Thinking out loud…while wondering how karma and now ex-RI house speaker Nicholas Mattiello are faring today…
· Greatest franchise in the history of team sport, the Patriots are. Why?
· Sustained excellence through a 20-year period that includes a salary cap…with no losing seasons (yet). No other pro team comes close. Only two missed playoff years (maybe three this year, though) during that period.
· And yet – we all seem ready to give up on them. Is it really ovah?
· What happens if, let's say, the Patriots bottom out this year and bounce back next year? Is it the beginning of a new dynastic run or the continuation of the old one?
· Silly, really. We're all beaten up by the Patriots' sustained excellence, even die-hard fans. Me? I'd just like to sit back and appreciate the magnitude of the incredibleness that we may never witness again.
· And, be ready to criticize right along with you as to how to get back there again.
· Bill Belichick sez he's sticking with Supercam at QB. He should. You need to figure out if he has any 'gas in the tank' left…and we haven't yet learned that, thanks in part to Covid.
· You're just too impatient, and can't see the forest for the trees…if you believe we have.
· Not for nuthin', but I don't mind the call to attempt the onside kick against the Bills. Sometimes you need to make a play. It was planned, Buffalo's Tyler Matakevich simply made a great play on it. Well executed, except for the result.
· Jakobi Meyers > N'Keal Harry. Who knew?
· Ja'Whaun Bentley struggled, big time, against the Bills. Missed tackles, in the wrong spots. It really shows how much the loss of Dont'a Hightower means to this side of the ball.
· Biggest new problem – lack of tackling. Patriot defenders are having real trouble shedding blocks and making plays before a back or receiver gets 5-6 yards further upfield.
· Where has Chase Winovich been? Hard to fathom he's being used as a near one-trick pony to simply rush the passer. How does he improve elsewhere if he's not playing?
· Since 1990, 144 NFL teams have started the season 2-5. Seven made the playoffs. Just sayin'.
· Three losses have now come down to the final drive and/or possession of the game. That voodoo they used to do so well…
· And turnovers still kill. New England is 0-5 this season when they do not have a positive turnover ratio. That is all.
· The NFL trade deadline this week came and passed without a ton of fanfare or big moves. Why?
· Maybe teams were reluctant to pull the trigger on roster-altering changes because of the expansion of the postseason – perhaps to as many as 16 teams (if games are cancelled). Too many are still in the hunt – including New England.
· That, and this little thing known as the coronavirus pandemic. Too many teams are also worried about cap carryover to next year, which is anticipated as being more 'normal.'
· In the Patriots' case, save for the pickup of Isaiah Ford from Miami at receiver, they should have the cap room next year to try and correct what appears to be an aberration this year.
· Maybe it's just me being slow, but I've begun to believe this season is pretty much what BB planned for. He knew this was coming. He said as much this week to OMF on WEEI.
· I mean, that's pretty candid for him, isn't it?
· Selling out to win three Super Bowls in six years, with another SB appearance and an AFC title game appearance as well. Five of six years in the NFL Final Four. Yeah, I'd sell out for that kind of return any day. So would any team.
· But does he know his drafting and personnel decisions, or lack thereof, put his team in this place to begin with?
· Hey, at least they're not the J-E-T-S. To those who would like to see them lose to the Jets to 'tank for Trevor,' check yourselves and your sanity. Besides, Jimmy G. may be on the move. Rookestradamus told me.
· Still reading The Dynasty, by author Jeff Benedict. It's tough to put down and get any work done. Some tremendous insight and storytelling, giving readers a true 'fly on the wall' feeling in several significant moments during the past 20 Patriot seasons.
· Even if this season is acting as a flyswatter. Smack!
· Pittsburgh is still perfect. Wish I could care and get worked up over it, but I can't. So, I won't.
· Know what I'm looking forward to seeing on TV? Political ads in football games disappearing.
· If you're an NFL Sunday Ticket subscriber or fan, you know it can be pricey. You also are probably aware the NFL and DirecTV have, well, taken advantage of their partnership where there are few options for watching out of market games, except for Red Zone.
· The US Supreme Court threw out an appeal by the NFL and DirecTV to have an antitrust case against them tossed out. Which means…service subscribers (and others) can proceed with a lawsuit alleging consumers could have more choices if it were NOT for their relationship.
· There are two million NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers, and the NFL and DirecTV have been partners in this venture for 26 years. DirecTV also pays out $1.5 billion in annual rights fees.
· Speaking of rights fees, Disney wants a piece of Sunday Night Football. NBC currently pays nearly $1 billion annually for those rights, so we'll see if a mouse can whip a peacock when it comes to negotiations.
