ivies.
· But Boston College pushes forward, to the disbelief of some – even within the media.
· With the kind of money at stake here…it doesn't take rocket science to figure out the 'why' part. But maybe – since their testing has been nearly perfect (only one positive test out of 1766 administered) since beginning practice – BC has already figured out the 'how' part?
· The NFL announced this week that 44,510 tests were administered to a total of 8,349 players and team personnel over the previous week. Only one player and seven personnel members tested positive during that span, without the benefit of a true 'bubble.'
· For the Patriots – the game within Gillette Stadium Sunday against Miami is supposed to 'look' and 'sound' like a normal game, per the NFL's request. Even without fans in the stands.
· I'm not entirely certain there will be a call for any theatrics – or emphatic 'First Down' calls with no fans present to carry them out. Sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Shaughnessy. How about scheduling a virtual performance, just for you?
· We're likely to see some struggles early, with no preseason games to work out the kinks. Cam Newton may carry the offense as far as his legs will let him.
· Damien Harris, the Great Enigma. And maybe the next Great Player Who Can't Stay Healthy Enough to Play, at his present pace.
· Rookie running back J.J. Taylor keeps the Patriots' UDFA streak alive, now at 17 straight years for a player "out of the blue" to reach the final 53-man roster. Thanks, certainly, to the above-mentioned Mr. Harris for his cooperation.
· True story: I had a dream I was the new kicker. Don't know why I dreamt that. Wore jersey #5 (Justin Rohrwasser's number). Made every kick, too. Woke up before the Turk could get to me.
· I don't know about you, but that's a helluva dream right there. Trying to remember what I ate the night before, so I can go back and kick again.
· Remember, this Miami team knocked the Pats for a loop at the end of last season…a loop that has circled all the way to today. And the Fins have some ex-Pats from last year on the roster, too, that know all about taking and delivering a punch…and an ex-coach who knows their ways.
· Still, anything short of a 'survive and advance' mode for New England will be viewed as failure, even in Week One of the Pandemic Season.
· These are the Patriots, after all. And Bill Belichick is still coaching them.
· And if you're wondering if this team will still keep a competitive edge? Nearly one out of four players on the current 53-man roster was, at one time, an undrafted free agent. Think about that and get back to me on the whole 'boulder on the shoulder' thing.
· Need a prediction? Rookestradamus sez 10-6 for the Patriots, winning the AFC East for a 12th straight year. Sorry, Buffalo…it's still ruff in the buff.
· The expectation is for the NFL's TV ratings to go through the roof, especially with little-to-no in-stadium attendance. The NBA and NHL are already drawing larger prime-time audiences than they were prior to the pandemic.
· The NBA's audiences are 80% larger in primetime than they were in March. The NHL has doubled its primetime audience since the restart. What will football do?
· If you're still thinking we shouldn't be playing football, let's add to this equation the advertising money that is beginning to flow as a result, on a pace to equal or surpass what was spent a year ago, pre-pandemic.
· If you're itching to get back to whatever 'normal' may be, the financing needs to come along for the ride for all of us to get there.
· There are some who are clearly not ready to resume normalcy at any level. Baylor, TCU and Tulsa, to name three, are teams postponing openers because of Covid infections. There will be more postponements to come.
· What will hurt our collective comeback effort – will be NFL postponements. Or cancellations. Those are, of course, to be determined.
· On the collegiate front, the University of Utah has announced furloughs for their entire athletic department, including the athletic director. William & Mary has also sliced seven programs from within its department.
· Maryland has suspended athletic training due to Covid spikes. Minnesota cut three teams from its roster. Arkansas has taken out a $19 million loan for its athletic department.
· Jamain Stephens, a defensive lineman at Division II California University of Pennsylvania, died this week from what were originally thought to be Covid-19 complications. His father played for the Steelers and Bengals. D-II shut down fall sports earlier this summer.
