Thinking out loud…while wondering what people do where it's boring?
• …aaaand, we're back. It's busy out there. Just be kind to each other as we adjust to this 'new normal?'
• 'Cuz it ain't yet the same as the old normal, no matter how much you think it should be.
• Hey Brad? You cannot, under any circumstance, stand still. And good luck, you will most certainly need it. Coaches-turned-GM's with any success are rare, and usually ex-players. So far, you're neither.
• And don't be surprised if ex-coach-now-GM Stevens decides he misses coaching after a year or two and jumps back into the game where he's been successful – in college.
• Whoever the new Celtics' coach might be…needs to open their eyes and use common sense. The team needs toughness…that is often difficult to teach. And the team needs to learn respect, internally and externally, which these days is difficult to learn.
• Love to see Sam Cassell get a shot here. Former player, has paid his coaching dues, had toughness. But if you want to reach the young 'uns on this team – and you do need to – see if you can pry Juwan Howard out of Michigan.
• Kara Lawson will get some serious play for obvious reasons…but she was only in Boston as an assistant for one season. And she hasn't yet coached a game at Duke, because her team sat out last year.
• The current 'Big 3' of Tatum, Brown and Walker can't be the 'Big 3' next year if Boston hopes to improve.
• Danny? Thanks. 18 seasons as team president. 15 playoff seasons. Seven conference finals. Two NBA finals. Won Banner 17 as GM, won two more as a player. Hired just two coaches. But I don't blame you one bit for stepping aside.
• Beyond his health issues, dealing with today's athletes in today's world is, in a word, difficult.
• It was as childish an act in a sports venue as we've seen probably since Terrell Owens once stomped on the Dallas Cowboys' star at midfield. Undoubtedly, somewhere, someone laughed.
• But not in Boston or New England. No, by God, Kyrie Irving's foot stomp on the Celtics' Lucky The Leprechaun logo last weekend brought on this week's changes…and touches a deeper issue.
• It's not "you can't do that to us." Instead, well…it appears it's "we haven't grown up, either." And maybe, some of us don't want to.
• The surrounding peripheral issues – like chucking water bottles at players – bring a deeper meaning of fan behavior into play. We're seeing it at other stadiums and arenas all around us. Fans feel entitled to act out because of the money they pay 'to be entertained' and the emotion they invest in the product.
• Sensibilities become skewed. Real life is clouded in a shroud of love, hate and loving to hate. People do crazy things when today's brash athletes also forget they're really entertainers and simple storylines…not comic book superheroes.
• Because many athletes…see, they're entitled, too. Some don't know how to act or react with grace and aplomb, or get angry at an opponent, because they've never had to.
• Back in the day…let's say, 30, 40 or 50 years ago...athletes mostly went about the business of competing against each other with a lunch pail 'just goin' to do my job' attitude. Where do you think Bill Belichick got his "do your job" mantra from?
• Most players during this time knew they had it good and were appreciative of the privilege to be where they were. You don't see as much of that today, do you?
• There was mutual respect for those that plowed the road before they came along. They made good coin, and they knew it, but not compared to some of today's entitlement-addled stars.
• And if someone did them wrong, especially if it kept them from winning or earning a bonus, perhaps…they'd simply set the world straight with a retaliatory back-pick on the baseline or a low block at the knees and put someone on their a**.
• Old school. But not today. Certainly not by these NBA (and Celtics) players, anyway. Now, it's a veritable love fest because 'they're all in it together.'
• It's great theater, really. We still root for the good guys; the opponents are the bad guys. But the players themselves don't see it that way.
• And we get upset with that. It's gone beyond the postgame handshake line and sportsmanship. What we want to see is a competitiveness that most of today's pro athletes (especially in the NBA) simply haven't grown up with.
• It's the 'everyone gets a trophy' mindset. Which isn't real life, mind you. Real life is competitive. Real life is dog-eat-dog. Real life is mean. And it's our own fault.
