Okay, so I know what I wrote in my Final Thought a week ago.

I still stand by those words. I liked the Olympics far better when it was pure(or as close as we get) amateurism. No NBA players. No NHL players. No PGA or LPGA players. Just amateurs.

That said, I did tune in to some of the events and found the Paris Olympics to be…well, kind of spectacular. The setting won’t get any better, what with the damn Eifel Tower being the centerpiece for a lot of the events. That was pretty cool. Then there was the stunning performance by the Americans. From Cole Hocker stunning the running world with gold in the 1500 meters to Noah Lyles and his fake Covid, and Quincy Hall passing darn near everyone to win the 400 meters.. Simone Biles didn’t disappoint, nor did the timeless Katie Ledecky.

I was thrilled to see Imane Khelif win gold in women’s boxing. Khelif was unfairly terrorized by the gotcha segment of our society who desperately wanted to be able to use the word “woke”. That segment searches high and low for reasons to throw that word around. Again, Khelif came from Algeria where transgender gets you killed. Extra testosterone doesn’t change the fact that she is a woman. Good for her.

All of it was quite something, including watching all of the athletes come in for the closing ceremony knowing what they accomplished. For some just representing their country was victory enough. For others, winning gold was the goal. Watching Scottie Scheffler tear up during the National Anthem was emblematic of how these athletes feel in that moment.

That brings me to the men’s basketball team, a sport I know a little more about than fencing and marathon running.

Let’s get one thing out of the way. Because some of the players had their hands in their pockets during the National Anthem doesn’t mean they aren’t patriotic. You don’t have to fly an American flag outside your house, sing along to the Anthem every time it is played, or have a flag icon on your social media page header to be patriotic. I love America but don’t do any of those things.

Again, some segments decided to take to their keyboards to voice their angst at the fact other teams locked arms and sang their anthems while the Americans a-eared to not care.

Yikes.

Just so those people can rest easy, here are some pictures and quotes.

Head coach Steve Kerr:

 

 

Devin Booker:

 

 

Kevin Durant:

 


Medal ceremony(click the YouTube link and watch):

 

 

Maybe those idiots spouting the unpatriotic stuff can crawl back under their rocks and stfu.

Now, as far as the play on the court. The rest of the world has slowly been closing the gap on America. All you really have to do is see how many NBA players are on many of these other countries’ teams. The NBA Draft is littered with international players.

Not to mention, the core of the American team is getting pretty old. And it showed at times. Lebron is 39, Curry is 36, and Durant is 35. Make no mistake, however, this was their team. And when the time came to show up and show out, all three did it.

We get Lebron fatigue thanks to ESPN making him the first, second, and third lead story every night for the last decade plus. On the court he is one of the greatest of all time. With the Lakers apparently focused on LeBron playing with his son rather than building a championship roster, these Olympics might have been James’ last chance on a big stage. He didn’t disappoint.

Durant’s NBA career has been strange. Clearly one of the best players of his generation, yet a championship has eluded him ever since he left Steph Curry’s side in Golden State. He did not disappoint on this stage either. His shot making was what propelled the Americans for most of the event.

After looking a bit old, and making some poor defensive plays, Steph Curry brought this team home to win his first gold medal. The end of the gold medal game was all Steph Curry, and it was something to behold.

 

 

I mean, cmon. That last shot is crazy, crazy good. Then letting the crowd know it was over. Curry is the best shooter of all time. When I was a kid Larry BIrd was that guy. Bird is a better all around player, but Curry is the best pure shooter ever.

While America won the gold, it wasn’t easy. The bronze medalists, SerbIa, have Nikola Jokic and some other mid tier NBA players on the roster. Silver medalists France sported some NBA talent, too, led by Rudy Goebert and young phenom Victor Wembanyana. Wemby is going to be a handful. I mean check out this wingspan.

 

 

When Wemby shoots from inside, he is shooting the ball downward. He had tears in his eyes after the loss and then sent out a warning to the basketball world.

 

 

In the end, the Americans won gold. Looking past that, the stars are aging out and the rest of the world is catching up. Keeping the gold medal streak of 8 alive in LA 2028 won’t be as easy as you might think. Whoever takes over for Steve Kerr as coach of team USA will not have a cake walk.

I guess the Paris Olympics made me eat my words to some extent. It was a nice comeback for an event that lost its edge over the last decade or so. For performers in non mainstream sports, this is what they work for their entire lives. Representing their country at the Olympics is really cool.

