Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

Firings watch.

Thursday, February 15th, 2024

Very quick, because I have a meeting tonight (and maybe some smoking hyenas to update):

Jarmo Kekalainen out as general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

ESPN:

The Blue Jackets have the worst record in the Eastern Conference with a .404 points percentage in 52 games (16-26-10). The Jackets last made the playoffs in 2019-20. Under Kekalainen, Columbus qualified for the postseason five times but won only a single playoff series — their shocking 2019 first-round upset of first-place Tampa Bay in a sweep.

San Francisco fired Steve Wilks as defensive coordinator yesterday.

In Wilks’ lone season with the Niners, the defense had its share of ups and downs. A unit that led the NFL in multiple categories in 2022 under DeMeco Ryans — including fewest points per game allowed (16.3) and defensive expected points added (89.58) — took a step back in 2023.
San Francisco still finished third in points allowed (17.5) this season, but the 49ers were ninth in defensive EPA (41.48) and sprung significant leaks against the run in the playoffs, allowing the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs to average 5.1 yards per carry and 149.3 yards per game in the postseason.

Obit watch: February 13, 2024.

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

Capt. Larry L. Taylor (United States Army – ret.) passed away on January 28th.

I wrote about Capt. Taylor back in September, when he received the Medal of Honor. Capt. Taylor is the guy who flew four men out of a hot LZ, with them hanging onto the sides of his Huey Cobra helicopter.

Bob Edwards, NPR guy. There was a time when I woke up to Bob Edwards in the morning…

Also among the dead Bobs: Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill. I’ve bought and used specialty products from Bob’s, though I never met Bob. 94 is a pretty good run.

David Bouley, prominent NYC chef.

Kelvin Kiptum, marathon runner. He was 24 and died in a car accident in Kenya.

This seems particularly sad. He set the men’s marathon record in Chicago last year: 2:00:35.

It was only his third marathon.

With hundreds of Kenyans having been barred from the sport in the past decade because of doping violations, his record drew not only wonderment, but also scrutiny. “My secret is training,” Kiptum, who was never accused of doping and had no drug suspensions, told reporters last fall. “Not any other thing.”

Many people think he had a shot at running a marathon in under two hours, which is sort of the Holy Grail of marathon running. He actually ran one in Vienna (in 2019) at 1:59:40, but that didn’t count as a record for reasons. He had said he was going to try to break the two-hour mark in Rotterdam in April.

TMQ Watch: February 13, 2024.

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

So. It has come to this. The last TMQ of the 2023 season, and the last TMQ Watch.

After the jump, this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack)…

(more…)

(Not quite) firings watch.

Friday, February 9th, 2024

Billy Eppler has not been fired as general manager of the Mets, because he actually resigned October 5th.

But he won’t be involved in baseball this year: Rob Manfred placed him on the ineligible list through the end of the 2024 baseball season.

Sadly, it’s just a year, not “permanently ineligible“, which is my favorite form of ineligible.

Prithee, good sir, you may ask. Why the suspension?

…he directed the team to fabricate injuries to create open roster spots…
Manfred said in a statement that Eppler directed “the deliberate fabrication of injuries; and the associated submission of documentation for the purposes of securing multiple improper injured list placements during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.”
The scheme involved fabricating injuries for up to a dozen players, sources told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Sources also said that an anonymous letter from within the organization tipped off MLB.

TMQ Watch: February 6, 2024.

Tuesday, February 6th, 2024

The Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-Quarterback Non-Running Back NFL MVP is Creed Humphrey, center for Kansas City.

In other news, welcome to the penultimate TMQ, and the penultimate TMQ Watch. Also, welcome to the most boring week in sports.

After the jump, this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack)…

(more…)

Firings watch.

Friday, February 2nd, 2024

Todd McLellan out as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings.

Well. Well well well. Well.

Thursday, February 1st, 2024

I’ve said before that I have a high bar for linking to ESPN. This clears that bar, especially since I think the story is kind of buried.

“How fears over CTE and football outpaced what researchers know”.

Nut graph:

But the narrative about CTE has outpaced the science. Fueled by the publicizing of several high-profile cases and data that even the BU researchers acknowledge is limited, the result is a heightened level of fear in players and families, from the pros down to pee wee. That fear has led some NFL players, teenagers and weekend warriors to conclude — fatalistically — that whatever cognitive or emotional troubles they’re enduring must be rooted in CTE; and it has created tensions within the research community that the story has become far too simplified.

Beginning of a CTE backlash? Or ESPN positioning themselves for a possible partial buyout from the NFL?

TMQ Watch: January 30, 2024.

Tuesday, January 30th, 2024

So, it has come to this. Kansas City and San Francisco. Again.

We’re a little bit disappointed, but honestly, Detroit has nothing to be ashamed of this season. They played well, and we hope this continues next year.

In other news, it’s Baltimore, gentlemen. The football gods will not save you.

After the jump, this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack)…

(more…)

Firings watch.

Wednesday, January 24th, 2024

No big firings still, but a few coordinators lost their jobs. I’m playing catch-up here, so please forgive the ESPN links.

Vic Fangio has been let go as defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins, supposedly by “mutual decision”.

Joe Barry fired as defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. That’s the Green Bay Packers who made it as far as the divisional round of the playoffs.

Sean Desai out as defensive coordinator of the Eagles.

TMQ Watch: January 23, 2024.

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024

Last week, we quoted TMQ:

The Lions won a playoff game for the first time in 32 years, and are now on a pace to win another playoff game in 2056.

Final score: Detroit 31, Tampa Bay 23. What’s the pace now, Gregg?

(To be honest, we don’t have a lot of faith in Detroit beating San Francisco. But, as FotB pigpen51 notes, “On any given Sunday…“. Stranger things have happened. And we’d love to see Detroit in the Superb Owl.)

After the jump, this week’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which you won’t be able to read in its entirety unless you subscribe to “All Predictions Wrong”, which is the actual title of Gregg Easterbrook’s Substack)…

(more…)

Firings watch.

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024

Adrian Griffin out as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. I’ve been having intermittent problems with archive.is again, so here’s the ESPN link as well.

This was his first year coaching (he was hired over the summer) and the team is currently 30-13.

Dave Heeke out as athletic director of the Arizona Wildcats.

(TMQ Watch is about 90% done, and will be going up later. It would be going up now, but I have two breaking news stories to do.)

Quick firings watch.

Wednesday, January 17th, 2024

The NFL firings will continue until morale improves. But none of the rumored really big firings have happened yet.

Alex Van Pelt out as offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns. Also out: running backs coach Stump Mitchell and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.

Despite starting five different quarterbacks this season, the Browns finished 11-6 during the regular season and made the playoffs.

Yeah, I’m not sure Van Pelt was the issue here…

Pete Carmichael Jr. out as offensive coordinator in New Orleans. Also out: “Senior offensive assistant” Bob Bicknell and wide receivers coach Kodi Burns.