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Bar Chat

07/23/2018

Francesco!

[Posted Sunday PM, prior to Mets-Yankees]

Baseball Quiz: Johnny Mac and I were talking about the 1971 All-Star Game, won by the A.L. 6-4.  This was a rather famous contest in terms of the talent on the field, and both teams hit three home runs each, all by future Hall of Famers.  Name the six...and give yourself 10 picks...no one is looking.  Answer below.

The Open Championship

After 54 holes....

Jordan Spieth -9
Xander Schauffele -9
Kevin Kisner -9
Kevin Chappell -7
Francesco Molinari -6
Tiger Woods -5
Webb Simpson -5
Alex Noren -5
Matt Kuchar -5
Rory McIlroy -5
Tommy Fleetwood -5
Zach Johnson -5

Justin Rose, among those at -4.

Heading into the final round, we were looking for a shootout.  Spieth and Molinari had fired 65s on Saturday, after all, Tiger a 66...Justin Rose a 64.

The fact that Tiger was lurking had the golf world buzzing, and for good reason.  He was playing very well...leading the tournament in driving accuracy.

And wouldn’t you know, with conditions stiffening, and Spieth, Schauffele and Kisner all dropping back, suddenly Tiger Woods was in the lead.

Woods -7 thru 10
Spieth -6 thru 8
Molinari -6 thru 10
McIlroy -5 thru 11

But Woods inexplicably made a mess of the par-4 11th, and then bogeyed No. 12 to fall to -4.  He would never recover.

With the winds picking up, Molinari, Chappell, Kisner and Spieth were all tied at -6.  Eddie Pepperell, who finished up early after a 67, was looking great at -5, long in the clubhouse.

[Pepperell admitted after he played hungover.  Eight back heading into the final round, he didn’t think he had a chance so he stayed out late.]

Eventually, seven players would share the lead or lead outright today, and after Rory eagled No. 14, six were atop at -6.

Meanwhile, Francesco Molinari, playing with Tiger, was just calmly cruising around Carnasty, 13 straight pars until he birdied No. 14 and suddenly he and Schauffele were tied at -7.  Justin Rose birdied 18 to finish -6, and then Rory joined him in the clubhouse at that number.

But then Schauffele bogeyed 17, after Molinari finished with a birdie on the closing hole, and Francesco, 35, became the first Italian-born player to win a major.

Molinari -8... 65-69 on the weekend
Rose -6... 64-69
McIlroy -6... 70-70
Kisner -6... 68-74
Schauffele -6... 67-74
Tiger -5... 66-71
Spieth -4... 65-76

Molinari came in the hottest golfer on the planet on the heels of his big European Tour win at the BMW PGA Championship late May, and then this month picked up his first win on U.S. soil at the Quicken Loans, followed by a T-2 at the John Deere.  Then this.

His round today reminded me of the 1981 U.S. Open at Merion, when David Graham was in complete control with a final round of 3-under to seal the deal.  Molinari ended up bogey free on the weekend, which is kind of stunning on that links.

As for Tiger, it was there for the taking, and he must be bitterly disappointed.  It was touching in the end when the cameras caught him embracing his kids.  As he said Saturday night, he so badly wants them to see the kind of player their father was in his prime.  They certainly caught a glimpse of that this week.

--Some random observations...congrats to Justin Rose.  What a gutty birdie he had on No. 18 in Friday’s second round to make the cut, and then he was on Saturday, shooting 64 to get right back in the mix.

And kudos to 60-year-old Bernhard Langer, T-24 at -1, along with Phil Mickelson, whose disappointing summer continues.

Your Bar Chat “Pick to Click” Alex Noren was right there, until a poor front nine on Sunday, finishing T-17 at -2.

--Among those missing the cut were Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Ian Poulter.

--Meanwhile, at the Barbasol Championship, a full PGA Tour event in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Brittany Lincicome competed against the men, having been granted an exemption.  Lincicome shot 78 in the first round, which made her 129 in the 132-player field.  She followed it up with a 71, +5, with the cut at -4.