I still wish we didn’t send our professionals —and please stop with the whole putting baseball back in the Olympics thing— and rather had our college kids representing the USA in basketball. Of course, I they aren’t truly amateurs anymore either.

I guess I need to find a new argument or just sit back and enjoy the show every four years.

Two Cent Takes

Olympics

~More Snoop in LA 2028. He and his old pal Dr. Dre making the Olympic transition to LA, as only they can.

 

 

~Mike Tirico is quickly becoming this generation’s voice for big events. He’s very good, no doubt about it.

Golf

~Remember when Matt Kuchar stiffed his caddy? Sure you do. Turns out Kuchar is a serial douche. Sunday he marked his ball in the middle of the 18th hole and walked off the course, forcing course workers to show up Monday morning to monitor him finish the last hole of his season. He made par Monday morning for what it’s worth.

 

 

~Golf lost one of its greatest ever personalities last week when Chi Chi Rodriguez passed away. It brought back one of the great TV scenes in sitcom history.

 

 

NFL

~I still hate NFL preseason games.

~I know the stats say kickoffs have a higher percentage of injuries, but I really hate this new kickoff nonsense. I’m sure I will get used to it. I am very open minded.

~Caleb Williams had a nice debut. Although it was just preseason, Williams showed the skills that make his ceiling so high. The fantastic Kyle Brandt summed up his debut as only Kyle Brandt can.

 

 

~Will Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni survive the year in Philly. There is supposedly a ton of dysfunction in that relationship. Will Hurts pay any attention to his coach? I like the Eagles talent, but this is sounding more and more like a losing situation.

~Speaking of dysfunction, I’m not sure what Jerry Jones is doing with his contracts in Dallas. He is obviously the one real believer in Dak Prescott, but Jones is playing chicken with Prescott’s number one target, Cee Dee Lamb. Welcome to Jerry’s world.

~I don’t know if the Steelers will end up with Brandon Aiyuk or not, but don’t underestimate how much they need him. When they traded the mercurial Dionte Johnson, it left them with Calvin Austin as the number two receiver. Van Jefferson will fill the Alan Robinson veteran role, but another talented receiver will certainly help whoever the quarterback ends up being.

College Football

~The NCAA bared those gnarly, vicious teeth again last week. Jim Harbaugh, you know the guy that is now in the NFL, got a four year show cause penalty. This would be a harsh penalty for someone still in the college game, which Harbaugh is not. This penalty was not for the Connor Stallions cheating allegations, but rather Harbaugh buying cheeseburgers for recruits during the COVID year. What is worse? The fact it took 4 years to get around to this punishment, that stiff a penalty for cheeseburgers, or punishing someone not involved in the sport.

It is also another example of the vindictiveness of the NCAA. When they unfairly punished USC it was because they didn’t like Pete Carroll’s style of having fun. Well, Jim Harbaugh has been very outspoken about the NCAA. This is their way at getting back at him, though it is going to fail miserably. The NCAA should be disbanded immediately. It is a useless organization.

~Deion Sanders certainly does keep receipts. In between criticizing and ridiculing certain media outlets at his press conference, he got in this nuanced shot at Pitt and Pat Narduzzi.

 

 

MLB

~To show you just how good the Phillies first half was, they have been borderline awful for a month and still are tied for the best record in the National League. The Phils became the latest to feel the wrath of the high octane Diamondbacks offense.

~I want to stand by my Phillies World Series pick, but something is pulling me to the West. LA, San Diego, and Arizona have some serious offenses. If any of those teams can get a hot pitching staff come late September, they would be my favorite to go all the way.

~Don’t sleep on the Brewers either. Tough bunch.

~This week both the Mariners and Astros got hot. The AL West may come right down to the wire.

~I know Aaron Judge is the front runner for AL MVP. If I got a vote, today it would go to the Royals Bobby Witt. Witt is hitting .347 with 22 HR, 11 triples, 33 doubles, and 25 stolen bases. He is slugging .604 with a .998 OPS and 7.7 WAR. That is absolutely incredible. For the record, Judge also has a 7.7 WAR.

~The Chicago White Sox have lost 24 of their last 25. They need 9 losses to reach 100. The 1962 Mets reached 100 losses on August 29, so the White Sox won’t have to try all that hard to set a new record. The White Sox fans aren’t taking it well.

