U.S. sports leagues must stand together in support of unjustly punished Griner

I DON’T care where you line up politically or how you feel about her pre-arrest conduct — I found her insufferable — but Brittney Griner’s nine-year sentence to a Russian labor camp is inhumane, sick and likely a case of extreme anti-American geopolitical vindication, nothing to do with justice.

With Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine a major point of contention in allowing Russian federation-controlled athletes to compete in international events, all American sports bodies should play return hardball to have Griner released or at least have her sentence — for a vape pipe and cannabis oil — reduced to under a year.

This one is no longer about ideology but the life of an American woman sentenced to a decade of extraordinarily harsh cruelty for a minimal crime.

➤ The most astonishing thing about Vikings’ WR Justin Jefferson’s performance in Buffalo, Sunday, was that the better the coverage the more extraordinary the catch. Early, he actually sorta, kinda dropped a pass against light coverage. So why wouldn’t Kirk Cousins throw directly into coverage? And Jefferson delivered the get-away block on a 71-yard TD run by Dalvin Cook. Sensational. Unforgettable.

➤ Keepin’ it real: College football telecasts should provide viewers added rooting interests by noting the number of player arrests each program has been “distracted” by, the last five years.

➤ A fourth quarter “instant replay review” stoppage in TexansGiants ran 4:30 before the right call was made. Maybe.

➤ Memo to new Devils’ MSG TV play-by-play man Bill Spaulding: Go easier on the stats. Hockey is played on ice, not paper.

➤ With FTX crypto collapsed as a house of wild cards, the Baseball Hall of Fame has summoned MLB umpires’ FTX paid promo uniform patches for display in an exhibit titled “The Rob Manfred Era.”

➤ Reader Henry Blaukopf has a good question for Kyrie Irving, Adam Silver, Nets’ owner Joe Tsai and the NBPA: If all truly believe that Irving is not anti-Semitic, why did he post that link to a crackpot anti-Semitic movie in the first place?

➤ Sacre bleu! Devils at Montreal on MSG, Tuesday. Montreal — the Montreal Canadiens, for crying out loud — in powder blue uniforms. Anything for a nickel.

➤ Reader Jay Cummings has inside word that this week President Biden will declare up to $20,000 per person in debt relief to sports gamblers.