Lincicome became the sixth woman to tee it up on the PGA Tour, but no woman has survived a PGA cut since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945.

The conclusion of the tournament has been plagued by rain today.

MLB

--Manny Machado was traded to the Dodgers over the All-Star break, the pending free agent dealt for a package of five prospects, including 21-year-old Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz, who homered twice in the Futures Game.

So immediately, Machado makes L.A. the favorite in the tight N.L. West, as well as the league overall.

But will the Dodgers be able to sign Machado in the offseason?  He wants to play shortstop and the team already has recuperating Corey Seager at that position.  They could lose Manny for nothing.

And the Dodgers could lose Clayton Kershaw, who threw six innings on Saturday, one earned run, in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee.  He’s now thrown six or more in his last four starts since coming back from the DL, but his velocity is clearly down.  That said, I’ve argued that there is no way that anyone will give Kershaw, who can opt out of his deal after this season, a long-term contract given his many injuries in recent years...certainly nothing to beat the $70 million he would be paid in 2019 and 2020 if he finished out his deal with L.A.

But a lot of people in L.A. counter, saying Kershaw is still just 30 and look what then-31-year-oldl Yu Darvish, an inferior pitcher to Kershaw, got in free agency...six years, $126 million from the Cubs.  [Which has been a disaster thus far.]

Back to Machado, he had two hits and an RBI today in the Dodgers’ 11-2 win over the Brewers, Manny finishing his first weekend with his new team at 5-for-13.

--Yoenis Cespedes is the straw that stirs the Mets, when he’s in the lineup.  With Yoenis, the Mets are 165-143, without him, 69-102, thru Saturday’s play.  It’s pretty simple.  He’s a presence that makes the rest of the lineup better. 

Cespedes played Friday night for the first time since May 13 and promptly homered to lead the Mets to a 7-5 win over the Yankees at the Stadium.

But it was what happened after that left all of New York, at least Mets fans, shaking their heads yet again over the plight of this amazingly dysfunctional franchise.

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“I think I finally understand why it feels like losing in New York is worse than losing most anywhere else.

“Sure, there are the usual culprits.  You can start with the media if you like, since there are more of us than in almost any other city, and we tend to approach the world – especially the sports world – with a jaundiced eye.

“You can talk about fans who are exacting and demanding, which is sort of how fans are supposed to be.  (I’ll never forget seeing an Oklahoma City basketball season ending in flames a few years ago, and yet the Thunder walked off the court to a standing ovation. That’s not being a good fan, that’s fan malpractice. That would never happen here. Ever.  Ever.  Ever. Thank goodness.)

“You can talk about the temptations of the city, I suppose, though nobody even pretends anymore that athletes engage in the kind of nocturnal training regimen Mickey Mantle or Joe Namath did. You can talk about the myriad distractions of Fun City. All of these may be true.

“But it isn’t just that.

“We just happen to have a surplus of teams that lose with extraordinary ease and with an extraordinary flair, that don’t just lose but are proficient and profoundly original at expressing professional malfeasance and incompetence.

“You have a basketball team in the Knicks, for instance, who haven’t just lost, almost unabated, for two decades but actually have hired in that time two of the sport’s genuine geniuses, Larry Brown and Phil Jackson. Brown was gone after one season and 59 losses; Jackson lasted three seasons and lost 166 games. Oh, yes, and one of the most beloved players in team history, Charles Oakley, was once led kicking and screaming out of the Garden. You just don’t see this kind of stuff in, say, Sacramento....

“But, of course, there is no team that embodies the inability – or the sheer unwillingness – to stop punching itself in the jaw like the Mets. And what’s wonderful about the Wilpon Era Mets is you never have to reach very far into the history books to cite examples. Why, just Friday – a night in which they actually beat the Yankees – the ensuing slapstick was almost too much to catch up with:

“ – The starting pitcher, just a week off the disabled list, left the game after 80-some pitches and after a precipitous drop in velocity – though the Mets describe that only as ‘fatigue’ (and immediately, 99.8 percent of Mets fans declared, ‘Sure it is.’)*

“ – The closer wasn’t allowed to close because he was on the verge of being traded, though said trade was reportedly being stalled because the Mets wanted salary relief, despite one of the Troika of GMs declaring before the game they would not be seeking salary relief for said closer.