 

 

The Weekly Shiny Penny

Back to the Olympics for a guy who told the truth, while showing he had a great sense of humor.

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

I promised myself I wasn’t going to write about the Pirates this week. Writer’s fatigue. Reader’s fatigue.

Then the Bafflin’ Bucs lost 8 straight, 10 of 11 since the all star break, and their GM had the audacity on Sunday to suggest his team was still focused on making the playoffs and that a good run was coming.

So, with all due respect to David Coverdale, here I go again.

I started the hashtag earlier this year #FireEveryone. Lately I have been waffling. I saw hope. I guess I still do, to a certain extent. But for this team, with this pitching staff and depth, to succeed changes must be made. No more waffling.

First on the chopping block is manager Derek Shelton.

Shelton has always been in over his head. Managing the lineup and the bullpen has always seemed like a challenge. Admittedly, Shelton has the disadvantage of a cheap owner and a poor general manager. Still, Shelton just doesn’t appear to be the man to lead this team to the playoffs.

The players allegedly speak highly of him. Of course, that happens when the players know a manager has their back at all times like Shelton always does. That, however, doesn’t make one a good manager.

Shelton is far too loyal to players. This recent stretch has emphasized this trait. Colin Holderman, David Bednar, Ji Hwan Bae, and KeBryan Hayes have all been given far too much rope. It has cost them game after game. Almost all of these past 10 losses were blown leads late. Only two of the Dodgers games were just flat out losses.

The team has awful fundamentals, which makes me question not only Shelton’s teaching but the minor league instruction. Shelton insists on bunting late in games. Bunting was cool in 1975, but now it has been exposed as just giving away an out. In the Pirates case they not only give away the out, but they fail to advance the runner.

Shelton just isn’t it. He has got to go.

Next, general manager Ben Cherington.

I am stunned that Cherington seems to have an air of superiority about him. In 9 total years as a GM, Cherington has had a losing season in 8 of those seasons. If this year continues to trend this way, 7 of those seasons will be last place finishes. It would be his fourth last place finish in five seasons in Pittsburgh.

That isn’t exactly progress, despite what Cherington will try and peddle.

You know what else isn’t progress?

 

 

At the start of 2022, the Pirates were ranked third in all of baseball. Cherington seemed to be getting it right, considering they were ranked 24 when he took over in 2020. The fall to 27 is precipitous, albeit it would be higher if Paul Skenes wouldn’t have skipped to the majors so quickly.

Of the top 10 prospects when the Pirates were ranked third:

  • Two may end up stars(Oneil Cruz, Jared Jones)
  • One is a solid bullpen guy(Carmen Modzlinski)
  • Three have yo-yoed between the majors and AAA(Henry Davis, Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales) All could still be productive. All could still be busts.
  • One is injured and will return next year(Endy Rodriguez)
  • Two were traded(Roansy Contreras, Quinn Priester)
  • One is still in AAA(Mike Burrows)

While Davis is trying to figure things out, Jackson Merrill(21) drafted 26 slots below may win rookie of the year. There just isn’t nearly enough impact from a farm system considered one of the best in baseball.

Now the Pirates are ranked 27 despite always drafting at the top of the first round. Take Skenes out of the mix and it is ugly.

Cherington clearly has also failed at player development. Drafting and developing are two of the most important jobs for a GM. Cherington has failed miserably.

Cherington’s trades have mostly been losers, too. This year, and I was fine with both because not much was given up. Cherington acquired Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Bryan De La Cruz. Falefa is going to help because of his versatility but certainly isn’t a game changer. Cruz, on the other hand, may have actually made the team worse. He is a right handed Jack Suwinski, and that isn’t a comparison you want. Strikeout constantly and play hand grenades in the outfield.

It is a bottom line, results based business that Cherington, Shelton, and crew have failed at emphatically. Locking down last place in a mediocre division is not the goal. And look closely. The Pirates aren’t close to being in the same talent space as the Padres, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, or Phillies. The Brewers and Mets also have significantly more talent.

What’s worse, is they lured the fans back in only to disappoint them once again.

Bad major league results, bad farm system, bad development, bad fundamentals, bad game management, bad owner.

The owner, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere. Therefore, he better make his incompetent minions go somewhere. Anywhere.

Of course, he hired the incompetence and would be in charge of hiring the next guys.

*Gulp*

What could go wrong?

Just my two cents…