* Not that it’s a surprise to anyone, but among those favoring a Tampa site for a new Rays stadium is former-Rays-now-Chicago Cubs-manager Joe Maddon. “To me, it always had to be on this (Tampa) side of the Bay. I just couldn’t say it,” acknowledges Maddon, who still lives in Tampa and co-owns Ava, a trendy South Tampa restaurant.
* Here’s the bottom-line reality to the negligent, self-servingly sloppy way the sordid rape-allegation case involving Florida State University’s Jameis Winston–who was never charged–has been handled. That $950,000 (Title IX) settlement to the accuser was, in effect, athletic overhead. Call it the cost of doing business as a big-time, highly successful major college football program. Also call it unconscionably sleazy. This comes after the boosters picked up $1.3 million of FSU’s $1.7 million in legal fees.
FSU has now circled the football-brand wagons and gone into its two-minute PR drill: institutional spin that promises to make a commitment to sexual-assault awareness and prevention programs.
*A lot of folks, including at least one local sports columnist, seem to agree with Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s assessment of why some fans don’t like him. Well, I’m not one of them.
Newton recently said, “I am an African-American quarterback that may scare people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.” While there may still be fans pining away for Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr, Newton misses the point.
Arguably, he just might be the most gifted athlete to ever play quarterback. His detractors would acknowledge as much. He can do it all. And, at 26, he can still get better, which should be the “scary” part. As in scary good.
What takes some fans aback is that Newton has also become the avatar of what too many NFL players, whatever their athletic prowess, have too often become on the field: bombastic, show biz boors. Hell, we can get that with our presidential candidates.
* Can we just get rid of some All-Star games? If it’s a contact–and collision–professional sport, there is no need to go through the charade of All-Star games where the foremost priority is participants not getting hurt. So, the NHL’s All-Star game and the NFL’s Pro Bowl should be put out of everyone’s misery. As to baseball and basketball, they’re harmless exhibitions that don’t require players to pull their best punches.