“ – The highest-paid player returned from two months on the shelf, hit a home run, then declared he would be in need of dual heel surgery that will require 9-10 months of rehab (and immediately, 100 percent of Mets fans and 100 percent of all humans with a functioning brain wondered, ‘Then why the hell is he playing and not in pre-op?!?!?!’).

“ – The manager declared the next morning he hasn’t heard a word of the player’s diagnosis, meaning he is either lying (highly doubtful), he mangled his message (increasingly likely) or the men above him in the Mets’ hierarchy are either in a coma or 300 percent worse at their jobs than we thought (highly probable to a 99.999 percent certainty).

“And remember: This was all after one of their best wins of the year!

“Yes.  We don’t just have teams around here who lose. We have teams who should have Nike, Puma or Adidas logos stitched onto their clown shoes.”

*We learned the pitcher Vaccaro was referring to, Noah Syndergaard, was placed on the 10-day DL Sunday with, get this, “hand, foot and mouth disease,” which Noah says he picked up at a youth camp during the All-Star break.  As NBC sports broadcaster Bruce Beck said just now, echoing all of us, “You can’t make this stuff up.”

Tyler Kepner / New York Times

“(Cespedes’) presence and production (are) seemingly impossible to replace.  That is what made his postgame revelation on Friday so sobering: He said that he needed surgery on both heels and that it would take eight to 10 months to recover.

“That kind of urgent news bulletin demands context from the team, but remember, these are the Mets.  Their trainers and doctors do not speak publicly, which is fairly common in baseball. But they made no front-office officials available on Saturday, leaving Manager Mickey Callaway to address the bewildering state of Cespedes, their $29 million-a-year franchise player.

“This is how Callaway opened his pregame news conference: ‘I didn’t get to read any of the stuff he said, or hear it. I’m not quite exactly sure what he said.  I just know that he came in pretty sore today.’

“The Mets tried to walk back that comment, emphasizing that Callaway was, in fact, aware of the Cespedes bombshell. Fair enough, but they never should have put him in position to answer the question.

“The Mets have three executives running their baseball operations as General Manager Sandy Alderson recovers from cancer – Omar Minaya, J.P. Ricciardi and John Ricco – but not one could spare a few minutes away from the Familia trade talks to demonstrate leadership and direction.

“That could be because there is none – no direction on Cespedes, anyway, at least none that the Mets could speak of with certainty....

“If Cespedes’ assertion on Friday is true – that painful calcifications in his heels cause his chronic leg problems, and only surgery can fix it – he should not be playing.  Either the Mets do not believe him, or they are foolishly prioritizing this lost 2018 season over the future....

“The Mets have known about the heel issues, and spoken about them, but it seems clear they underestimated the severity of the problem – or, at least, they were unaware of how serious Cespedes believes it to be....

“ ‘We thought his heels were in a real good spot coming in, or we wouldn’t have activated him,’ Callaway said.  ‘He was good to go.’

“But Cespedes was not good to go on Saturday, and has missed  more than half the Mets’ games since signing his four-year, $110 million contract before the 2017 season.  Recovery from heel surgery, as he described it, would probably bleed into 2019 – but without it, he might continue to be a perpetual injury risk....

“Considering that, the most important question in the Mets’ universe should be: how do we make sure Yoenis Cespedes plays?  Yet they seem helpless to answer it.”

Mets broadcaster Ron Darling, as respected a New York sports figure as there is, said prior to Saturday afternoon’s game that he had never seen a worse pre-game press conference as what he had just witnessed with Callaway.