· BC football got a boost this week from grad transfer defensive tackle Luc Bequette, making the move from Cal-Berkeley after the Pac-12 dumped fall football. He is the cousin of former Patriot Jake Bequette, and his mother is former figure skating champ Debi Thomas.
· But the BC swim & dive team took a blow, coming up with 13 coronavirus cases this week.
· The Hockey Commissioners Association, representing the 11 Division I conferences, said this week the men's and women's seasons would be delayed in starting. Normally, the college hockey season begins in early October.
· Now, expect college hockey to face-off on or about November 20th.
· This week's sign of the apocalypse? The University of Colorado is the first NCAA school, apparently, to partner with a sports betting company – Australian-based PointsBet.
· We've come a long, long way from point-shaving scandals, haven't we? Or have we?
· Colorado is, by the way, one of 18 states where sports betting is legal. (Rhode Island, hello!) But you won't find betting kiosks at the games.
· Here comes the money: Sports team owners appear to be faring just fine, thank you, when it comes to being part of the world's richest people during a pandemic.
· The latest Forbes 400 was released this week, with Patriots' owner Robert Kraft listed as #10, and a net worth of $6.6 billion. 42 of the Forbes 400 own at least a controlling interest in major sports franchises.
· Momma's don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys. Teach them to be businessmen and own the Cowboys. The NFL has 16 Forbes 400 owners, the NBA 14 and the NHL nine.
· In case you were wondering, the biggest fall on this list came from Bruins' owner Jeremy Jacobs. His net worth took a 65% tumble thanks to a coronavirus-led lower valuation for his family concessions business – Delaware North. Jacobs ranks #37 overall, at $2.6 billion.
· John Henry? Of the Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club and the Boston Globe? THAT John Henry? Ahead of Jacobs at #35, $2.8 billion. He ranks sixth among baseball owners.
· The ACC basketball coaches' idea for an all-inclusive (will brunch and cocktails be served?) NCAA Tournament is dumb. Self-defeating. If anything, there should be FEWER teams involved this year, of all years – not more. Just sayin'.
· Besides, does anyone really expect a team ranked #350 and a 30-point loser in the opening round to promote the fact they were an "NCAA Tournament" team? C'mon, man.
· Plus, why in the world would the NCAA want to de-value its' best product – March Madness? What about devaluing TV contracts? Or better yet, where do you replace the money potentially lost from conference tournaments? Stupid is as stupid does.
· Conference tournaments were made for this very purpose. To generate revenue, and to separate the wheat from the chaff before the bread gets baked, yet still allowing one little kernel a glimmer of hope to make it through to the wrapper, then the grocery shelf and finally…into someone's mouth.
· Spare me the "oh, it'll be great for the student athletes in a hellish year" argument. The year has been rough on everyone. A return to normalcy, or as close as we can get to it, would be better for the common good.
· That damn ACC. They'll do anything to stop the best conference tournament on Earth – still at Madison Square Garden – in the Big East.
· Not for nuthin', but the NCAA's Dan Gavitt – while appreciative of the suggestion – sez they are NOT working on any plan to expand the tournament. Great coaches can have dumb ideas, too.
· Bubble update: While momentum for creating college hoop bubbles seems to be gathering steam (Mohegan Sun, hello!), some league bigwigs aren't entirely sure about them. Plans are tentative, which means, "subject to change."
· More light should be shed on blowing these bubbles up by next week, when the NCAA decides on an official college basketball start date – expected to be on or about November 25th.
· 6-7 220-pound forward Legend Geeter from River Rouge, MI is officially PC's first 2021 recruit, announcing a commitment on Friday. LaDontae Henton-like. And if he finishes like 'Buckets,' the Friars will have something, won't they?
· Game Six of Celtics-Raptors was about as good as it gets. Sure, the refs' calls (and non-calls) were questionable. You simply play through it, and the Celtics couldn't. Ex-Villanova star Kyle Lowry was huge, and Jayson Tatum's late turnovers were key.
