Thinking out loud…while wondering if 'drive for show, putt for dough' needs a little adjustment…
• Ever heard of the term "NFT?" Know what it means?
• Me either.
• But NFT's are quickly becoming big business in the sports world, especially within the professional ranks with athletes and teams – and the collegiate world is going to have to deal with them very soon.
• An "NFT" stands for Non-fungible token. Seems harmless enough. An NFT can be something as innocuous as a tweet, or photo, digital artwork or Tik Tok video…something that can be saved and transmitted digitally, and they are beginning to sell 'like hotcakes.'
• That's right. SELL. NFT's are the 21st century version of trading cards. Except there's no stale bubble gum in the wrapper.
• Who would buy such things? Collectors. Fans. Anyone who wants a token or 'official' memento of a significant moment or event. Just like back-in-the-day when trading cards were everything for 12-year-old boys.
• They still are these days, of course, for kids older than 12, too. And NFT's are booming right alongside. NBA Top Shot is an example, selling digital trading card packs. Top Shot has already earned a quarter of a billion dollars in revenue – and a single LeBron James dunk shot brought in $200K.
• In this Name-Image-Likeness world we now live in, college athletes are poised to jump on the NFT craze…but only as soon as the NCAA decides what to do about athletes' rights to their own NIL's.
• Athletic departments are already beginning to set the trend for NFT's, turning them into marketing innovations and fundraising ideas. Don't think for a minute student-athletes won't be pointing this out to the NCAA.
• They already have. You think the transfer portal is the modern equivalent to the wild, wild, west? Wait until state laws governing NIL rights, passed in half of the US, begin to take effect without Congress (or the NCAA) coming up with their own set of governing standards.
• It will be a recruiting advantage for schools in states that have these laws – and a huge disadvantage for those who do not. It'll be the 21st century version of the O.K. Corral.
• Go ahead. Google that. I'll wait.
• And if you're waiting for Congress to do something about it for a national standard – like NCAA Grand Poobah Mark Emmert sez he is – don't hold your breath. Some people just like to see the world burn.
• And I, for one at least, would like to see someone stand up and extinguish the fire before it ever gets started.
• When name, image, and likeness rules take effect, NCAA athletes will be able to mint NFTs and collect their share of proceeds while they're still playing. But NAIA athletes can cash in right now.
• Three cheers for small(er) schools. Just sayin'.
• Transfer portal update: Tough to see PC's Jy'are Davis decide to transfer (late last week), but not surprising. After an early injury, he simply never made the floor as a rotational player – and his position (small forward) was covered by existing players. He also played much larger than his natural position – which also could have been problematic in his development.
• Junior-to-be guard Kyky Tandy sez he's staying at Xavier, rather than transfer. He's a former Mr. Basketball in Kentucky, and that may be a big recruiting win for the Musketeers…keeping around one they already had.
• St. John's this week added shooting guard Montez Mathis, transferring from Rutgers where he started 67 games and averaged 8.3 points per game on the Scarlet Knights' NCAA tourney team.
• University of Hartford students and athletes have begun to fight back from the news their school is considering a drop-back and transfer to Division III to save $10 million annually.
• More than 100 students marched on the campus earlier this week to protest the school's consideration of the potential move. There is also a petition at change.org with more than 5K signatures asking the school to stay in Division I…and an alumni and neighborhood support group challenging the school's information.
• Hartford President Gregory Woodward said, "Everyone thinks you make the tournament (which they did, losing to eventual national champ Baylor in the first round) you hit the jackpot. We didn't get a cent from the tournament and congratulations to our great kids, but we are losing money doing this."
• Wonder what the notoriety for making the tournament in the first place might be netting them? Have they given that a chance to succeed in the marketplace? And the negative publicity behind the alleged move – what about that?
• Another study has shown it may cost the school MORE to drop out of DI into DIII. I'll wager this negative PR has killed off quite a bit of athletic recruiting already. Stupid is as stupid does.
• Holy Cross football played three games in their shortened spring season and won them all. Which means they also won the Patriot League. Which means they earned a berth in the FCS playoffs, which means they'll travel to South Dakota to play the top-seeded South Dakota State Jackrabbits this weekend.
• Which means…they'll…oh, never mind.
• Condolences to the family and friends of long time Holy Cross radio voice Bob Fouracre, who passed away last weekend at the age of 83. His career spanned 57 seasons of calling Crusaders' athletics, including 48 of those calling football and basketball games.