--Meanwhile, the Yankees are sliding, now five back heading into Sunday night’s game against the Mets, after Boston won today, 9-1 over Detroit behind Chris Sale, who improved to 11-4, 2.13, after throwing six shutout innings, 0 walks, 9 strikeouts.

AL East

Boston 70-31
New York 63-34... 5

After the 7-5 loss to the Mets Friday night, Saturday afternoon, the Yanks were up 7-3 going to the top of the ninth and the Mets cut the lead to 7-6 as closer Aroldis Chapman had a total meltdown. 

Chapman gave up a walk, an infield hit, a walk, a walk to bring in a run, then a hit batter...it was suddenly 7-5, bases loaded, no outs...exit Chapman.

He threw 19 pitches, 16 of them balls, including the last 11.  [Chasen Shreve saved the day with a double play ball and then a comebacker to the mound to finish the game.]

Chapman said he was healthy, even though he’s been dealing with a balky knee due to tendinitis all season, but let’s say he is healthy.  The performance nonetheless was a reminder of how he is totally capable of meltdowns like this...hardly what the Yankees and their fans want to have in the back of their minds as the playoffs approach.

--Look who is far from out of the postseason race...the Pittsburgh Pirates, who after beating Cincinnati today, 9-2, have now won nine in a row.  [Matt Harvey, said to be part of a deal with a contender before the trade deadline, getting shelled...8 earned in 3 2/3.]

The Pirates are just 4 ½ out in the wildcard race as I go to post.

--Once again, I’m shocked at the Angels’ treatment of Shohei Ohtani.  I wrongly thought he’d be spending a season in the minors, that there’d be no way he was ready for the big leagues, going back to spring training, and then I thought, because we had been told so at various times, that they were shutting him down in terms of pitching, while allowing him to DH the rest of the season.

But the team is now saying Ohtani has been cleared to begin a throwing program, after he sprained the ulnar collateral ligament; most believing he needed Tommy John surgery.

Granted, he remains weeks from pitching in a game, but a stint on the disabled list to go to full rehab would take his bat out of the lineup.

Ohtani was treated with platelet-rich plasma and stem-cell injections June 7 in an attempt to avoid the ligament replacement surgery that would sideline him as a pitcher until 2020.

GM Billy Eppler said no doctor has told him Ohtani needs the procedure.  [He’s hitting .283 thru Saturday’s play, 7 home runs, 22 RBIs in 145 ABs, .886 OPS.]

--All-Star reliever Josh Hader made his first appearance on Saturday before the hometown Milwaukee fans, after racist and homophobic tweets from his youth surfaced during the All-Star break and he received a standing ovation from most of the crowd.

Bob Nightengale / USA TODAY Sports

“We are supposed to forgive and forget, believing they were stupid, irresponsible mistakes made by Milwaukee Brewers All-Star reliever Josh Hader as a teenager.

“But we can’t.

“Not yet.

“Maybe not ever.

“We are a society built on second chances and redemption, but we pick and choose who we forgive.

“We never forgave John Rocker for his racial and homophobic remarks, but we forgave Kobe Bryant, who settled out of court with a rape victim.  Baseball treated Alex Rodriguez like a pariah, but now he’s an ambassador.

“Now, we’re trying to wrestle with our emotions on how we’re supposed to feel about Hader, whose racist homophobic and misogynistic tweets in 2011 overshadowed the All-Star Game.

“ ‘I regret the mistakes I made in the past,’ said Hader, who apologized to his teammates earlier in the day, breaking down in tears.  ‘That doesn’t resemble the person I am now.  Those are not my beliefs at all. They were never my beliefs.  I hurt people by those tweets, and that hurts me deeply.’

“To Hader’s credit, after reflecting on the hideous tweets for the past three days, there were no excuses. He didn’t make the same mistake as he did after the All-Star Game, saying he was a child. He didn’t reiterate the comment that teenagers do a lot of immature things.

“He was not a child.  He was 17 years old, old enough to drive and nearly old enough to vote, not a 6-year-old.  Sure, teenagers can be immature, but egging a house or wrapping toilet paper around trees isn’t the same as issuing vile tweets for all of your buddies to see.

