Thinking out loud…while wondering why the mint julep is only famous because of the Kentucky Derby?
• It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The NCAA's immediate transfer rule is official this week, which means student athletes in all sports may now transfer to another school – one time – without serving a one-year 'sit out' penalty.
• We've already seen the evidence of what collegiate free agency means in the short term. Read on a bit further for those updated numbers within college hoops. In the long term however, football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey are simply catching up to what other sports on campus have already had at their disposal.
• So this will take some getting used to. Or a lot of getting used to, especially for coaches. The date for athletes to announce their intent to transfer for this year is July 1st. The date will shift for fall and winter athletes to May 1st and remain July 1st for spring sport athletes in the coming years.
• And the transfer portal keeps on spinning. Providence brought in another this week with 6-6 South Carolina guard Justin Minaya joining the program…but he's also apparently staying in the NBA Draft pool to gauge where he might stand.
• He wouldn't be coming to PC if the NBA were a realistic possibility, so there's that. But nothing wrong with seeing where you're at, and he could have two seasons in Providence.
• Minaya is the son of one-time NY Mets GM Omar Minaya, scheduled to graduate with a psychology degree from SC and is noted for his defensive play.
• Which is precisely what the Friars need to improve the most over last season. Now…how 'bout that outside shooting?
• By the way, that transfer portal is approaching 1500 players, and counting. It won't be this way every year, of course. But how long does it take the sport to recover after this season's bomb blast to the collegiate landscape?
• ICYWW, here's the peripheral 'damage' done to Big East programs, with players (so far) lost to transfer: Butler 2, UConn 3, Creighton 3, DePaul 9, Georgetown 2, Marquette 4, Providence 4, Seton Hall 3, St. John's 8, Villanova 1, Xavier 3.
• Only three Power 6 schools have had no transfers – Alabama, UCLA and Michigan. You can see this whole transfer deal could be a problem.
• Locally, schools touched by the transfer bug (so far): Brown 3, Bryant 5, URI 1, Holy Cross 2, Harvard 1, Northeastern 2, UMass Lowell 2.
• Marquette lost another one this week, but not to the transfer portal. DJ Carton, who transferred in from Ohio State is now leaving Milwaukee after only one season and headed for the NBA Draft.
• 6-10 center Nick Ongenda has decided to stay at DePaul, rather than follow through on a potential transfer.
• Xavier's C.J. Wilcher, who had a very promising freshman year for the Musketeers, nevertheless is headed to Nebraska to play for the Cornhuskers.
• ICYMI, Creighton's Marcus Zegarowski has decided to head for the NBA Draft. A full 67% of the Blue Jays' scoring (w/four starters) in a 22-9, Sweet 16 season is leaving Omaha – which certainly will change the preseason picture for next year.
• 11 college hoop programs were ranked every week this past season – two were from the Big East. Villanova and Creighton. Might be a stretch to have that happen again next year in Omaha.
• Five Friar women's players are transferring out of the basketball program, six newcomers are entering.
• Brown is adding guard Paxson Wojcik from Loyola Chicago, who is transferring in from a program with recent NCAA success, but just lost its' coach to Oklahoma. Great to see the Bears gain some talent…rather than lose it.
• Not for nuthin', but Madison Square Garden execs this week reported they anticipate a full return to 'normal' operations later this year and beyond. Which would also be good news for the Big East Tournaments' full return next March…and for the Friars' trip to MSG for the 2K Classic in November.
• Sad to see Basketball Times offer its' final (May) edition this week, a victim to the digital age like so many other newspaper-magazine publications in recent years after 43 seasons of printing.
• My buddy Kevin McNamara has been a columnist. Mike Sheridan, Bob Ryan, Hoops Weiss, Dick Vitale. All great basketball personalities, great reads, passionate hoop junkies. This, I'll miss.
• A somewhat shocking move in the women's basketball ranks, with 3-time natty winner Kim Mulkey moving from Baylor to LSU. She is a Louisiana native, but this is the female equivalent of Coach K leaving Duke for Army – except that she'll be making $2.5 million in Baton Rouge.
• How about some good news? Bryant is adding three women's (golf, bowling and rowing) varsity sports, plus boosting the marching band's presence. Nothing like a great band to get the juices flowing on a fall Saturday afternoon.
• Mark Emmert received a contract extension from the NCAA Board of Governors this week…pushing his term as NCAA Grand Poobah through 2025.
• "Surprising" is the one-word reaction from many within the collegiate athletic world. The media world, too. But it shouldn't be. Why? Clearly, university presidents (who comprise the board and did the voting) don't listen to their AD's, or their schools.