• So, the smugness and aloof attitudes perpetuated on the fan base by some (Kyrie, hello!) fuels a fire within us…that no longer burns like it once did in the players years ago.
• Irving did say in his postgame comments for fans to "have some respect for the game, respect for these human beings and have some respect for yourself."
• Guess he told us, huh? But he also wouldn't know the truth even if it bit him in the a**.
• Kyrie and several fellow athletes are standing so close to the forest, they can't see the trees. They don't get that the guy in the loge seat who paid 40 bucks for his ticket grew up in a different world, or in a different era, than they have.
• His actions, their actions (and inactions) spark reactions in us, whether they're right or wrong, oblivious to the real world around them. Just sayin'.
• And the rest of us are still living in that real world. Understanding that world needs to be a two-way street. But it isn't. Today's athletes drive the bus that speeds through fantasyland.
• So, when does the real world get to knock the fantasy world on its' a**?
• Can we pull Kevin Garnett out of retirement?
• Sure, there had to be a Rhode Island connection to l'affair du Kyrie this week – it was a URI student, wearing a Garnett jersey, who threw the water bottle that missed him at games' end.
• What am I missing? The Bruins missed an opportunity to crush the will right out of the Islanders this week, losing Game 2 in OT.
• Can we admit they're a better team than New York right now? Maybe it was a simple swing and a miss. Or maybe, it's simply 78-year-old ex-Friar and LaSalle Academy grad Lou Lamoriello's magic touch on those Isles.
• Yo, Julio! Get the stretch. Ride to Harlem, Hollywood and Jackson, Mississippi. But don't forget Foxboro.
• Did you see where ex-Patriot Eugene Chung sez he was told he was 'not the right minority' while interviewing for a coaching position in the NFL?
• So, it's come to not just color, but the right kind of color now?
• This week 19 years ago, old Foxboro Stadium met the wrecking ball…demolished on June 1, 2002. And not a day too soon.
• But that also means Gillette Stadium is now becoming "old" by modern stadium standards.
• Speaking of Gillette, as well as the rest of NFL stadiums…tickets will be digital for all teams in 2021. So that season-ticket package you used to receive in the mail?
• No more. Hope you've got a working email address and a good spam filter.
• More 'new normal' – the Patriots will also be cashless at Gillette for stadium purchases and concessions. Your money's no good, but it don't mean stuff is 'free'. You'll need to 'cash in' for a card to use at a special kiosk.
• Not for nuthin'…but Hall-of-Famer-to-be Bill Cowher's new book, "Heart and Steel" and co-written with Boston's own Michael Holley, does 'go there.' As in Spygate.
• But it's very telling that Cowher refuses to put any blame for Pittsburgh's AFC title game losses on Bill Belichick or on Spygate – rather, saying about the Patriots "if you get caught, you're wrong, if you don't you're right."
• Maybe that's not the right way to do things these days. But the mutual respect part is.
• The USFL is coming back for the spring of 2022. No word of a lie. Fox is going to televise the eight-team league, since they'll have a financial stake in ownership.
• Does this mean I'll get the last paycheck I was owed after the first incarnation of the league folded 35 years ago?
• Thought he lost touch with much of reality during the last few years, but much respect to Duke's Mike Krzyzewski for his decision to retire after next season.
• Not only is he the all-time winningest coach in history, but he's also a Disney-like success story – son of immigrants, West Point guy – and his career started off slowly (Duke nearly fired him after three years) before developing into an iconic figure in the game.
• Zen Question: Is it just timing…or is there something else that helped legends like Coach K and Roy Williams find the exit door in the same off-season?
• Zen Question 2: Does Duke now become the next Indiana, or UCLA, among bluebloods?
• Get ready for the Hype Train to pull in and take up residence in your living room. It'll be "Coach K's last something" for every game next season.