“This was a young man who was a professional baseball pitcher at the age of 18, certainly old enough – and you’d think mature enough – to understand his actions.

“Maybe, these views were actually the way he felt growing up in Maryland before spending six years in professional baseball, and surrounded by African-Americans, Latinos, women and homosexuals in a diverse workplace.

“ ‘They were never my beliefs,’ Hader says.  ‘I was young.  I was saying stuff out of ignorance.  It’s not what I meant.’

“Hader told his teammates, and MLB executive vice president Billy Bean, that he was mostly reciting rap lyrics when he used racial slurs, demeaned women and slewed hatred toward gay people.  Yet, some of those tweets were his own words, he conceded, trying to be cool with his buddies, and acting stupid.

“ ‘I was young,’ he said.  ‘I was saying stuff out of ignorance. This isn’t me.  I hope that people I touched, and came across, know who I truly am. I made mistakes.  I’m not perfect.

“ ‘I’ve grown as a person, and baseball really helped me grow.’

“There wasn’t a Brewers teammate who publicly condemned Hader, with all of them filling a room and surrounding him at his four-minute press conference. Several players and staffers privately say Hader would have been the last player on the team they envisioned typing those tweets.

“Brewers outfielder Brett Phillips, who knows Hader better than anyone on the team, and has been his roommate for parts of the last four years, insists he has never once heard anything out of Hader’s mouth hinting of racism.

“ ‘Obviously, we were all in disbelief when this came out,’ Phillips said.  ‘Because this isn’t who he is. This is way out of character for Josh Hader. I’ve lived with him the last four years. And not once has he said any of those things behind closed doors to myself, or anyone who is close to him.

“ ‘Looking at those tweets, he’s come a long way. Obviously, you can see the growth. If you believe people can change for the worst, then you believe they can change for the best.  Looking at those tweets, Josh Hader has definitely changed for the best.’

“It’s up to Hader now to determine how he’s viewed for the rest of his career. He’ll be under a microscope. Fans will taunt him. They’ll troll him on Twitter. He might even get threats....

“Bean, who spent two hours with Hader undergoing diversity training, says that Hader fully embraced the sessions. He volunteered to speak to young players in the Arizona Fall League. He’s willing to participate in further training and initiatives.

“ ‘He was really looking to me for some guidance, mostly to convey that’s not who he is,’ Bean said.  ‘The context of those tweets is tough. But those happened a long time ago. I was really convinced after a couple of hours together today that his experience as an athlete, in an integrated and diverse environment, has created the person he is today.

“ ‘This is a young man who is in a tremendous amount of pain. I sympathize for him tremendously. But I was really proud of him today.

“ ‘The more I see, the more I see he just wants to be part of something bigger than him.’

“It’s up to Hader how he’ll be viewed the rest of his career, but forgiveness takes time, and it’s perfectly OK if we’re not quite ready.”

--Monday on PBS’ “American Masters,” “Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived.”  Check your local listings.

NFL

--The Steelers and running back Le’Veon Bell failed to reach agreement on a long-term deal and for the second straight season he will play under the franchise tag, earning more than $14.5 million for 2018 as the top-compensated player at his position.

But he is pissed he didn’t receive the long-term deal he has been seeking for two years. Teammate Antonio Brown is pulling in $17 million annually, yet Bell, 26, led the NFL in carries (321) and touches (406) in 2017. His career average of 129 yards per game from scrimmage is the most of any player in league history with a minimum of 50 appearances.

But durability has been an issue, and he’s also been suspended twice for violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse.

--Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard says quarterback Andrew Luck will take some extra days off during training camp but will have no limitations when he’s on the field.

Well, this would be good for the sport, for sure.  Luck is trying to return from a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, which required surgery in January 2017.

After missing all of last season, Luck resumed throwing in public during the team’s mandatory three-day mini-camp last month.