• Guess they like the money. The school prez's don't like the change, or NIL rights or anything straying too far from our present 'norm.' Emmert is simply doing their bidding – just like Roger Goodell does the dirty work for NFL owners.
• The NCAA likes a name-image-likeness bill plan pitched by Congress, which would keep schools from having sponsors to products they would restrict their own athletes from (like alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc.)…but they still haven't voted on their own version of potential legislation for student-athlete NIL rights.
• Translation – let's stall…maybe it will go away.
• What also isn't going away: eSports. Gaming is going varsity all over the country, with Michigan the latest big school to add it. Not only are high-major athletic programs adding varsity eSports teams, Netflix is also trying to get into the video game world. Bet they will, too.
• There are nearly 200 colleges and universities nationwide with varsity eSports programs and more than $16 million in scholarships awarded to eSports athletes each year.
• All that video game playing is paying off, I guess. So much for pulling kids away from the TV or computer. Hey, get back to your gaming! There's a scholarship to earn!
• My buddy "Big E" sez he wanted to bring something home for Mrs. E after a bidness trip. He asked a clerk to see some perfume, and she showed him a $100 bottle. Deciding that was a bit steep, he asked for another brand, and was shown a $50 bottle.
• "E" told the lady, "I'd really like to see something cheaper." She then handed him a mirror.
• Why is anyone surprised that so many pro athletes are getting involved in sports team ownership? What we should be surprised with – would be seeing them have championship success. Many have real business acumen and can make a buck.
• Few of these athletes really want to spend to win. Or know how to do that. Most business successes have come from investments outside of the ownership realm. See Jordan, Michael.
• Speaking of spending…jersey ads are on their way in the NHL, like we've seen in soccer, the NBA and on NFL practice jerseys. Hockey wants, and needs, the extra dough…they'll be selling the ad space soon. Just sayin'.
• Buh bye, Peacock. The NHL has already pitched its' programming tent with ESPN once again, beginning next season…and will now also send games to Turner, with an eye toward streaming broadcasts on HBO Max.
• Bottom line – if you're a hockey fan, this is a good deal. More games will be telecast nationally than ever before.
• But we still can't get NESN on most streaming networks. C'mon man. Gotta do better.
• Kinda looking forward to watching ESPN and Marvel team up for a "superhero" NBA telecast. Who does Captain America play for? And do we get to see the Hulk dunk on some poor soul?
• Besides, anything is better than watching the Celtics these days. Three words: Tear. A. Bull.
• Another opportunity for those who choose NOT to go the traditional college route – the Professional Collegiate League. It is planning to start up later this year and already has a TV and streaming deal.
• An eight-team league will feature 100-150 top high school and college recruits, paying them between $50K and $150K per season and will bill themselves as the 'alternative' to the NCAA.
• It might work, especially if the NCAA continues to turn a blind eye toward NIL rights.
• With new mask rules in effect in many parts of the country, get set for the first real 'blast to our past.' Indy will host 135K fans for the 500 on May 30th. And that's about a third of what they could hold.
• Wimbledon will play to 25% of its capacity this summer. Small steps, right Edward in East Providence?
• The no-hitter that wasn't, by Madison Bumgarner. Cool story and accomplishment, his seven-inning no-hitter this past week. But no, it shouldn't be considered an "official" no-no. Call it a Covid no-no.
• Who are these Red Sox? Are Jim Bouton-era greenies being allowed into the locker rooms again? All kidding aside, I almost enjoy watching Matt Barnes take the mound to pitch these days.
• It's still early. But the AL MVP, so far, is Alex Cora. And it's not close.
• Two other pretty cool stories in early-season baseball: 1) Oakland's winning streak; 2) Shohei Otani making like the second coming of George Herman Ruth. I mean, the league-leader in taters got a start – and won – as a pitcher too?
• MLB attendance, for the seats that can be sold, is up. Nine teams have sold out nearly all of their available allowed inventory, due to pandemic restrictions. That includes the Red Sox, who have sold 103% of their available tickets thus far.
• The one exception is Texas' Globe Life Park…which has been 100% open but only sold two-thirds of its inventory.
• Glad to hear the Red Sox' NESN TV crew is moving back out to Fenway this week. It's one thing to be safe during the pandemic, but with vaccinations plentiful now – there's no reason not to be back out at the ballpark.
• Play-by-play from studio TV screens, rather than in-person accounts, is not easy. There's no depth perception, and play callers are completely at the mercy of TV directors and production truck personnel deciding what to punch up on the screen.
• That's tough on even the best announcers…and it's hard to be completely accurate – which is, of course, a staple requirement.
• We knew the first 2 picks, at the least, for the past few months. Yet it took the NFL Draft more than half an hour for the Jaguars and Jets to make those picks on TV. Stupid is as stupid does.
