Sign up for the daily newsletter, Jay’s Plays of the Day, to get sports betting recommendations for the top games of the night and the week ahead.
Super teams
I love dynasties.
Whether they are my team or the team I desperately want to lose, I contend that dynasties are good for all sports.
I think the dynasty vacuum as the Warriors and LeBron have aged hurts the interest of the NBA.
Yes, during the regular season, dynasties can become predictable at times.
But when the ring is the thing they are chasing, dynasties provide rooting interests even when your team or guy is not involved.
That becomes top of mind this morning as we are 48-or-so hours from the NBA Finals starting and a dynasty falling in the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series.
For the NBA, two of arguably the most improbable teams in the league are four wins for the franchise’s first Larry O’Brien trophy.
Now, in dynastic talks, the OKC Thunder is young. They have a bona fide A-list superstar in former Hamilton Heights dude Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They are flush with draft picks.
This could be the first of multiple rings, and we all know multiple rings ring the championship bell.
The softball dynasty — Oklahoma, winners amazingly of the last four national titles — was toppled by Texas Tech and the sport’s singular star in NiJaree Canady.
Canady has turned heads throughout the postseason with her amazing gifts in the circle and at the plate. She has a 0.90 ERA and hit 11 homers.
She also has become the face of her sport, with reports surfacing that she got a $1 million NIL deal to transfer to Texas Tech from Stanford.
It also blends everyone’s conversation of college kids getting paid, and man, there are two things that grab your attention when the phrase “$1 million NIL deal” is linked to a college softball player.
First, don’t tell me there’s not enough money if a softball player is getting seven figures.
Second, this could be a future trend in that position in that sport. Because truly difference-making basketball players and softball pitchers may be the most program-changing NIL investments any school can make in team sports moving forward.
Thoughts?
Band-aid on a gun shot
So the Braves are spiraling. Losers of four straight series. Working hard to tread water but starting to flail. Someone call Hasselhoff, they need one of those floaty things.
There are real issues for one of the South’s favorite summer obsession.
(Side question: If we ranked old-school Southern summer obsessions, where would the Braves rank? I’d go cold watermelon, homemade peach ice cream, lawn/garden maintenance, Braves baseball and finding a way to Panama City. Thoughts?)
Anywell, the Braves have thrown out a parachute in the NL East as the Mets jet their way to the top of the game.
But good news, friends. The Braves have made a move.
That’s right, they have added former long-time Braves coach Fredi Gonzalez as its new third-base coach.
Awesome … wait, what?
Unless Fredi can pitch out of the bullpen or fix Matt Olson’s swing, this feels like the Little Dutch boy plugging his finger in the leaking dam.
But hey, how many of us have bemoaned the Braves letting a former Freddie walk, right?
Right … wait, what?
Never mind. Spy, pass the peach ice cream, please.
Don’t you wanna go home?
So we have a date on the “Happy Gilmore” sequel.
It hits Netflix on July 25.
That detail was in this story that also reminds us that a) Julie Bowen (Claire from “Modern Family”) is returning as Happy’s squeeze, and b) Adam Sandler is a good dude who stands up for his friends as much as any true Hollywood A-lister anywhere.
(Side note: Yes, Adam Sandler is a bona fide Hollywood A-lister. His genre may be silly and slapstick at times, and he has assuredly had some bombs, but if you define true A-listers as folks going to movies because of him, there are few above Sandler in that sense.)
Where were we?
Ah, yes, “Happy Gilmore 2.”
So, first, true or false, you’ll watch “Happy Gilmore 2.”
Next, if the spectrum of sports sequels range from the elite like “Creed 2,” which has a spot in the conversation of the best in the Rocky tree to “Caddyshack 2″ or Snapshot II,” where will “Happy Gilmore 2” rank?
Discuss.
This and that
› Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow retired. He played seven seasons. I approve 100% of NFL players making life-changing money and walking away while they can still walk away.
› Much to Vader’s disbelief, this all-too-early mock draft has LSU QB1 Garrett Nussmeier going to the New Orleans Saints. True or false, the river of curse words coming from the Heavy Deathstar when Nussmeier goes from Fat Vader’s favorite team to his second favorite team will be hovering over Chattanooga for 18 months.
› More from the mock draft above — I love the draft, you know this — there were five QBs in the round and only two LSU wide receivers. Dude, if you are a starter in the WR room in Red Stick, you are going to play on Sundays.
› The college baseball regional was an unmitigated disaster for the SEC. It continued with Ole Miss losing at home Monday in an elimination game. There were 13 SEC teams in the regional round; only four remain.
Today’s questions
True or false, it’s Tuesday.
› True or false, dynasties are good for sports.
› True or false, a great softball pitcher on a mediocre team will win more than a great QB on a mediocre team.
› True or false, homemade peach ice cream is the best ice cream on the planet.
› True or false, Adam Sandler is right there with Bill Murray as the biggest movie star to cut their teeth on SNL.
You know the drill. Answer some T or Fs, ask some T or Fs.
As for today, June 3, let’s review:
“Big” premiered on this day in 1988.
Tony Curtis would have been 100.
The first baseball uniforms were won by the New York Knickerbockers on this day in 1851. They featured straw hats, white shirts and blue slacks.
Rushmore of worst baseball uniforms of all-time.
Go.
