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01/27/2025
Eagles In...
Add-on posted early Tues. a.m.
NFL
It’s Kansas City and Philadelphia in what should be a fascinating Super Bowl, the Chiefs going for a 3-peat. Of course most fans not in Philly or K.C., however, wanted Buffalo-Washington.
In K.C.’s 32-29 win over Buffalo Sunday night, there was another highly controversial call that went in the Chiefs’ favor, while Buffalo failed to get the job done.
Adam Kilgore / Washington Post
“The intensity of the final minutes of the fourth quarter had been building all night, over this entire season, for years. Josh Allen would finally conquer Patrick Mahomes, or Mahomes would protect his crown. The Buffalo Bills’ weight would be lifted, or another scar would form. The Kansas City Chiefs’ chance at history would live, or it would be halted. They had traded deft scrambles and laser-beam passes. They had turned the AFC championship game into an unflinching classic in a chilly cauldron of red. They had played for a trip to the Super Bowl, for their legacies, for the championship of each other.
“In two weeks, the Chiefs will play the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans for a chance to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. The Bills will spend the long offseason wondering how Mahomes and the Chiefs had ruined another joyride year. The Chiefs’ 32-29 win Sunday night hinged on many moments but none more than the final two possessions. A desperate pass deflected off diving Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid’s hands, and then Mahomes secured two clinical first downs....
“Allen threw for 237 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover, yet Mahomes upstaged him. He rushed for two touchdowns for the first time in the postseason and added 245 passing yards and a score....
“Mahomes advanced to his fifth Super Bowl appearance in seven seasons as a starting quarterback, another triumph for a dynasty in full bloom. Allen skulked off the field in another repelling of a would-be rival. As Allen has ascended, the Bills have won at least one playoff game in five consecutive years. In four of them, the Chiefs knocked them out. Joe Burrow and Tom Brady are still the only quarterbacks to beat Mahomes in the postseason. He is the final boss in the video game, the monster at the end of the movie.
“ ‘You either get it done, or you can’t,’ Allen said. ‘And we didn’t get it done.’
“At 29, probably not yet at the midpoint of his career, Mahomes has surpassed every quarterback in history outside of Brady. He improved his playoff record to 17-3, giving him more postseason victories than any passer but Brady. If he wins a fourth Super Bowl title in two weeks, he would move into a tie for second behind Brady’s seven. Only Brady has started more than five Super Bowls at quarterback.”
Nancy Armour / USA TODAY Sports
“Join the 21st Century, NFL.
“The NFL has desperately needed electronic spotting for years now. Now, after the AFC Championship turned on an egregious spot, the NFL has to make implementing it the top priority this off-season. Don’t send it to some committee where it’ll get buried or slow-walked. Don’t say you’ll ‘try it out.’
“Get. It. Done.
“Unless, of course, the NFL is cool with fans believing the league and the refs are putting their thumbs on the scale for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and increasingly questioning whether this $20 billion industry is any more genuine than WWE. Unless it wants to keep living in the dark ages, doing things in the way they were done in the days of leather helmets.
“Clinging to a 1-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Buffalo Bills went for it on fourth-and-1 with a Josh Allen sneak. It looked as if Allen got the first down – by several inches, no less – before being shoved backward.
“One of the line judges appeared to concur, trotting onto the field just above the first-down line. But another didn’t, coming onto the field below it, and the initial call was that Allen hadn’t gotten the first down. Which, OK, fine. It’s not always easy to tell in the moment when there’s that big pile of bodies.
“But then the call was upheld on review, and CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore spoke for everyone who is not a Chiefs fan.
“ ‘I felt like he gained it by about a third of the football,’ Steratore, who was an NFL official for 15 years, said.
“And that’s from a guy who once needed an index card to make a first-down call!
[Ed. CBS’s Jim Nantz declared, “I think he got it.”]
“ ‘I thought he had it,’ Bills head coach Sean McDermott said after the game. ‘Just short of the line was actually the first down, and what it looked like to me, when it was sitting next to me with the marker. Just inside that white stripe was the first down. It looked like he got to it. That’s all I can say.’
“Five plays later, Mahomes rushed for a score that gave the Chiefs a 29-22 lead....