· But good on ya', Celtics. Not only do they rebound against Toronto in Game Five of their NBA playoff bubble, they announce a commitment of $25 million over the next 10 years to fight racial injustice and focus on social issues around greater Boston.
· That's putting your money where your mouth is. Novel idea. I like it.
· It's the first major move by an NBA team since the league announced its' commitment to develop growth in underprivileged communities last month.
· Even better – the Globe reports the team asked employees to volunteer for committees, and there has been overwhelming interest.
· Think there will be overwhelming interest in ex-Friar Billy Donovan? He resigned this week as head coach at Oklahoma City. Several in-the-know say he's more interested in staying with the pros than a move back to the college game.
· The 2020-21 NBA season won't begin before Christmas Day, sez The Athletic. Which is good, because I usually don't pay attention to the NBA before then, anyway.
· Kudos to Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times/Woonsocket Call and to the team of Nick Coit, Ian Steele and Ken Bell from WLNE-TV for their coverage documenting the end of the line for the Pawtucket Red Sox.
· Read it. Watch it. It was history, and it's something Rhode Island will come to regret.
· How do you document removing from existence the soul of a state? 50 years of playing the role of an economic oasis while the rest of Lil' Rhody bumbles and stumbles along, compared to the rest of the region and the country?
· And the state can't manage to keep them around? Sheesh. What happened to Rhode Island, the "I know a guy" state?
· From the "payback is a b****" department – the guy responsible for showing the Pawsox the way to Worcester, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, is in a fight for his political life within RI District 15 from Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung. She's the wife of outgoing Cranston mayor Allan Fung.
· Tweet of the Week, from @DanaONeilWriter: "We need to put @ChickFilA drive thru in charge of TSA, airline boarding and maybe even voting."
· Rooting very hard for The Fours in Boston to make a comeback – in the tradition of great New England comebacks throughout history. Eighty percent of their business depended on Garden events. Investors are queuing for the opportunity to be a part of it.
· Are the Red Sox still playing?
· Yes. And not very well in case you haven't noticed. Too busy saving John Henry's interest on payroll taxes.
· There have been some abysmal performances, primarily from the flotsam and jetsam on the alleged pitching staff. But has there been anything more disappointing, really, than what's happened to Andrew Benintendi?
· And any "team" that takes more than four hours to play a nine-inning game, that also has more than 400 pitches thrown during that time, should be forced to opt-out on the season.
· Lou Brock. One of my first sports heroes. Listened to his exploits many a night as a youngster through the Civil Defense radio my grandfather had given me, on KMOX in St. Louis with Jack Buck on the call.
· One of my favorite quotes – ever – came from Brock: "Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time." God speed, Lou.
· Can you believe it was 25 years ago last weekend that Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig's iron man record? Twenty-five years. Let that one roll around in your addled brain for a while.
· Top seed and expected champ Novak Djokovic (aka "The Joker") was booted from the US Open Tennis Championships for blasting a ball in frustration that just happened to hit a line judge – in the throat.
· I certainly don't condone poor sportsmanship, and I'm certain neither does my buddy Edward from East Providence. But while Djokovic apologized…and rules are rules, couldn't the game of tennis use a good dose of John McEnroe right about now?
· One-time fellow WPRI reporter Ted Wayman, presently at WCVB Channel 5 in Boston, was attacked and stabbed on Copley Square last week, simply trying to do his job. He is going to be ok, but my God – reporters being targeted means truth will suffer a long, slow demise.
· If there's any real truth left, already.
· Bob Woodward. Gracious. From Watergate hero to Coronagate heel? As a reporter, did he not have a responsibility to report the President's "news" instead of saving it until now for the release of his book? Could thousands of lives have potentially been saved? We'll never know.
· Sure, you can criticize the Commander-in-Chief for his leadership 'choice.' But don't forget to criticize Woodward for his 'choice,' too. It's always – always – about the money.
· 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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