--The national anthem issue is back, as the NFL and the players’ union said they were working on a resolution, walking back from the policy announced in May.  The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) recently filed a grievance over the league’s new requirement that players stand for the national anthem or wait in their dressing rooms.

President Trump then tweeted: “The NFL National Anthem Debate is alive and well again – can’t believe it!  Isn’t it in contract that players must stand at attention, hand on heart? The $40,000,000 Commissioner must now make a stand. First time kneeling, out for game.  Second time kneeling, out for season/no pay!”

Nancy Armour / USA TODAY Sports

“Of all weeks, this was not the one for President Donald Trump to lecture anybody on patriotism and respecting our country.

“In what can only be seen as a thinly veiled attempt to distract attention from the confirmation that there’s a tape of him talking about paying off a Playboy model with whom he allegedly had an affair, Trump teed off on the NFL once again Friday night. He called on Commissioner Roger Goodell to kick players out of a game if they kneel during the national anthem and to suspend them without pay for the season if they do it again.

“If only the president would realize he isn’t an autocrat like the man he so admires, Vladimir Putin. You know, the one Trump fawned over on Monday despite knowing for more than 18 months that Putin personally ordered the hacking of our electoral process, which just so happens to be the cornerstone of our democracy.

“But the Constitution and the ideals on which this country are founded mean little to Trump.  If they did, he’d understand that the player protests have never been about the flag, the anthem, the military or the police. They’re about trying to draw attention to the racial and economic discrimination that continues to divide our country – a divide Trump deepens every opportunity he gets.

“ ‘He has no understanding of why they take a knee or why they’re protesting,’ New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week.

“This is why the NFL owners made  a colossal mistake by adopting a new policy for the national anthem in May. Players can stay in the locker room, but are expected to stand if they are on the field. Teams whose players protest can be fined by the NFL.

“There likely would have been a handful of players, at most, who would have protested this season. It had become a non-issue because of the agreement between the NFL and The Players Coalition to devote money and a platform to social justice.

“But the NFL owners were petrified that Trump would make it an issue ahead of the midterm elections. What they failed to realize is that he would have done so regardless because he still harbors a grudge that the NFL didn’t want him in its club.  Twice. That, and he has nothing else to sell his base but fear and hate of black and brown people....

“Democracy is hard and it’s often messy, but it’s worth it. That’s what’s gotten lost here. Respecting the symbols of our freedom is pointless if we’re not willing to respect and defend the ideals they represent.   An American president, of all people, should know this.”

--Meanwhile, in the college game....

Jerry Brewer / Washington Post

“It’s easy to isolate Larry Fedora and lampoon the North Carolina coach for his outrageous mindlessness during his now-infamous comments about the future of football.  You can call him foolish, callous or truculent.  You can call him misinformed or primitive in his thinking.  You can call him selfish.  Just don’t consider him an outlier.  Please don’t.  The Fedora mentality remains too prevalent in the sport, especially among coaches, and that’s the most troubling aspect of his rant.

“Others don’t have the gall to speak so freely, and they don’t have an easy-to-mock name that doubles as a synonym for hat. But while you’re demanding that this coach put on his thinking Fedora next time, remember that there are plenty of influential football figures who also think the game is under attack because of increased safety measures.  Like Fedora, they also attempt to minimize the dangers of the degenerative brain disease CTE and possess an overinflated sense of football’s importance in American society.

“ ‘Our game is under attack,’ Fedora said Wednesday during ACC media days, amid a rant in which he questioned studies about football’s role in causing CTE.  ‘I fear that the game will get pushed so far to one extreme you won’t recognize it 10 years from now. That’s what I worry about, and I do believe if it gets to that point that our country goes down, too.’

“The whole country, huh?

“ ‘There will be decline of our country, there’s no doubt,’ said Fedora.  ‘There’s no doubt in my mind.  I think because the lessons you learn in the game of football relate to everything that’s going to happen in the rest of your life, and if we stop learning those lessons, we’re going to struggle. And I think, in some ways, we’re struggling more now than we ever have. Are we ever going to be a perfect country?  No, not by any means.  But I do think the game of football has had a major impact on who we are as a country.’