• I mean, it's a TV show, I know. Only the NFL can get away with such arrogance and downright disdain for their global customers. They're the popular kids who can do little wrong.
• But the band playing between picks was obnoxious. And it was hard to believe the geniuses at ESPN couldn't figure out their analysts were being blown away by the music in the background.
• As the Patriots' pick at #15 began to materialize, Twitter was fun. There was anger over no trading up, anger over no Justin Fields, anger over no Jimmy G or Aaron Rodgers, and anger over the real possibility of trading down.
• Misery sure loves company. And some people just love to watch the world burn, too.
• Mac Jones appears to be smaht, talented…and certainly has a good sense of history. After his selection by the Patriots, he immediately tweeted out a photo of a skinny TB12 and a skinny Big Mac (that's Jones) standing side by side, looking very similar.
• Intimating, of course, a potential sign of things to come. Gotta love the moxie if nothing else.
• Besides, knowing that BB and Nick Saban are good buddies…do you really think Saban would sell his friend on a stiff?
• Welcome back, fans? The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sez we could be 100% back by August 1st, if things proceed as they have with vaccinations. Which means, potentially, fans at training camp and back at Gillette for the games.
• Small steps, but big steps back, too.
• Big steps taken by one-time Hendricken Hawk and Michigan Wolverine Kwity Paye, with his selection by the Colts at #21. His incredible story from an impoverished life in a Guinea refugee camp during the Liberian Civil War is a tale to be told on the silver screen someday.
• As for the sports stuff, Paye became the first Rhode Islander selected in the first round in 82 years, well before the NFL was the NFL we now know. 1939 was also the year of the first televised pro football game.
• Paye is the highest pick from the Ocean State since Portsmouth's Mike Cloud was a second rounder in 1999.
• Such a sad story to hear former Chicago Bear great and one-time Patriots' draft pick Steve McMichael is suffering from the ravages of ALS.
• Mongo was one of the toughest son-of-a-guns at defensive tackle as a Super Bowl champ and a 2x all-Pro with Chicago – and a College Hall of Famer and all-American at Texas.
• Drafted by New England in 1980, he was cut – then signed by Chicago in '81 – and wreaked havoc on the Pats (in '85) and the rest of the league thereafter before retiring into a pro wrestling career.
• That's something Rob Gronkowski tried to do – and didn't. Or couldn't.
• But he could – or he did – catch a football dropped from a helicopter at a height of 600 feet, setting a Guinness World Record. So, there's that.
• Need a favorite to root for in the Kentucky Derby this week? Try Hot Rod Charlie, owned by five former Brown football players and frat brothers. Nice pieces in the ProJo and Globe this week on the guys, who came up with the idea of getting into horse racing a couple of years ago.
• Hot Rod Charlie, going into Friday, was listed as the 4th overall betting favorite at 8-1. Also drew a favorable starting gate out of the #9 slot, of the 20 headed to post. He's finished in the top three in each of his last four races, too.
• A portion of this week's winnings, whatever they may be, will also go to their charitable cause, the Melanoma Research Foundation. No accusing these Brown smaht guyz of not knowing what they're doing, apparently.
• Ever had a mint julep? Takes a little getting used to – and probably has something to do with the kind of bourbon you might use. Kentucky senator Henry Clay introduced the julep to Washington, DC during his senate tenure in the early 19th century.
• But the mint julep, which consists of bourbon whiskey, sugar or simple syrup, water, ice and mint, only became an official Kentucky Derby tradition in 1983. On a typical derby race weekend, more than 120K juleps are whipped up in and around Churchill Downs.
• It was known, according to history, to be a favorite libation of one-time White House denizens Andrew Jackson and Teddy Roosevelt. Novelists Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald not only wrote about it, they got into fights over it.
• Ray Charles even sang about it – and the song "One Mint Julep" made it to the top of the R&B charts in the early '60's.
• As the saying goes, I'll drink to that. Responsibly, of course. Cheers.
• Had more than a few notes/tweets/emails sent this week on LeBron James. This from Tom in Florida: "As my father used to say about nitwits like him – 'More money than brains.' Hopefully you'll come back to it next week. Cops all over America are under fire right now (99% are undeserving of the abuse and hate) and they need all the backing they can get."
• Tom: The problem with "woke" personalities is that often…they're not completely nor are they properly informed in many issues. So, they spout erroneous and sometimes damaging information while emotional – and are believable because of their public prominence.
• My momma always said two wrongs don't make a right. And in the case of his deleting a tweet that may have called for violence against a police officer?
• Do we really need to answer that one? Back away from the keyboard, cowboy.
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? 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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