· Sean Connery is, and always will be, Bond. James Bond. And martinis are always shaken, not stirred.
· Ex-Friar assistant and current NCAA VP for Basketball Dan Gavitt told the Ed Cooley Radio Show audience this week there WILL be an NCAA Tournament in March. WHAT it will consist of is still anyone's guess…in case you were wondering about the Dunkin Donuts Center hosting those games in March.
· And to clarify the NCAA's awarding of additional eligibility for winter athletes – ALL roster players, not just seniors, may have an extra year to play collegiately due to the pandemic. Seniors are, of course, most affected today and will not count toward scholarship numbers for next season if they come back. Grad transfers, as they have previously, would count against scholarship limits.
· But, let's say David Duke or AJ Reeves want to take advantage of the extra year, or perhaps Jared Bynum or another underclassman? They would count against the year's scholarship total when they choose to return – with school and coach permission, of course.
· Ed Cooley's biggest issue, other than staying healthy and safe, is the sheer number of practices he's been able to hold. Right now, they're in the teens…where in another year, they would have had 70 or more team workouts in by now.
· Expect play to be a bit ragged at the start. Mature, experienced teams may have as big of an advantage as they've ever had.
· Might be tougher for UConn at the start – they've put a pause on workouts for two weeks thanks to a player testing positive for Covid this week. We should probably get used to this.
· Even so, it could be another banner Big East season – all 11 teams are ranked in Kenpom's Top 86 teams – out of 357 (minus Bethune-Cookman) that are preparing to play this year.
· FYI: PC is at 63 (7th in BE), URI 98 (8th in Atlantic-10), Brown 228 (6th Ivy), Bryant 308
(7th NEC).
· URI's Fatts Russell is on the preseason Bob Cousy list for the country's best point guard…along with Massachusetts native Marcus Zegarowski from Creighton, ex-Harvard star Bryce Aiken at Seton Hall and Villanova's Collin Gillespie.
· Based on the production of the past 17 winners, you'll need to see 18 points, four rebounds and 6.2 assists per game – at least – this season from these candidates to be in position to win. Winners also play for pretty good, tournament-bound teams.
· On the Jerry West list for the nation's best shooting guard, four come from the Big East – UConn's James Bouknight, Xavier's Paul Scruggs, Creighton's Mitch Ballock and Villanova's Justin Moore.
· The Julius Erving small forward award features Franklin, Massachusetts' Jermaine Samuels at Villanova as a candidate. Karl Malone power forward? Sandro Mamukelashvili of Seton Hall, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl from Nova…as well as UMass' Tre Mitchell.
· As of today, Big East media plans for the upcoming season will include no travel for each school's radio broadcast teams…largely due to the quarantine restrictions in and out of several league-member states, including RI, CT, NY, NJ, and Washington, DC.
· This could change once the calendar flips to 2021, but for now, there will be studio set-ups similar to how NBA and NHL teams broadcast road games during their recently completed seasons.
· Most NFL radio broadcast teams are currently calling road games from studio arrangements, including the Patriots…from inside their home booth at Gillette Stadium.
· Conference USA and the West Coast Conference are both altering their league hoop schedules to play two games over a 3-day period (Thu-Sat) to limit travel, expenses, and exposure. CUSA teams will play their games at a single location over those days before moving on.
· Legendary college hoop coach Billy Tubbs died this week at age 85. His brand of 'Billy Ball' produced 641 wins over 31 seasons at four schools, retiring in 2006. He led Oklahoma to the national title game against Kansas in 1988.
· The Sooners had been to only one NCAA Tournament since 1947 before he arrived in 1980, my senior year of college. Since his 'era' began, OU has only missed 12 tournaments in 40 years.
· Tubbs became a folk hero – while at TCU his Horned Frogs beat the Friars in '98 at the Dunk in Tim Welsh's first season – when he told his home crowd at a game against Missouri in 1989: "The referees request that regardless of how terrible the officiating is, do not throw stuff onto the floor."
· Joe Hassett couldn't have said that any better.
· My buddy "Big E" forced himself to go grocery shopping at one of those new "4D" stores – the ones that bring you closer to nature? They have misters and the sound and fresh smell of rain near the produce, cows mooing and the smell of fresh hay near the dairy, hens clucking and the smell of fresh bacon near the eggs – and the bakery? Whoa.
· But he sez he won't buy toilet paper in there anymore.
· Japanese sports officials are engaging high-tech solutions to see if they can safely fill stadiums with fans. High-precision cameras, carbon-dioxide monitoring devices and wind-speed measurements are all being utilized to find out what dangers, if any, fans truly face.