“(Whether) that call made the difference in the outcome or not is beside the point.
“The NFL is hyper-sensitive to anything that calls the integrity of the game into question. It’s why multiple players have gotten hefty suspensions for gambling. Yet there are an increasing number of fans who believe that the NFL is partial to Mahomes and the Chief and has let the refs know it. The thinking being that because Mahomes is the face of the league and because Travis Kelce’s romance with Taylor Swift has brought a legion of new fans to the NFL, it’s best for everyone that they end up on the winning side.
“Every game, there is griping about the gifts the Chiefs get from the refs. Calls made against their opponent. Penalties ignored. Penalties assessed. Even earlier in Sunday’s game, refs ruled Xavier Worthy made a 26-yard catch when replays showed possession was debatable. Two plays later, the Chiefs scored.
“Electronic spotting won’t end all the suspicion. But when the NFL’s credibility is being called into question, even a partial solution is better than the status quo. The technology exists. The NFL has the money for it. All it needs is the motive, and this game sure provided it.”
The early line on the Super Bowl is K.C. -2.
The Chiefs on Sunday extended their NFL-record win streak in one-possession games to 16, going back to last season.
College Basketball
--New AP Poll, records thru Sunday....
1. Auburn 18-1 (62)
2. Duke 17-2
3. Iowa State 17-2
4. Alabama 17-3
5. Florida 18-2
6. Houston 16-3
7. Michigan State 17-2
8. Tennessee 17-3
9. Marquette 17-3
10. Purdue 16-5
11. Kansas 14-5
12. Kentucky 14-5
13. Texas A&M 15-5
14. Mississippi State 16-4
15. St. John’s 17-3 ...up 5
16. Oregon 16-4
17. Wisconsin 16-4
18. Illinois 14-6
19. Memphis 16-4
20. Missouri 16-4
21. Louisville 15-5
22. Texas Tech 15-4
23. Ole Miss 15-5
24. Vanderbilt 16-4
25. UConn 14-6
--Monday, 2 Duke beat NC State 74-64, Cooper Flagg with 28.
And Arizona (14-6, 8-1) upset 3 Iowa State at home, 86-75.
Wake Forest has a ginormous game at Louisville Tuesday. Beating the Cardinals on the road would make up for the Duke loss.
NBA
--The Knicks (31-16) destroyed a very good Grizzlies team (31-16) at the Garden last night, 143-106, as Mikal Bridges had 28 points and was +43 in 34 minutes, OG Anunoby +41 with six steals also in 34 minutes.
It is the first time the Knicks have scored over 140 points in consecutive games since the 1965-66 season!
--Miami suspended Jimmy Butler indefinitely on Monday after he left the team’s morning shootaround when he was informed that he would not be in the starting lineup.
The suspension will last at least five games, the team said, “due to a continued pattern of disregard for team rules...”
The Heat’s next five games take them through the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Golf Balls
--It is going to be chilly at Pebble Beach this week for the signature event, a field of 80, rain in the forecast for the weekend. The tournament will be played on two courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill. The purse is $20 million, $3.6 million to the winner.
College Baseball
--Baseball America Preseason Top 25
1. Texas A&M
2. LSU
3. Tennessee
4. Arkansas
5. Virginia
6. Florida State
7. Florida
8. Clemson
9. Oregon State
10. Duke
12. North Carolina
16. NC State
17. Wake Forest
Yup, in the ACC it’s going to be critical to take two out of three in the big series.
Stuff
--Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, defected to Penn State for a $3.1 million salary.
Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.
-----
[Posted following Eagles-Commanders....]
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday, if not much sooner.
NBA Quiz: LeBron James will average double figures in points for the season at the age of 40. Name the only five other players to average in double figures at that age. Answer below.
NFL
--Interesting start to Commanders-Eagles, as Washington and Jayden Daniels took the opening kickoff and went 54 yards on 18 plays, chewing up 7:03 on the clock, but only got a 34-yard Zane Gonzalez field goal out of it.
Philadelphia’s Will Shipley then took the Gonzalez kickoff for 35 yards to the Eagles 40, and first play from scrimmage, Saquon Barkley took it 60 yards for the score. Amazing. 7-3 Philly.
