caulfield12

https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33254263/russian-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-tested-positive-banned-drug-according-reports The Olympics just got even more political. If they disqualify her, Putin just might be crazy enough to threaten war with Ukraine and his new buddy buddy relationship with Xi Jinping will quickly be tested. If they let it slide due to her age and no clear performance-enhancing effect (from a sample taken two months) ago…no matter what, the Americans or Russians will be complaining big-time, especially someone like Vincent Zhou knocked out of performing due to those inconsistent/supposedly stricter Covid tests here in China.

Wil Cordero comes to mind here as well.

Including a teenage girl online…pretty sure she was under 18, would have to check it. That wasn’t sexually related if I recall correctly, but more based on Bauer’s internet persona.

It’s a disaster for Russia if it’s Valieva at only age 15. But then one has to wonder about all these quads when someone like Karen Chen seems like she’s skating a decade ago in comparison. That said, they’re eight to ten deep behind her. The Gold medalist in Alina Galitova from 2018 that did like seven triples the last two minutes of her routine is still only 19. I guess things would even be worse in Kazahkstan with a coup almost taking place. Many are now suggesting a permanent Greek/European home that’s got different countries or regions for different sports … more decentralized and neutral. Then again, almost every winter host site going back decades will be unable to sustain natural snow by the year 2050 or something like that. Also glad psychological issues getting more attention with Biles, Schiffrin, Vincent Zhou, etc.

With limited fans, and partisans of one country…just not the same feeling at all.

Here in China, it's simply Eileen Gu 24/7. She has 26 and counting sponsorship deals, climbing into the mid $30 million range and counting before starting freshman year at Stanford. Then you have Kamila Valieva, arguably the greatest skater of all time for women at age 15, out doing the program of the 2010 US men's gold medal program in difficulty. Like Serena Williams beating Federer at Wimbledon, crazy. The days of Hamill, Fleming, Lipinski, Yamaguchi, Kerrigan and Witt are long gone...quads are in. The Russians are simply running laps around the field, like South Korean female golfers. Nathan Chen and Chloe Kim are off to promising starts, but Mikaela Schiffrin just wiped out a second time and Red Gerrard and Jamie Anderson failed to medal, and the US women's Hockey team lost to Canada while out shooting them 2-1. Is this the nadir of American Olympic sports, or just an anomaly...that will be sorted out in France, Italy and LA the next three Olympics?

The Dodgers have the biggest payroll and best farm system. They can send a financial subsidy and talent to get rid of him if they really want to.

Doesn't speak well about health of game for fans when this is all there is to discuss 1/3rd of way into February.

https://fansided.com/2022/02/08/trevor-bauer-news-dodgers-future/ Seems more a case where her credibility has been seriously wounded...but normally civil follows criminal, yes? That said, feels like more a case of settling outside of court, although knowing Bauer he might refuse in an effort to be "somewhat vindicated" but who knows in the end. Ofc the Dodgers still have decisions to make on Kershaw and others...pretty hard to imagine Bauer returning there.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33246056/source-los-angeles-dodgers-trevor-bauer-face-criminal-charges-stemming-allegations-sexual-assault Seems he is still likely to face civil court as well as the delayed MLB investigation…but hard to imagine this will keep him out of MLB forever, despite some early conclusion reaching on social media that he would be put away in jail for at least 5-7 years.

Bill Veeck, one supposes…

Things would look quite a bit different had Rodon stayed…which I guess is not still completely out of the realm of possibility. But Rodon and Madrigal are two Top 5 picks without much of anything to show for right now. That would hurt any organization, but especially one as thin as we are depth-wise (except at 1B/DH, of course.)

The White Sox right now are in the Top 6-8 for broadcast revenue per game...despite the tepid ratings over most of the last deca de. Plus they can renegotiate again after 2023 or 24 (current/newest deal is just five years), which should be only helped by another two years in the postseason. And that just goes to show how dominant the NFL is with their t.v. revenues, with the Chiefs and Browns doing very well for themselves, and the Vikings as well. Detroit is the only metro area that's struggling relatively, and the Lions have been about the equivalent of the Bengals the last thirty years.

This sounds familiar. The Sox and Bears have about the same amount of postseason success, slight advantage to the Bears the last 40 years or so.

Sinclair, by the way, has 21 of these RSN’s/RUNs now… FBally Sports Arizona; Bally Sports Detroit; Bally Sports Florida; Bally Sports Great Lakes; Bally Sports Kansas City; Bally Sports Indiana; Bally Sports Midwest; Bally Sports New Orleans; Bally Sports North; Bally Sports Ohio; Bally Sports Oklahoma; Bally Sports San Diego; Bally Sports SoCal; Bally Sports South; Bally Sports Southeast; Bally Sports Southwest; Bally Sports Sun; Bally Sports West; and, Bally Sports Wisconsin; Marquee and YES. The Bally RSNs serve as the TV home to more than half of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams based in the United States. The Bally RSNs also produce over 4,600 live local professional telecasts each year in addition to a wide variety of locally produced sports events and programs.