• My enduring Coach K moment will come from the '97 NCAA Tournament, when the Friars beat his Blue Devils in the 2nd round. His postgame comments that "we had no answer for Derrick Brown" will ring in my memory bank forever.
• He wasn't the Coach K then that he is now – not even halfway through his eventual tenure. But even then, it was special to hear him say that about one of "our" guys.
• This week, the Big East had its 42nd birthday – May 31, 1979. Long may it live, especially after the near-death experience almost a decade ago.
• Not coincidentally, Coach K had his hand in the mess at the start of that implosion, too. Someone needs to ask Jim Boeheim – now the longest-tenured coach in the college game – about it.
• The Big East and the SEC joined other conferences this week in repealing rules against intraconference transfers. Athletes in any sport can now move to a school within the league in which they currently compete. What could possibly go wrong here?
• Did someone say 'tampering?' On the plus side, you should also get a good dose of hatred boiling between an athlete's former school and new school…so, there's that.
• The Big East-Big 12 Battle is back on the docket for next season and the third year of a four-year agreement between the conferences. 10 games over 18 days, beginning December 1st with Texas Tech at Providence to lead it off at the Dunk. Sweet.
• The Red Raiders have reached the NCAA Tournament Round of Eight twice in the last three years – not counting the pandemic-cancelled postseason – and lost in the 2nd round to Arkansas last season. Taunton, MA native Marcus Santos-Silva is a "super senior" on their roster.
• Villanova goes to Baylor on Dec. 12 in a meeting between two schools who have won three of the last five natty's; UConn plays at West Virginia Dec. 8 in an old school Big East brawl and Kansas plays at St. John's Dec. 2nd among the matchups.
• With a July 1st date looming as the beginning for NIL legislation to take effect in several states, PC's name-image-likeness guidelines are beginning to take shape. The athletic department is launching a yet-to-be-named student athlete development program that will include leadership, academics, community, and career (branding) opportunities.
• ICYMI, two ex-Friars faced off in the Greek pro league title game. Ben Bentil's Panathinaikos met Alpha Diallo's Lavrio in the A1 championship Thursday…Panathinaikos (also a former stopover for Rick Pitino) had won four of the five meetings during the regular season.
• And Panathinaikos rolled again, 100-72. Diallo outscored Bentil 11 to 5, though.
• Providence College is requiring all students to be vax'd for fall classes. That includes basketball players and athletes, too. Wouldn't it be great to have all fans in the stands at the Dunk next season vax'd, too?
• UConn's been back in the league for hoops for a year now, but still having major
athletic budget issues. A federal judge has issued a restraining order to keep the school from cutting women's rowing. The athletic department is attempting to slice a $42 million athletic deficit by about $10 million per year.
• Men's swimming and diving, men's tennis and men's cross country are still on the chopping block. And football won't be taking another years' sabbatical.
• Creighton had another big pick up for next season this week, signing four-star guard Trey Alexander. The Blue Jays may be young, but with four four-star recruits coming in, it's a national Top 5 recruiting class for Greg McDermott.
• A step in the right direction for Brown basketball – two-time all-Ivy forward Tamenang Choh has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will return to Brown for a 'super senior' year next season.
• URI baseball ended its' season with a loss to Dayton in the A-10 tournament. Bryant baseball, winners of the NEC regular season crown, stumbled in the NEC tournament title game against Central Connecticut for a second straight year…and missed out on receiving an NCAA tourney bid.
• Northeastern, along with Fairfield, UConn and CCSU, are the New England reps in the NCAA baseball field of 64. The Huskies won the CAA automatic berth with a win over UNC Wilmington, and faced Big 10 champ Nebraska Friday night in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
• Fairfield started its' season 28-0, finished 37-3 and earned the first-ever at-large spot from the MAAC. The Stags play in Austin, TX against Arizona State. Big East champ UConn plays Michigan in South Bend, IN and CCSU (still coached by one-time Providence coach Charlie Hickey) faces Oregon in Eugene, OR.