I’ve been meaning to write for weeks now that as you watch Barkley, understand this is what Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty can do...just accelerate out of the blue. You stop him for a few plays and then BAM! Gone. It’s why Jeanty is that rare running back who will go in the first round of the NFL Draft.
But back to the game, Washington’s Dyami Brown then fumbled, Eagles recovered at the Washington 48, and six plays later, Barkley took it in from the 4...14-3 Philly.
After another Washington field goal, 14-6, Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott missed on a 54-yarder and then Daniels connected on a 36-yard TD pass to Terry McLaurin, 14-12, as the Commanders went for two and were stuffed. Personally, I don’t like going for the two in the first half, but what do I know.
The Eagles then had a 4th-and-5 at the Washington 45 late in the second quarter and Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown hooked up for 31 yards to the 14. Hurts took it in from the one, 20-12, and after a penalty on the Commanders, Eagles went for two and as Hurts tried to sneak it in, he was stopped.
But Washington fumbles the ensuing kickoff, Eagles recover at the WSH 25, and Hurts converts the turnover into a touchdown, a 4-yard pass to AJ Brown, 27-12...a nightmare for the Commanders, formerly the Redskins, who need a second half effort inspired by Crazy Horse.
And Washington and Daniels, with just 0:39 left in the first half, still manage to get a 42-yard Gonzalez field goal...great job...27-15.
But Philly converted the Commanders’ two turnovers into touchdowns.
On to the second half...and Hurts gets his second rushing TD from nine yards, 34-15, but Daniels and the Commanders go 70 yards, Daniels the last ten, and they convert on the two, 34-23, two possession game with 5:01 left in the third.
Washington then coughs it up again, Philly recovering on their 49. Hurts takes it in from the one-inch line after three Commanders’ penalties inside the one, 41-23, 12:24 left in the fourth. This game is over.
Philly scores again, however, Saquon from the four for his third touchdown, 48-23....then 55-23....seven rushing touchdowns...and that’s the final score...more in my Add-on....
Ditto Chiefs-Bills....
--The Cowboys rather shockingly hired lifetime assistant NFL coach Brian Schottenheimer to be their next head coach
“Brian Schottenheimer is known as a career assistant,” owner Jerry Jones told ESPN. “He ain’t Brian no more. He is now known as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”
Schottenheimer was the team’s offensive coordinator for the last two seasons under Mike McCarthy, who was dismissed after the season.
It will be the 51-year-old’s first head coaching job.
Schottenheimer previously served as the offensive coordinator with the Jets (2006-11), the Rams (2012-14) and the Seahawks (2018-20).
His father, Marty, won 200 games as an NFL head coach.
Schottenheimer’s time in New York reached its apex during the 2009 and 2010 seasons when the Jets reached consecutive AFC Championship Games.
Former Jets head coach Robert Salah, who interviewed for the Cowboys job, was then named the next defensive coordinator of the 49ers, a job he held from 2017-20.
--Speaking of the Jets, earlier in the week they hired former cornerback Aaron Glenn to be their next head coach, Glenn the Lions’ defensive coordinator the past four years.
The 52-year-old was the Jets’ first-round draft pick in 1994 and played eight seasons for the team, a very good player and well liked. He had 24 interceptions as a Jet, 41 overall in the NFL during a 15-year career, three Pro Bowl appearances.
The Jets zeroed in on him after losing out on Mike Vrabel, who took the Patriots job.
Glenn made a statement after being hired:
“To our players, prepare to be coached with everything we have. That is our responsibility. I ask that we share the same vision and that’s working towards winning a championship. To our fans, simply put, expect a winning team that you will be proud of.”
It was important that NFL legends Bill Parcells and Joe Namath were excited by the move, and many current players are as well.
The Jets then hired Darren Mougey for the GM role, Mougey the assistant GM in Denver, where he has been since 2012, surviving six different head coaches.
--The Raiders found a new coach, 73-year-old Pete Carroll. It seems like the perfect pick for a moribund franchise, and clearly Carroll had the approval of Tom Brady, who is a 5% owner of the team and reportedly had owner Mark Davis’ ear when it came to the decision.
