Putting the kick back in kick-offs
Recalling Jim Valvano's love for baseball and what about the Mexico City A's?
Good morning, all! I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
NFL owners are meeting this week. Expect the confab to generate plenty of news. The anticipation is the owners will approve a new kick-off rule to bring excitement back to what has become a boring part of the game. Recent rule changes - to protect against concussions - have resulted in 73 percent of kick-offs going for touchbacks. In 2010, 16 percent of kick-offs were turned into touchbacks.
The change in the rule reads longer than an agreement from Apple, so I will not get into the finer points. The rule, however, will be similar what has been employed in the XFL. The kicker will still kick off from his 35-yard line with 10 guys lining up on the opposing team’s 40-yard line. Say what? But here’s the kicker (Ugh!). Players who line up on the 40 cannot move until the ball lands on the ground between the goal line and the 20-yard line. A ball kicked out of the end zone will be brought to the 40-yard line to encourage kickers to keep the ball in play rather than kicking it out of bounds on purpose.
Look for the onside kick rule to also be changed. That has its own lengthly explanation. The point is owners want to inject some life into what was once an exciting play, while reducing the injuries that occurred, before the recent rules were put into effect. From what I have been reading, the owners may try these news rules for one season and see how everything goes.
It also appears the “push-tush” will not be touched (Ugh-again!), after there was talk change was coming in that area, following the Philadelphia Eagles frequent use of the play. The owners, apparently, have more important things to worry about. Still, expect plenty of NFL news again this week from a league that is adept at keeping in the headlines, when the games are not played.
Jim Valvano, the baseball fan
March Madness is in full swing, while the start of another baseball season is knocking on the door. That got me to thinking about the time the late, legendary, basketball coach Jim Valvano visited the broadcast booth one night, when I was broadcasting games for the Richmond Braves with the “Voice of the Braves,” Bob Black. Valvano was no fly-by-night baseball fan. He knew his stuff. Below is that interview. Enjoy!
Could Boone and Cora switch jobs?
These days it is rare that MLB managers actually manage in the final year of their contract. Normally, when a manager enters that final season of a multi-year deal, ownership will tack on at least another year so that a manager does not have lame duck status with his players. That will not be the case, however, in Boston and New York.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora is entering the final year of his contract and seems comfortable with the ownership not wanting to talk contract extension. In fact, Cora has told the local media he might want to step away from the game to spend more time with his family, after this season.
Boone is also a lame duck, a status he had with the Yankees, when his first deal expired, only to re-up with another multi-year contract two seasons ago. He is not making noise about a contract either, although he has said nothing about stepping away from the game, when the deal expires.
It got me to thinking. Wouldn’t it be something if both managers ran out their contracts and switched jobs? Stranger things have happened.
Let’s just say it would not surprise me if Boone was managing the Red Sox next season and Cora the Yankees. Anything is possible.
Did someone say the Mexico City Athletics?
One portion of the New York Yankees club was in Mexico City for exhibition games on Sunday and Monday and it got me to thinking. Always a dangerous thing.
Ownership has approved the move of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas but their new ballpark (If it ever happens, and that is a big if.) will not be ready until 2028. The Athletics lease at their ballpark in Oakland expires after this season. The big debate is where will the Athletics play for three seasons, beginning in 2025?
Several ideas have been floated, such as staying in Oakland, sharing the San Francisco Giants ballpark, or playing in Sacramento, Salt Lake City or Las Vegas in AAA ballparks. The Giants scenario is unlikely and the capacity and field of the three AAA facilities is shy of MLB standards. What about Mexico City?
Think about it. The Mexico City ballpark is relatively new; built in 2019. Its capacity is 20,000 and the field and lighting are up to MLB standards. Mexico City is a baseball hotbed - you could not get a seat for the exhibition games - MLB is looking to expand the game internationally, and maybe moving the Athletics there for three seasons could pave the way for Mexico City getting an expansion franchise.
Numerous proposals about the A’s immediate future are being explored. The solution just might be “south of the border, down Mexico way.”
That is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a terrific week.
DAN LOVALLO