The end of NFL WFT probe may be foretold
The NFL’s decision clearing the way for Dan Snyder to buy out minority owners carries a strong whiff of acquiescence on the league’s part that it will go real easy on the Washington Football Team and its owner after the sexual harassment investigation is complete. Even assuming — which we shouldn’t — that the investigation is on the up-and-up.
Danger lurks: No nickname yet for the WFT? Great. More opportunity for this typist to accidentally transpose the F and T.
Diminished rep: I think we’re all starting to get the vague sense that Deshaun Watson isn’t quite as attractive as he was to NFL teams. Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, also represented Roger Clemens during baseball’s steroids scandals. At the time, wags questioned the wisdom of hiring a lawyer who is Rusty.
Reality check: A big batch of civil suits doesn’t mean Watson is guilty, but Roger Goodell has suspended players before — Ben Roethlisberger comes to mind — who were not criminally charged.
COVID crisis: The narrative of Tony Bennett’s team once again serving as early-round upset fodder doesn’t square with the reality of U.Va. players sitting out practices leading up to the Ohio game. Not surprisingly, the Cavaliers weren’t ready.
Quick hit: The Big Ten’s tournament swoon surprises me; the ACC’s doesn’t.
Who dat? The NCAA men’s Sweet 16 is a microcosm of today’s college hoops environment.
For all the fanfare, there are no household names other than two or three coaches . . . and Loyola’s Sister Jean.
Future attractions: In what might be Sunday’s best basketball attraction, freshman guards Caitlin Clark of Iowa and Paige Bueckers of No. 1-ranked UConn meet in a round-of-16 showcase of the sport’s most talked-about players.
Pioneer: Elgin Baylor, who died Monday at 86, was “the most influential offensive player of the last 60 years,” writes longtime Boston Globe basketball maven Bob Ryan. Baylor introduced the above-the-rim game to the NBA, yet for all his prolific scoring totals and the impact his style had on future generations — Julius Erving counts him as a major inspiration — his contributions have largely been lost to time. Punch up YouTube highlights to see that Baylor’s unique talents wouldn’t be out of place today.
Hors de combat: Lately, I’m left with the impression that every NBA superstar is out injured.
Killing it: If the Tampa Bay Bucs reach next year’s Super Bowl, a great deal of the credit should go to management for the way it’s keeping the team together.
Drafty-ness: While everyone is abuzz over how many quarterbacks can be jammed into the first five or six NFL draft picks and how many play-making receivers are for the taking, Alabama’s Najee Harris, the consensus top running back, is slated by Mel Kiper Jr. to go no sooner than
30th to the Buffalo Bills. Another reminder of how football has changed.
Busted brackets: An occasional March Madness upset sparks excitement, but too many and the TV audience declines.
Idle thought: Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim gives kids coached by their dads a good name.
Far flung: Two Big East teams remain alive in the NCAA tournament — Villanova of the Philadelphia area and Creighton, from that noted Eastern enclave of Omaha, Nebraska. And we wonder why today’s kids don’t know geography.
Splash: Basketball highlights are fun, but the best sports video I saw this week was from the match play event in Austin, Texas, when Rory McIlroy’s hooked tee shot hit a cart path and ended up at the bottom of somebody’s backyard pool. Sorry Rory, but I enjoyed that.