--One day after saying he was no longer interested in the Jaguars’ head coaching position, Liam Coen had a change of heart. The former Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator told the Bucs Thursday night he was taking the Jags’ job. Tampa Bay had offered Coen a deal that would’ve made him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.
--Former Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is the Bears’ new head coach, Johnson considered the most highly sought candidate this offseason. He no doubt took the job in large part because Chicago already has a talented young QB in Caleb Williams.
--As of Saturday, only the Saints were left without a head coach, with Mike McCarthy among their candidates.
--The Associated Press released its finalists for the AP 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player Award: Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson.
The winner will be announced at NFL Honors on Feb. 6, along with the winners in all the other categories.
College Football
--They released the final AP Poll, which is important for fans, the yearend figure that sticks forever.
1. Ohio State (56) 14-2
2. Notre Dame 14-2
3. Oregon 13-1
4. Texas 13-3
5. Penn State 13-3
6. Georgia 11-3
7. Arizona State 11-3
8. Boise State 12-2
9. Tennessee 10-3
10. Indiana 11-2
11. Ole Miss 10-3
12. SMU 11-3
13. BYU 11-2
14. Clemson 10-4
15. Iowa State 11-3
16. Illinois 10-3
17. Alabama 9-4
18. Miami (FL) 10-3
19. South Carolina 9-4
20. Syracuse 10-3
21. Army 12-2
22. Missouri 10-3
23. UNLV 11-3
24. Memphis 11-2
25. Colorado 9-4
Navy was 26th, if you carried out the votes.
--Bill Belichick accepted the North Carolina coaching job in December, but despite being formally introduced at a press conference last month, Belichick had yet to officially sign his contract with the Tar Heels, leading to all sorts of speculation he was keeping his hat in the ring for an NFL job.
But the other day, Belichick officially signed his contract, a five-year pact paying him $10 million on an annual basis, the first three years fully guaranteed. Should he leave after just one season, his buyout is only $1 million.
College Basketball
Going back to last Tuesday....
6 Tennessee (17-2, 4-2) had a good 68-56 win over 14 Mississippi State (15-4, 3-3). Ohio State (11-8, 3-5) had a big upset at 11 Purdue (15-5, 7-2), 73-70.
And in the ACC, 25 Louisville (15-5, 8-1) continued its hot play, 98-73 at SMU (14-5, 5-3).
Wake Forest (15-4, 7-1) won its critical game at home against North Carolina (12-8, 5-3) 67-66, which shouldn’t have been as close as the final score but in the last 30 seconds, Hunter Sallis missed the front end of two, one-and-ones. It could have been catastrophic for the Deacs.
Thursday, Maryland (15-5, 5-4) had a big road win at 17 Illinois (13-6, 5-4).
Saturday, Wake Forest (15-5, 7-2) needed a big win at home over 2 Duke (17-2, 9-0) and fell behind 35-22 at the half, shooting 0 for 9 from three. I just wanted us to keep it close and in the second half, the Deacs played some inspired basketball, turning up the defense, and after a 23-4 run, Wake led 45-39 with 9:50 to play.
Alas, that was the high point, Duke coming back for a 63-56 victory that most likely spells the end for Wake’s NCAA chances.
The Deacs ended up 3 for 18 from behind the arc, just 15 of 23 from the foul line, and Cooper Flagg showed off some of his skills, 24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists.
Wake was also hurt by Tre’Von Spillers early foul trouble, Spillers a key performer down low for us.
Meanwhile, No. 1 Auburn (18-1, 6-0) edged 6 Tennessee (17-3, 4-3) at home, 53-51, as Johni Broome made his return from his sprained ankle, 16 points, 13 rebounds...the two teams a combined 7 for 42 from three.
7 Houston (16-3, 8-0) won a biggie at 12 Kansas (14-5, 5-3) 92-86 in double overtime.
8 Michigan State (17-2, 8-0) made it 12 straight with an 81-74 win over Rutgers (10-10, 3-6) at Madison Square Garden.
What an incredibly disappointing season for the Scarlet Knights. Future lottery pick Dylan Harper continues to suffer from his ankle injury, not nearly 100%, and fellow top-5 NBA selection come the draft, Ace Bailey, scored 18 points on 4 of 17 shooting from the field, though he played hard and had nine rebounds. At least RU got a surprise effort from Jordan Derkack, 26 points off the bench.