· Adding here – Japan has had less than 2000 Covid deaths in a country of 126 million people.
· The NBA could lose up to $4 billion (with a "B") in revenue if fans are limited at games next season beginning in late December.
· The NFL had six games last weekend with fans in attendance, including just over 12,000 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. But Gillette Stadium remains empty.
· Texas Tech appears to be one of the few high-profile hoops programs to announce they'll play to home crowds to start the season – hosting 25% of capacity within their arena.
· Same at the University of Cincinnati, hoping to squeeze in some fans for men's and women's basketball games at Fifth Third Arena, including the game against Xavier on Dec. 6th.
· And fans are returning, about 2000 of them, to the galleries of the PGA this week in Houston.
· Take it for what it's worth…but Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week mask wearing should continue well into next year, and fans should probably be able to return to games, in graded amounts and not at full building capacity, by the 3rd or 4th quarters of 2021…even with a good vaccine.
· Which means in time for football season. But masks are still going to be in play.
· Think Arizona is hunkering down? The university is eliminating 21 full-time athletic positions and 15 unfilled spots thanks to the financial difficulties coming from the coronavirus pandemic. Oh, and thanks to that impending smackdown on the way from the NCAA for NINE basketball violations, too.
· The Great Northeast Athletic Conference, a Division III league where local schools Johnson & Wales and Dean College compete, cancelled winter sports due to the pandemic. GNAC member St. Joseph's in Hartford may look to play some non-league games with its' teams, including men's basketball – coached by Hall of Famer Jim Calhoun.
· Travis Roy's passing hit home in several ways this past week. His traumatic injury only 11 seconds into his first collegiate shift at BU in 1995 was shocking, as was the aftermath. But no one – no one – made chicken salad out of the chicken bleep hand he was dealt in life…like he did.
· ESPN's latest round of firings includes shedding more than 500 positions worldwide, and 300 through layoffs – including long-time football writer Ivan Maisel (18 years) and one of my former ESPN Radio producers, Randy "Mary Tyler" Moore (21 years) – due to repercussions from the pandemic.
· In case you were wondering – the combined pandemic revenue drop from the NFL, NBA and MLB? $13 billion…with baseball taking a $7.7 billion reduction.
· We mentioned you may be missing out on all those Fox regional sports networks on your current TV coverage last week – and of course, last week YouTube TV also ditched NESN. So much for cord-cutting, even the cutters are cutting to the bone these days to save costs.
· And at some point, the leagues receiving rights fees from distributors are going to see less and less come their way. It hasn't happened yet…demand > supply.
· It's probably fair to wonder – but will downtown Providence's Dunkin Donuts Center keep its' current name? Dunkin just sold to Inspire Brands for $11.3 billion – and the Dunk naming rights deal is up next May 1st.
· Other properties you may be familiar with under the Inspire umbrella include Arby's, Hardee's/Carl's Jr., Moe's Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky's Deli, Jimmy John's, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic. The mind is now wandering…and pondering…
· Of course, J.D. Martinez opts in again with the Red Sox. You giving up $38 million over the next two years to become a free agent in an uncertain market thanks to Covid?
· Didn't think so. He isn't either.
· Alex Cora did the same and opted back in with Boston, too. But did he really have any other choice?
· Giancarlo Stanton also opted back in with the Yankees, with seven years and $218 million left on the table. The man's no dummy, even if he does whiff more often than a skunk in a trashcan.
· Mookie Betts won another Gold Glove. He may be the MVP. In my best Bob Lobel, "why can't we get players like that?"
· Tony LaRussa to the White Sox, Part II, 34 years after his first run as skipper ended. What, Connie Mack wasn't available?
· I missed out on my beer here…but cool nonetheless that Jon Lester bought $47K worth of beers at Chicago bars last weekend as a possible farewell to Cubs' fans.
· Not-a-shock. The Baltimore Orioles are for sale. Also not-a-shock. Pawsox/Woosox owner and CEO, and former RedSox and O's CEO Larry Lucchino is a potential buyer.
· Nicholas Mattiello, the now-outgoing Speaker of the House in Rhode Island, will forever be known as the man most responsible for driving the Pawsox out of the state to Worcester. It's his political epitaph. You own it, fella.
· Sure, there were other variables involved, but the bottom line is – he could have stepped in to stop it. He did not.
· And Mattiello got stepped on in his re-election bid in Cranston this week as a result. Sometimes, it's good to see karma can still balance the universe.
· And congratulations to ex-CCRI baseball coach, athletic administrator and teacher Ken Hopkins, elected this week as Cranston's new mayor. Nice retirement, Coach Hop.
· 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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