“I still enjoy football, even though I spend a little time every day scrutinizing its value and wondering about its demise. But Fedora’s argument is full of panic and thoroughly unconvincing.  If football disappeared tomorrow, it would be missed for a while, but then we would find something else in the toy bin.  Many sports and activities teach us about teamwork, discipline, loyalty, commitment and all those good things that football offers.  No game ever will be irreplaceable.  It is a diversion, not a religion....

“It would have been fine, though still unpopular, if Fedora had said that we’re still in a period of evolving science about CTE and how exactly football – or any contact sport – can mitigate the risks.  It would have been fine if Fedora had said he’s torn between teaching the game the way he learned it and living in a new world that is more aware about all the risks involved with playing football.

“There’s nothing wrong with being confused or even a little skeptical about how to react to all the information as science tries to make more exact conclusions.  But it’s unproductive for Fedora to turn into the oversimplified meathead to combat the equally reactionary other side.

“ ‘I don’t think it’s been proven that the game of football causes CTE,’ Fedora said.  ‘We don’t really know that. Are there chances for concussions?  Of course. There are collisions. But the game is safer than it’s ever been.’....

“Football isn’t under attack.  What football does to its participants is under scrutiny. The key to survival shouldn’t involve ignorance and asinine threats about its decline tearing at the fabric of the nation. The key to sustainability is making sure participants can survive and live long.

“Fedora and all the masked Fedora out there can adapt to a modified game.  Change won’t ruin football, but there is one thing that could kill it: if people start considering it barbaric.  It’s time to start valuing human beings rather than manipulating them.”

--56-year-old Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Tony Sparano suddenly died today.  He complained of chest pains Thursday, went to the hospital to get checked out, was released Friday, and then his wife found him unconscious this morning.

Sparano was a head coach with Miami and Oakland, going 32-41.   Our deepest sympathies to his family.

--Forbes just issued its annual ranking of the world’s 50 most valuable sports franchises and football is still king.

1. Dallas Cowboys, $4.8 billion
2. Manchester United, $4.123bn
3. Real Madrid, $4.09bn
4. Barcelona, $4.064bn
5. New York Yankees, $4bn
6. New England Patriots, $3.7bn
7. New York Knicks, $3.6bn
8. Los Angeles Lakers, $3.3bn
9. New York Giants, $3.3bn
10. Golden State Warriors, $3.1bn

19. Boston Red  Sox, $2.8bn
21. New York Jets, $2.75bn
31. Pittsburgh Steelers, $2.45bn
43. New York Mets, $2.1bn
46. Chelsea, $2.062bn
50. Cleveland Browns, $1.95bn

NBA

--Kawhi Leonard received his wish...a trade out of San Antonio...but he didn’t want to go to Toronto, yet this is where he’s headed, dealt for Toronto star guard DeMar DeRozan; DeRozan far from happy as well.  After all, DeRozan was in the midst of a five-year deal that he signed when he could have gone elsewhere, and he was just recently told he wasn’t being traded.

But after one postseason failure after another, Toronto had to do something, even if they won’t be able to sign Leonard following the 2018-19 season when he can become a free agent.

[The Raptors also got Danny Green in the deal, while sending Jakob Poeltl and a protected first-round pick to the Spurs.]

--Carmelo Anthony will be a free agent after a complicated three-team deal that sent Anthony from Oklahoma City to Atlanta, which is waiving him, while Atlanta point guard Dennis Schroder is among those going to OKC, and the Sixers get Hawks forward Mike Muscala.

There were other Sixers players involved, not worth getting into, because Philly had to get their roster down to the allowed 15 players at the start of the regular season and they had 16 prior to the deal.

As for Melo, he is rumored to be headed to either Houston or Miami.

--I forgot to note a week ago the passing of former Wake Forest hoops great Len Chappell, an All-American who became an NBA All-Star forward with the Knicks in the early 1960s.

