Rivera takes hit for Del Rio’s gaffe
VCU, Richmond disrespect ODU in clear sign of Monarchs’ decline
Ron Rivera took one for the team — specifically, team ownership. Former NFL coach Jeff Fisher told him, “Keep your mouth shut,” while Fox primetime polemicist Tucker Carlson called Rivera a “fascist moron.” The flak was in response to the $100,000 fine levied against Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio for his “dust-up” comment about the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.
The size of the fine struck me as excessive. But though Rivera put his name to it, the order surely came down from the top following a state senator’s comment that Del Rio’s remarks were “the nail in the coffin” for public funding of a Northern Virginia stadium for the Commanders. To win back support from Richmond, Dan Snyder needs his franchise to look tough on this issue, with Rivera as the front man.
Footnote: Del Rio deleting his Twitter account, I’m sure, is a great loss to political and social discourse. If only more would do it.
Weaselly: The easiest call in the world was predicting that Snyder would decline the invitation to appear in front of the congressional committee investigating his team’s workplace conduct.
Comedown: Whatever VCU’s motivations might be, it’s a big diss for Old Dominion that its traditional rival no longer thinks the Monarchs are a pelt worth hanging on the wall. With Richmond also scrubbing ODU from its schedule, the Monarchs are even more isolated from their I-64 neighbors.
VCU and Richmond will play their share of low-rated non-league opponents. If
ODU is being cut out from that group because of its new conference affiliation, that’s one thing. But the program’s shrinking profile, independent of the Sun Belt, likely is also a factor.
Image remake: For half a century, ODU was recognized as a basketball school (women’s and men’s), as well as a field hockey power. Now it’s a baseball and football school. Any doubt of that?
Shaking off rust: If Serena Williams plays deep into the Wimbledon draw after being absent from the tour a full year, it will say as much about the lack of quality and depth in women’s tennis as it will about Serena’s talent and resolve.
Grass stains: With so many top Russian and Belarussian players — especially on the women’s side — barred from Wimbledon, the winners should have asterisks by their names.
His loss: Since the U.S. has no immediate plans to relax its ban on unvaccinated visitors entering the country, Novak Djokovic, who missed the Australian Open after refusing to follow COVID guidelines, is a possible no-show for the U.S. Open. Way to screw up a great career.
Once burned: In the legal battle between Peter Angelos’ sons over control of the Orioles, club chairman and CEO John Angelos dismissed rumors that he would move the team to Nashville, Tennessee, where his family lives and his wife runs a business. The franchise, he said, “will never leave” town. Good to hear. But you’ll have to excuse Baltimoreans if their thoughts turn to Robert Irsay and Mayflower moving vans.
Revision: A reader thought that my note in search of a punchline last week trivialized the accusations against Deshaun Watson and was insensitive to the plaintiffs.
That was not my intention, but I understand his point. The allegations made by 24 women paint the Browns quarterback as a serial predator and deviant.
Sobering stuff.
No shame: In the NCAA baseball regionals, a University of Tennessee player gave a one-finger salute to the opposing team after a game-winning hit. Meanwhile, in the next series against Notre Dame, Vols fans embraced their rowdy reputation by wearing T-shirts that read “Classless vs. Catholics,” a twist on the “Catholics vs. Convicts” shirts worn years ago for the Irish-Miami football rivalry. Classless, huh. Apparently fits them to a T.
Update: A year-and-a-half after he underwent Tommy
John surgery, 39-year-old Astros starter Justin Verlander keeps rolling along. Going into Thursday’s games, the former ODU great was tied for the MLB lead in wins with eight, with an ERA of 1.94. The man is relentless.