The Week That Was – A year condensed into a week

In the week that was so much stuff has happened that it seems like it has been a years worth of stuff.  Sports has become a hot bed of offshoots and politics.    Is this what people really want with their sports?  As far as I can tell it is a huge mix.  Guess pretty much just like our country.  I don’t know if it is right.  Don’t know if it is wrong.  I do know that the message is getting lost.

Other than that nothing happened this week.  Wait other than the FBI coming down hard on NCAA Basketball.  Trump dedicating a Golf trophy to the people affected by the recent hurricanes. Patriots crashing and burning.  Alabama being the downfall of the SEC.  Well maybe but it sure looks that way.  Tanking.  The NBA starts a war on tanking.  Who cares?

NCAA  Failure to control

The NCAA likes to think that it is in control of collegiate sport.  What the FBI probe of college basketball shows is that they do not.  Or that they turn their head at the appropriate time.  The pay scandal to steer basketball players to certain colleges comes as no surprise.   What does come as a surprise is that they knew nothing of it.  They probably did but really come on.  There is so much money involved that they really did not care.

The big grab out of this is that Rick Pitino is finally going to be pushed out of the NCAA basketball coaching ranks.  He has been a part of so many scandals that it is amazing that he was still coaching.  The last big one with buying prostitutes for prospective players should have been the one.  Somehow he dodged that and was able to remain coach of Louisville.   How ever in this one it looks like things have finally caught up to him.  His lawyer says that he will be vindicated.

I really see this only going one of two ways.  Either he was part of it and guilty.  Or he know nothing of it and is still guilty by lack of control.  I would find it very difficult to believe that he had no knowledge of this.  In a big time program the coach knows everything.  If they don’t then they would not be a big time coach.   Either way he will still come out of this as a very wealthy man.  According to Celebrity Net Worth he has $25 million in the bank so I guess cheating really paid off for him.

The Fall of the King

While it is way to early to call the Patriots season a failure.  It is clear that the Patriots are not going to go undefeated this year.  At 2 – 2 they are tied with the Jets for second place in the AFC East.   Hardly how most of the “experts” thought the season was going to go for the Patriots.  The Patriots were supposed to be the unbeatable team this year.  On the offensive side of the ball.  Tom Brady and his rag tag bunch are holding up their end of the deal.  The problem is on the defensive side.

The Patriots have scored 129 points this season.  Which is second in the league behind the 142 that the rams have scored.  They have given up 128 on defense.  Which is second to last in the league.  Only behind the Colts that have given up 136.  With a plus 1 point differential it is actually amazing that the Patriots are 2-2 on the season.

Is it time to worry for the Patriots?  Probably not yet.  But if they go into Tampa on Thursday and get destroyed then it probably will be time to panic.

Surprise at the quarter mark

The surprise at the quarter mark is that the Rams are 3-1 and have the best offense in the NFL.  Can they keep it up.  If Goff can stay even close to how he is playing so far this year then yes they can.  Their defense is not as bad as many thought it would be and Gurley is playing some amazing football.  This is the Gurley that they expected when he was drafted.

The second surprise of the year is the way that Watson is playing for Houston.  He is looking like he is the real deal.  We have seen this before.  Someone comes in and starts out taking the league by storm.  I am not sure that Watson can keep playing at this level but he does look good.  Now if the Houston defense can get back to their last year level of play they will be a scary team.

NBA Tanking

This week the NBA has decided to take steps to try and prevent teams from tanking.  Is it right for a team to try and lose in order to get a better draft slot.  I really don’t see any problem with it.  If the team is trying to lose and the fans keep paying so be it.

For me it really comes down to the fans.  Do they want to see a team lose all the time?  Probably not.  The losing or tanking is a temporary loss in order to get better.  The only way I see this as a bad thing is if the fans just don’t like it.  Of course the best way for the fans to vote on this is to just stop watching the games.  If the stands are empty and the ratings go down then the team would know, hey don’t do this.

The NBA trying to put rules in place to prevent this is a bit goofy.

My DVR

For some reason my DVR is a mess.  It decides to now record programs sometimes and other times it records the show and there is nothing but a black screen.  Yes we have tried trading it for a different one.   No it did not fix the problem.  What this really comes down to is that the cable companies have a monopoly and really just don’t care.    How many of you have cut the cord?   We are getting very close to doing that.  Just curious what solutions you have found out there.

Check out last weeks post here.

I need a better graphic for the Week that Was.  Anyone interested in making one?