Vanderbilt (16-4, 4-3) upset 9 Kentucky (14-5, 3-3) 74-69, former Demon Deacon Andrew Carr sitting out with a back injury.
19 UConn (14-6, 6-3) lost again, 76-72 at Xavier (13-8, 5-5).
Today, Sunday, Maryland (16-5, 6-4) had another big road win, this time at Indiana (14-7, 5-5), 79-78...a very entertaining affair for this casual fan, who happens to be high on Maryland to make some major noise in March.
--Back to Wake Forest, longtime assistant basketball coach Ernie Nestor died. He was 79.
For those of us of a certain age, Nestor had three different stints as an assistant coach at Wake, most of his time as the right-hand man for Dave Odom during some of our best seasons, including the ACC title seasons of 1994-1995 and 1995-96.
Nestor was also part of Carl Tacy’s staff from 1980 to 1985, where he recruited, among others, Muggsy Bogues.
“He’s one of my biggest heroes,” Bogues said by phone on Sunday morning. “Coach Nestor was the one who discovered me (in Baltimore as an undersized 5-foot-3 point guard) and it was him and Coach (Herb) Krusen who told Coach Tacy we have to look very closely at this guy.”
Bogues arrived as a curiosity at Wake and left as an All-ACC player who went on to have a long NBA career.
“I do remember Coach Tacy telling Ernie, ‘Well, you were right about this kid,’” Bogues said.
Nestor had a big hand in recruiting not just Bogues, but Josh Howard, Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress, and he coached Frank Johnson, Delaney Rudd, Darius Songaila and Danny Young among others who had solid NBA careers.
Nestor was also a head coach in between stints at Wake, George Mason and Elon, 135-198, with an NCAA appearance at George Mason. [John Dell / Winston-Salem Journal]
RIP, Ernie.
--In high school hoops, two California teammates set records on Thursday night that are both remarkable, and kind of cartoonish.
Mesrobian High School senior guards Nick and Dylan Khatchikian went off in a 119-25 victory over Pasadena’s Waverly High.
Nick scored 102 points, and Dylan had a triple-double for Mesrobian in Pico Rivera, CA.
Nick’s 102 points came on 48-of-60 shooting from the field in only 22 minutes and also set a new California Interscholastic Federation state record. He came out of the game for good with two minutes left in the third quarter.
Twin brother Dylan set a CIF record with 35 assists, along with 15 rebounds and 13 steals.
Needless to say, Waverly is a small school, 0-9 in hoops this season, with four sophomores and two freshmen who are fulfilling their PE requirement for graduation.
--And in a highly disturbing story, Keiner Asprilla is a 7-foot-1 center at St. Peter’s Prep School in Jersey City, NJ, which always has one of the top high school hoops programs in Jersey, with Asprilla a top prospect, called the “most drafted player” in the state.
Asprilla was arrested this week for a sexual assault that occurred while he was visiting the University of Missouri last September for a recruiting visit.
According to the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, officers responded to a report of a sexual assault “at an unknown location within the City of Columbia” on Oct. 8. The accuser alleged that the rape occurred on Sept. 20, just before midnight, when Asprilla was in town as a celebrated prospect, police said.
No coaches, players or staff from St. Peter’s were on the trip.
Missouri said “This alleged off-campus incident did not involve any of our students, and it was reported to the Columbia Police Department.”
Asprilla was 17 at the time of his visit to Missouri. He turned 18 in October and is expected to be extradited to Missouri in the coming days, according to NJ Advance Media.
NBA
--Wednesday, the Cavaliers had 2.8 seconds left in their game against the Houston Rockets, down 109-107 with probable All-Star Darius Garland at the line shooting three on a flagrant foul call, a 90 percent free-throw shooter, but he hit only one, a 109-108 loss, just their seventh loss of the season.
The Cavs (36-8) then lost Friday at Philadelphia (16-27), 132-129, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey combining for 59 for the Sixers.
And Cleveland lost a third time, Saturday at home to the Rockets (30-14), 135-131, as Amen Thompson had a triple-double, 23-14-10.