The failure of Sinclair to reach an agreement with YouTube TV on carriage fees illustrates that time is running out for RSNs under the current model. Unless, of course, consumers are willing to shell out $26+ a month for an RSN direct-to-consumer service. Operators are dropping Sinclair RSNs “YouTube TV’s decision to drop Sinclair’s RSNs is just the latest in a string of fights between sports rights owners and service providers. Last August, Altitude Sports was dropped by DirecTV, Comcast, and Dish, and only DirecTV restored the channels. fuboTV dropped Sinclair’s RSNs at the beginning of the year, and Comcast says it likely won’t renew them when the license expires in September. Sinclair’s Fox Regional Sports Networks and the YES Network all vanished from YouTube TV on February 29th. The loss of fuboTV and possibly Comcast customers deals a severe blow to Sinclair. The company paid Disney $9.6 billion for the Fox RSN’s last August, and with operators dropping the channels left and right, the investment is looking ever riskier. Rich Greenfield, a Lightshed analyst, thinks the way forward for the RSNs is in an a la carte model, where customers pay individually for only the RSNs they want. So, if the future of RSNs is a direct subscription – either through pay TV operators or direct-to-consumer online – how much will Sinclair and other RSN owners need to charge to keep the same amount of revenue?” https://nscreenmedia.com/rsn-direct-to-consumer-service/ Basically amounts to $26/month, on average. 29% would definitely or probably change, 34% undecided and 37% definitely or probably not. Guess that would be almost dead even as your favorite team’s season was starting and those against in polls tend to waver.

You forgot Cuban signings….and until about 3-4 years ago, the overall health of the major league roster.

I should have specified. One of those draft years, they got at least three starters out of it…something the Sox haven’t done for decades. https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2019/08/cleveland-indians-inside-the-franchise-changing-2016-draft-that-delivered-shane-bieber-zach-plesac-aaron-civale-terry-pluto.html

Just had that feeling coming up without points at the end of the first half…then the DL batted ball interception. All things considered, still believe the Rams (especially at home) are the most complete team on both sides of the ball. Of course they’ve lost, what, six in a row to SF? Just hope we continue the string of great games, and thankfully the Chiefs didn’t score again in OT or that would have been the main topic of discussion through the offseason. Even more incredible to go from 6-25-1 last two years to a Super Bowl.

Who is this? As a coach: Texas A&M (2008–2011) Graduate assistant Miami Dolphins (2012) Assistant quarterbacks coach Miami Dolphins (2013–2014) Quarterbacks coach Miami Dolphins (2015) Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach University of Cincinnati (2016) Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach Los Angeles Rams (2017) Assistant wide receivers coach Los Angeles Rams (2018) Quarterbacks coach

$15.6 million in career earnings, including the $2.6 million signing bonus. Or a little less than what Michael Conforto can expect to earn this season.

Look at who has started games for the Indians for the last 2-3 years and where they were drafted. The main reason we still haven’t completely buried them despite baseball’s lowest payroll. Heck, if we could just be the Brewers. When all is said and done, we didn’t get enough from Rodon, Fulmer, Collins and Madrigal based on their draft positions. Which is partially why we’ve now had to spend so much to compensate.

Hard to argue with jettisoning Wentz in Philly. Now it's so much about having the whole organization aligned behind the right guy at QB. Especially in an era when arguably someone like Dak isn't good enough unless you surround them with almost the perfect pieces. Look at the disharmony around Tua in Miami for example. If you don't have the QB, you clearly need a Top 3-5 coach/scheme guy like Shanahan (and a Deebo or Tyreek Hill doesn't hurt either). It's kind of like Moneyball now. Roughly half the teams (or more) have run/pass option guys at QB...so the niche or competitive advantage will move elsewhere organizationally. The Liberty QB in this year's draft might be the only one that checks close to half those boxes.

You would think they would have a better video than one pitch into the dirt…

Another one of those hyped second rounders who ended up disappointing. Most do. For every Kyler Murray out of OU, you will get a boatload of Hansens and Steele Walkers. The cruel reality of baseball. More or less the minor league version of Erik Johnson, where nobody could quite figure out how to fix him…another victim of injuries and the psychological aspect of the game. Feel like there’s a Yogi Berra quote relevant here. “90% of the game is half mental.” That’s also why it’s so easy to appreciate someone like Lucas Giolito, who had some horrific major league numbers but managed to find a solution with his mechanics. Or even one half season of brilliance from Carlos Rodon.