• Fouracre was born in Worcester. He started calling games on Channel 27 in 1970 and switched to radio in the mid-'80's, where he continued on the mic until 2015 with football and men's basketball, and until 2018 for women's hoops.
• And how about this list of color announcers he worked with? Bob Cousy. Tom Heinsohn. Togo Palazzi. Gordie Lockbaum. Tom Kelleher. A Hall-of-Fame unto itself. One-time Boston College voice Dick Lutsk took over for Fouracre in football and men's basketball in 2015.
• Tweet of the Week, from @YahooSportsCFB: "Boise State's Big East tenure is going to last longer than the Super League."
• The way to look at this Super League fiasco of the past week? At least John Henry knows how to throw a changeup.
• But as he succumbs to the kind of pressure applied to him, the Fenway Sports Group and other (American) owners within soccer's worldly structure in quickly punting on this idea…why can't we get him (and other owners like him) to change the way they do things within American sport – like baseball?
• Two words: Pink hats.
• Too many pink hats still buying up tickets. Buying up tradition. Buying up memories and nostalgia and supporting American greed while not giving a **** about the sport.
• Too many pink hats need to sing Sweet Caroline ad nauseum at every home game. No one wants to give up their beloved baseball or Red Sox traditions, no matter the cost or who wins or loses.
• Meanwhile, we stand back and watch the sport slowly wither on the vine.
• I'll say this for futbol's fandom…they are a loyal bunch. They mean what they say. Tradition matters.
• And Reds' fans (that's Liverpool's fanbase) apparently aren't the forgiving type. Henry has trouble on his hands holding on to what he owns, after his attempt at…reaching out, and touching those hands willing to pay out $4.5 billion to the Super League teams while turning his back on decades of tradition.
• So good…so good…so good. But I digress. Americans have simply accepted greed and/or selling out as an acceptable form of bidness.
• Don't feel one bit sorry for Henry, FSG or Liverpool. Earlier this month, Forbes valued the Reds' worth at 2.98 billion pounds – or about $1.5 billion – an 88% growth inside of two years. If he must sell, he will be paid handsomely.
• And he'll buy out some other sucker team to start the process all over again. Or…just because this plan was such a PR disaster for these alleged astute bidness people…maybe Henry and his fellow Super Leaguers knew exactly what they were doing…setting the table for future deals?
• Almost on cue – ESPN and CBS want to cut in on NBC's deal to televise the Premiership. And NBC reported this week it wants to re-up on their current $1 billion, six-year deal. Cha-ching.
• Love conspiracy theories. This qualifies as one. Yeah, good ol' American greed, you can't deny it.
• Why else do you think Congress is bringing in Washington, DC as our 51st state? Think of all the new American flags they'll sell.
• Don't worry Puerto Rico, your day will come too. As soon as we need to sell more
flags.
• Not for nuthin', but if Henry sells out could the Red Sox maybe get Mookie back?
• Think I'm beginning to appreciate Alex Verdugo more and more as the days – and games – go by. His enthusiasm for the game is apparent. His ability within the game is becoming more apparent by the day.
• Verdugo said this past week that these Red Sox are one of the "funnest" teams he's been on. Know what would be funner? Seeing his teammates get vaccinated. Seeing Fenway Park attendance increase.
• Then even funner…seeing other athletes getting vax'd and other stadiums, both indoor and out...also open up to more fans. That would be wicked funner.
• The Texas Rangers have averaged more than 27K fans through six home games – nearly 65% more than the rest of MLB – and right now there is no indication that those larger crowds have led to increased Covid transmission.
• Tarrant County (where Globe Life Field is located) has seen 26% of its population vaccinated thus far. Next door Dallas County is at 27%. And the games are being played outdoors.
• Yup, that helps.
• Gotta admit, it's also been kinda fun to see the Yankees off to their worst start in nearly a quarter of a century.
• I don't have any doubt they'll figure it out before too much longer. But it's been interesting to see the squirming going on around Yankeedom. And coming off a home sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays, you'd think Armageddon was around the corner.
• Or, already at hand. But the Yanks were similarly sluggish to start 23, 24 years ago and ended up winning the World Series in what…'98?
• Would it be stinky to say Rougned Odor isn't working out? Not sure what made New York think he would, since he couldn't cut it at second base with the Texas Rangers.
• But it ain't just Odor smelling up the joint. The Yankees are striking out a little more than once out of every four at bats. The pitching staff – thought to be a strong suit – should file suit for non-support.
• Speaking of which…Jayson Tatum earned his first career triple double this week against Chicago. And the Celtics lost the game. Sez pretty much all you need to know about this team.
• Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart were out. And Tatum shot 3-for-17? Yikes.
• Sorry to learn of the passing of ex-Bruin player and analyst Johnny Pierson this past week, at age 95. While Pierson was a two-time NHL all-star, within my generation (and a bit younger) he was known as an exemplary analyst to Fred Cusick's radio and TV calls on Bruins' broadcasts.
• His work on TV, before he retired, was spot on with his description of what was happening on the ice – and more importantly – WHY it happened on the ice. He was 'the old guy' on the Bruins' broadcasts working those replays.
• And he knew what he was talking about. Pierson taught this fan things I didn't know about the game.
• Now that the coronavirus vaccine is available to everyone age 16 and up, the Buffalo Bills have stepped up – and they apparently mean business. The Bills have announced they'll require fans to use a 'vax passport' to show they've been inoculated in order to fill the stadium in the fall.
• Good idea? Just bidness? Or an invasion of privacy? If the Bills Mafia can suck it up and get stuck for the common good, why can't others follow suit?
• The way I look at it – attending a football game, or a basketball game, or any game that would attract a crowd – is not YOUR right. It is a privilege. It is for those who wish to pay to be there. It is also entering a private domain, not a public one.
• Kinda hard to equate a stadium or arena owned by a private entity with equal access to that of a public park or library. But some believe that, of course. And they would be wrong.
• The only way our stadiums and arenas get back to something close to normalcy will be through mask use – and perhaps even through the use of a vax passport. Get used to the new normal, kids.
• Don't want to vax? That's your right. Don't plan on getting into crowded facilities where you can breathe on others. Including me. That's my right.
• My buddy "Big E" sez he was trying to help his grandson fly a kite. He threw it up in the air several times but couldn't get it airborne. Mrs. E watched with apparent amusement from the kitchen window.
• She told him, "you need a piece of tail!" "Big E" turned and replied, without missing a beat. "Make up your mind! Last night you told me to go fly a kite!"
• Well, this'll go over well. The International Olympic Committee announced any athletes protesting while in Tokyo, social or otherwise, will be punished.
• Ironic, isn't it, that the very week the George Floyd trial is decided the IOC makes this decision? Floyd's death (and subsequent trial, of course) jump-started the entire athletic social movement last summer.
• This summer? Shut up and play.
• Apparently, about 70% of those Olympic athletes consulted agree with this decision.
• ICYWW…Aaron Rodgers' Jeopardy hosting stint won the week in TV syndication against Family Feud and Wheel of Fortune…even if he can't get back to and win the Super Bowl.
• Has the draft started yet? Can we get on with it?
• No huge rule changes decided by NFL owners this week, except for the replay official being allowed to assist with calls made on the field. Should keep coaches' hankies in their socks or shoes a bit longer than normal.
• May 12th is the NFL schedule release. Twitter was all aflutter this week over the possibility of the Patriots getting the Bucs on Thanksgiving night in Foxboro. Guess that means my tryptophan coma may be forced to wait it out that day?
• Didn't take Jules long to find work, did it? Julian Edelman will be joining "Inside the NFL" as an analyst, among other entities, in the fall.
• And you may see some different numbers on some players that look out of place…with more flexibility now allowed. But before guys all scramble to wear their favorite college digits – perhaps they should be reminded of the long-standing rule requiring players to buy out any excess supplies of their current numbered jerseys?
• Excellent news for the City by the Sea and Newport Country Club, with the USGA officially announcing this week the return of the US Senior Open in 2024. After the pandemic wiped out last summer, that's a mulligan we'll gladly take.
• Kinda like the idea of the PGA Tour's new "Player Impact Program," which will reward golfers for driving fan and sponsor interest regardless of how they play. Conceivably, you could duck-hook a drive, tweet about it, get a few thousand likes and retweets and still score $$$ for a lousy shot.
• Drive for show, tweet for dough? Helluva country we live in, huh?
• My buddy Darius from across the pond tweeted at me this week, on the John Henry/Liverpool/Super League saga: "To me this is (John) Henry trying to appease new investors like the LeBron James lead group that have just invested in FSG, as well as trying to make up for the money lost during the pandemic. And excuse the pun, but it's been a massive own-goal."
• Darius – agreed. There's little doubt the infusion of American personalities, big-time athletes and American big-time bucks (and greed) applied the pressure here. The question should now be…depending on what happens from this point forward for the ownership groups within the 12 Super League teams…how do they win back lost loyalty? And do they ever consider American investment again?
• Wanna bet they figure it out? And wanna bet they'll find a way to take our money, too?
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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