Tag: sports

Whereas a lot of people were amazed that the Titans won. I wasn’t even remotely surprised. They’re a solid, well-coached team across the board whereas the Ravens are overly reliant upon RGIII 2.0, whose long-term utility I continue to seriously doubt despite his incipient MVP status. I was even less surprised by the Vikings’ loss to the 49ers, since it was clear from the first possession that the offensive line could not get Dalvin Cook going.

As for what I expect today, it is Chiefs over Texans, easily, and Green Bay over Seattle.

BREAKING NEWS: The Cleveland Browns have hired their next head coach. Former Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski is the Browns’ new head coach, according to multiple reports.

Good for him. Although I have to say, on the basis of yesterday’s game, I would have gone with Robert Saleh.

It’s Houston 21, Kansas City 0. This is why I don’t bet on football.

UPDATE: I did not like O’Brien’s decision to kick the field goal to go up 24. But I did not see it coming back to bite him so fast and so hard. The lesson, as always, is this: if you are the underdog, never take your foot off the gas.

The sooner you lose the momentum, the more likely it is that you lose the game.

I’m entirely relaxed about this one. I would just like to see a good game in which Handsome Jimmy is sacked 37 times, Dalvin Cook rushes for 190 yards and 3 TDs, and Kirk Cousins goes 7 for 10 for 102 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. But I have no actual expectations. As always, SKOL!

In the other game, I have a hard time seeing a banged-up Seattle team beating Green Bay. And nothing could be sweeter than going to Lambeau and winning the NFC championship on the frozen tundra.

The Raidess are no longer the Oakland Raiders:

The Raiders are no longer the Oakland Raiders. They’re not the Las Vegas Raiders either.

For now, they’re just the Raiders.

The franchise made a change to all of its social media accounts, dropping Oakland. It will not add Las Vegas to its handle until the new league year starts in March, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

The NFL already made the switch, listing the Raiders as just the Raiders with no city attached in its releases last week to announce the 2020 draft order and 2020 opponents of each team.

Perhaps they should become an itinerant pirate team, playing all of its games away all season. That might actually work….

But Las Vegas does appear to be a fitting home for them.

I will, of course, be cheering for the Vikings. That doesn’t mean I expect them to win. In the other game, I don’t expect Seattle to have too much trouble with the Eagles.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Also: Bills, Titans, Saints, Seahawks.

The serious drop in attendance hasn’t happened yet, but the NFL does appear to be past its peak already:

According to David Broughton and Andrew Levin of Sports Business Daily, the NFL averaged 66,648 attendees at home games in 2019. That’s the lowest average since 2004.

The Cowboys averaged 90,929, leading the league for 11 straight seasons. Fifteen teams saw a decline in attendance, led by the Jaguars (8.7 percent drop), Raiders (7.6 percent) and Bengals (7.0 percent)….

Attendance peaked in 2016, with 69,487 per game. In 2004, 66,328 attended each game, on average.

What is more ominous about this is that it is happening towards the end of an economic boom at a stock market peak. It’s only a 4.5 percent decline, but as I noted in Corporate Cancer, the first downward stage is usually a 20 percent drop before it temporarily stabilizes at the lower plateau, with an eventual decline to 50 percent of peak.

Ex-Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera was hired by the Washington Redskins. Rivera has already shown that he can transform himself, but can he transform the culture of losing imposed by Dan Snyder? It’s an intriguing post-season development.

Not even in the slightest:

2019-20 Super 25 Preseason Boys Basketball Rankings
USA Today

NO. 20 MINNEHAHA ACADEMY
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Preseason Rank: 20
2018-19 record: 23-2

My high school won a few state championships in my day. The ski team were state champions, the tennis team were state champions, and my soccer team got to state and was knocked out in the semifinal round.

The soccer team was ranked #1 in the state at one point, and I had the best 100m time for a few weeks, but our basketball team was reliably terrible. And even the good teams, like Mounds View and Minneapolis North, were never ranked in the national top 20.

Anyhow, good luck to them, even if they are no longer known as the Indians.

The Vikes are in the playoffs thanks to the Rams’ loss last night.. And whether they can run down Green Bay for the NFC North title or not, beating the Pack at home would be a nice prelude to a strong playoff run.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Discuss amongst yourselves.