Chappell was a prolific scorer and rebounder at Wake, while leading the Deacs to two NCAA championship tournament appearances, including a berth in the Final Four in 1962.  He was the ACC’s player of the year in 1961 and 1962.

Chappell would then be the fourth overall pick in the NBA draft in ’62 by the Syracuse Nationals, and was purchased by the Knicks a year later.

But at Wake Forest, Chappell teamed with point guard Billy Packer to lead the Deacs to the NCAA semis, still our only Final Four appearance, where we lost to an Ohio State squad led by John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas.  Chappell was Wake’s first consensus All-American that season, and for his career averaged 24.9 points a game and 13.9 rebounds.

He averaged 9 points per game in a nine-season NBA career, before finishing up with the Dallas Chapparrals of the ABA in 1971-72.

Stuff

--There are conflicting stories on the status of WFAN sports radio host Joe Benigno. Some reports say he’s taking a leave of absence from the station, while others say he is coming back this week.

Benigno was named in a salacious sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former employee.

The station has launched an internal investigation into the claims against Benigno, and there is no set date for his return, yet some say he is coming back while the investigation goes on.

The allegations include that he pressured the former female ad executive into “threesomes” and then damaged her career after getting rebuffed.

Eegads.  The former executive, Laura Lockwood, also alleges WFAN was run like a frat house, with employees drinking as early as 10:00 a.m.

Benigno’s attorney,  Arthu Aidala, said his client is “denying everything she alleged.”

--“Denis Ten, an Olympic bronze medalist in men’s figure skating in 2014, died on Thursday at age 25 after being stabbed in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

“Ten was taken to the hospital after the attack and died a few hours later. Russian and Kazakh news media reported that two men had been trying to steal mirrors from Ten’s car. Ten lost a significant amount of blood, and doctors said CPR was administered for two hours, but in vain.” [Victor Mather / New York Times]

Ten was part of Kazakhstan’s Korean minority.

--From the BBC: “A mob of villagers has killed nearly 300 crocodiles at a sanctuary for the animals in the Indonesian province of West Papua.

“The slaughter was in retaliation for a local man thought to have been killed by one animal from the site.

“Officials and police said they were not able to stop the attack and may now press charges.

“The killing of a protected species is a crime that carries a fine or imprisonment in Indonesia.

“The local villager was killed on Friday morning while gathering vegetables on the crocodile farm’s breeding sanctuary.”

After the funeral, hundreds of villagers went to the sanctuary, “armed with knives, shovels, hammers and clubs.”

‘Man’ falls another notch to No. 424 on the All-Species List.

--Of America’s 50 top-earning musical artists last year, 29 are considered “heritage artists.”

That’s Billboard’s term for acts who have released a minimum of 10 albums or been active for at least 20 years.

U2 was designated the top earner of 2017 based on U.S. concert grosses, plus royalties from domestic sales, streaming and publishing; taking in a total of $54.4 million - $52 million of which came from its “Joshua Tree” 30th anniversary tour.

Metallica was No. 3, a bit of a surprise.         

Top 3 songs for the week of 7/21/73: #1 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” (Jim Croce)  #2 “Will It Go Round In Circles” (Billy Preston)  #3 “Yesterday Once More” (Carpenters)...and...#4 “Shambala” (Three Dog Night)  #5 “Kodachrome” (Paul Simon)  #6 “Give Me Love – Give Me Peace On Earth” (George Harrison)  #7 “Smoke On The Water” (Deep Purple...such a unique sound for the time...)  #8 “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (Bette Midler)  #9 “Playground In My Mind” (Clint Holmes)  #10 “Natural High” (Bloodstone...so-so week at best... a B- ...)

Baseball Quiz Answer: The six Hall of Famers to homer in the 1971 All-Star Game, played at Tiger Stadium.  For the N.L., Johnny Bench, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente.  For the A.L., Reggie Jackson (the famous moonshot), Frank Robinson, and Harmon Killebrew.

There were only four pitchers for each squad; Dock Ellis and Vida Blue the starters.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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