--In the Denver Nuggets’ 132-123 win over the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, Nikola Jokic had a performance for the ages... 35 points, 22 rebounds and 17 assists, becoming the first player to register a game with at least 35 points, 20 rebounds and 15 assists since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. It was also Jokic’s fifth consecutive game putting up a triple-double before the fourth quarter. He has an NBA-leading 20 triple-doubles this season.
Oh, by the way, he also sank a 66-footer Thursday when with two seconds remaining in the third quarter, he grabbed an inbounds pass from Aaron Gordon and took just one step forward before launching the ball from just inside the 3-point line, and swish.
Saturday, the Timberwolves (24-21) blitzed the Nuggets (28-17) 133-104, Jokic just 20-3-11, with 7 turnovers.
--In Paris, Saturday, the Pacers (25-20) demolished the Spurs (20-23) 136-98, the game marking the return of Victor Wembanyama, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
--And last night, the Knicks (30-16) had a nice 143-120 win over the Kings (23-22) at the Garden, OG Anunoby with 33 points, and Josh Hart with another triple-double, 20-18-11. Eighteen rebounds for the 6’4” guard.
--Tuesday night, 40-year-old LeBron James had his 121st career triple-double, 21-10-13 in the Lakers’ 111-88 victory over the Washington Wizards.
--They announced the starters for the All-Star Game and for the first time in 50 years, the Knicks have two starters...Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Back in 1975, both Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe started.
The other East starters are Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell. The West starters are Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron and Kevin Durant.
The starters were picked through a system of weighted balloting: 50% was fan voting, 25% was a media panel and 25% was voting by current players.
LeBron made it for a 21st year.
There are 14 more All-Stars yet to be announced, and they’ll be chosen in a vote of the league’s head coaches. The list will be revealed Jan. 30.
--The most boring story in sports these days involves Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler, who was suspended again, this time for two games, for what the team called a “continued pattern of disregard of team rules, insubordinate conduct and conduct detrimental to the team,” including missing the Heat’s flight to Milwaukee earlier in the day.
Butler told the Heat in recent weeks that he wants a trade, a demand he has not made publicly because league rules do not allow players to do so.
MLB
--Tuesday, Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Ichiro, who became the first Japanese player to gain entry, came within one vote of being a unanimous selection, a feat achieved by only one player, reliever Mariano Rivera in 2019.
Sabathia, another first-ballot honoree, received 86.8 percent and Wagner, who was on the ballot for the 10th-and-final time, got 82.5 percent, 75 percent required for enshrinement.
Ichiro said he wanted to have a drink with the lone dissenter.
Carlos Beltran fell 19 votes short at 70.3%, up from 57.1% last year and 46.5% in 2023 in his first ballot appearance. There were a lot of local stories blasting the fact Beltran didn’t get selected, but relax, boys and girls. He’ll get in next year. ditto, perhaps, Andruw Jones at 66.2% and with two years of eligibility left.
Chase Utley moved up to 39.8% in just his second year on the ballot.
Alex Rodriguez inched up to 37.1% in his fourth year, Manny Ramirez 34.3% in his ninth, among the steroids crowd.
David Wright received 8.1% in his second year, clearing the 5% barrier needed to stay on the ballot.
But imagine what Cooperstown will be like next July 27, with Ichiro and his Japanese followers, let alone the larger than life Sabathia and his Yankees fans, among others. And Billy Wagner is no shrinking violet.
Plus Dave Parker and the late Dick Allen’s family will be there, after they were elected by the Classic Baseball Era Committee. Parker and Allen’s son will no doubt give stirring speeches.
--The Mets held a fanfest at Citi Field yesterday and owner Steve Cohen said he was not happy with the way negotiations had gone with Pete Alonso’s team, namely Scott Boras, Cohen making it clear the Mets were prepared to move on from the popular first baseman.
“Personally, this has been an exhausting conversation and negotiation. [Juan] Soto was tough, this is worse,” Uncle Stevie said. “I don’t like the structures that are being presented back to us. I think it’s highly asymmetric against us, and I feel strongly about it.
“And so I will never say ‘no’ – there’s always a possibility – but the reality is, we’re moving forward.”