• Congrats to the Boston College women's lacrosse team, winning the school's first-ever women's natty by beating Syracuse last week. It's the sixth national title for BC overall, with men's hockey claiming the other five.
• And on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot for 2022 – former Rhody star QB Tom Ehrhardt, who was an all-American in 1985 and led the nation in passing.
• Also on the ballot with local ties: BC TE Pete Mitchell; four ex-Patriots in LB Vincent Brown (Mississippi Valley State), LSU RB Kevin Faulk, Pitt QB Matt Cavanaugh and Fort Valley State (GA) DB Tyrone Poole; UConn LB John Dorsey, UMass RB Rene Ingoglia, Holy Cross DB Bill McGovern, Tufts RB Tim Whelan and Coach Don Miller from Trinity (CT).
• It was only about 40% of capacity…but there were still 135K fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500 last weekend. Yes, that's the largest post-pandemic crowd to date. No, there weren't many masks seen in the crowd.
• And yes, another old guy, 46-year-old Helio Castroneves, won his 4th Indy 500…tying the record for most-ever. He also did it running the fastest race ever, averaging 191 miles per hour.
• Another hip-hip, hooray and huzzah for the geezers!
• Ok, so the Sox-Yankees rivalry is renewed this weekend…but overshadowed somewhat by the current trail blazed from the Tampa Bay Rays.
• The Rays' run is phenomenal. 22-6 record in May. Winners of 16 out of 18 at weeks' end following a loss to the Yankees. Waiting for a little of that Chaim Bloom Tampa juju to rub off on the Red Sox, amiright?
• Did you see where yet another geezer, 41-year-old lefty Rich Hill, had the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years? 0.78 in May over six starts for Tampa. Didn't throw a pitch over 90 mph. He's the oldest player in Rays' (albeit relatively brief) history.
• C'mon, man. Why can't we get players like…wait, wut?
• MLB is being sued for $100 million by the Job Creators Network (small business advocate) for moving the all-star game out of Atlanta. Also, for $1 BILLION in punitive damages, and they want the game moved back to Atlanta. They ain't messin' around.
• But now Denver might have some small quibble with this, too…if the game is moved back. Hey baseball? See this thumb? Gee, you're dumb.
• Not dumb – is the team that decides to pick up (and draft?) Connecticut prep pitcher Frank Mozzicato. He's headed for UConn to play but might not get there after throwing FOUR consecutive no-hitters.
• He's scheduled to throw again Saturday for East Catholic HS in Manchester in the state quarterfinals – one week before his 18th birthday.
• Thanks to RI Boston Globe reporter Dan McGowan for the updated numbers…which show sports bettors in 'Lil Rhody, um, kinda suck. It's true, the house always has a major advantage when it comes to wagering.
• But Rhode Island's "hold" (what a sportsbook keeps as a percentage of the total amount wagered) is 8.9 percent over the past 30 months. The national average is 7.2%. In Nevada – where they've been betting a bit longer, of course, the hold is 6.2%.
• Roe Dilanders are better bettors, however, than the dufuses in Delaware, Arkansas, Mississippi and Washington, DC. So, there's that. But keep on betting stupidly – the state's bank account needs your quid.
• I feel for tennis star Naomi Osaka. I really do. Having familial issues with depression, as I'm sure many do, often the toughest task to accomplish is the admission you have a problem in the first place. Stepping away from the French Open to not be a distraction is probably the right move to make for her own sake.
• But she must know – media comes with the territory of having her talent. Her gift, and her ability to exploit that gift to earn a living, is a privilege. With privilege comes duty in all walks of life. Turning your back on the media isn't the way to further your dreams – it'll only crush them.
• The sport of tennis should step in and help her, today. For her sake as well as theirs.
• Prizes and incentives for getting a coronavirus vaccination? A return to normal life or having respect for others' well-being isn't enough for you, huh? Stupid is as stupid does.
• But, W-I-T. Whatever It Takes.
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.
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