The Metsies are moving forward specifically by moving Mark Vientos to first base while seeing if one of three young players can fill in at third base. I’m on board with it. It’s also going to make for a fascinating spring training, as competitive as you can get.
Worrisomely, Brandon Nimmo said he’s still having problems with his plantar fasciitis.
--The Braves reached agreement with free agent outfielder Jurickson Profar, three years, $42 million.
Profar, 31, broke out with a career year in 2024, 24 home runs and 85 RBIs, .839 OPS, making his first All-Star team.
--Remember that one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes rookie card? The one Skenes autographed and Topps placed in a random packet? The Pirates offered two season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years, a softball game for 30 at PNC Park, a spring training experience “like no other,” a meet-and-greet with Skenes, two autographed jerseys, and then Skenes’ girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, sweetened the pot, offering “the person who finds the card can sit with me at a Pirates game in my suite.”
The card was found by an 11-year-old Pirates fan who lives in Los Angeles and he turned down the Pirates’ offer and is putting the card on the open market, with Fanatics in charge. It will no doubt fetch six figures.
But it was a cool story, with the kid dreaming of getting the card, chronicling it in his personal journal that he pulled it on Christmas morning, his parents buying him a box of packs of cards.
Golf Balls
--Well, I was right. The PGA Tour announced Friday that next month’s Genesis Invitational, which traditionally has been played at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, will be moved to Torrey Pines outside San Diego because of the fires that ravaged the Los Angeles area.
The signature event will take place Feb. 13-16, and solely on the South Course, the lengthy seaside track that is the more difficult of Torrey Pines’ two courses and which has twice hosted the U.S. Open.
--Of course, this week they were playing at Torrey Pines for the Farmers Insurance Open, which uses both the North and South courses. Because the PGA Tour didn’t want to conflict with the NFL’s big Sunday, they finished things up on Saturday and Harris English led after three rounds at 9-under.
And English closed the deal, winning his fifth career title by one over Sam Stevens.
The PGA Tour has lacked juice thus far in the new season, but next week is Pebble Beach, a signature event, and Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will be making their 2025 debuts. Then you have the always fun Waste Management Open, and then another signature event, the Genesis, now back at Torrey Pines. So it should be a good stretch.
Aussie Open
--Madison Keys of the United States upset two-time defending champion and No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to collect her first Grand Slam title at age 29.
After beating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals on Thursday, Keys is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2005 to defeat both of the WTA’s top two players at Melbourne Park.
Keys, ranked 14th and seeded 19th, was playing in her second major final after being the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Open.
Keys is the oldest woman to become a first-time major champion since Flavia Pennetta was 33 at the 2015 U.S. Open.
--The men’s final was Sunday, with defending champion and No. 1 Jannik Sinner going against No. 2 Alexander Zverev.
Sinner eliminated American Ben Shelton in the semifinals, while Zverev advanced when 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic stopped playing because of an injury.
Djokovic had beaten 3 Carlos Alcaraz in a scintillating quarterfinal, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
“I just wish that this match today was the final,” Djokovic said. “One of the most epic matches I’ve played on this court. On any court.”
But then Novak was booed off court by some Australian Open fans after retiring injured from his semi-final against Zverez. He said afterwards that he did everything “I possibly could do to manage the muscle tear that I had,” having injured his left leg against Alcaraz.
Well, Sinner defended his Aussie Open title, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 over Zverez, the 23-year-old Italian now with three Grand Slams, the other last year’s U.S. Open.
But Sinner did have a doping issue last year in which he was cleared by a ruling that was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, with a hearing in the WADA appeal scheduled for April.
Premier League
In Saturday action, Bournemouth wiped out Nottingham 5-0, Forest crashing to earth, at least for one day.
Liverpool beat Ipswich 4-1, Arsenal, despite playing with 10 men for much of the contest, managed a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton. And Manchester City defeated Chelsea 3-1.
None of the games Sunday were important in terms of the standings.
With 22/23 of 38 played...played – points
1. Liverpool...22 – 53
2. Arsenal...23 – 47
3. Notthingham...23 – 44
4. Man City...23 – 41
5. Newcastle...23 – 41
6. Chelsea...23 – 40
7. Bournemouth...23 – 40
I can’t help but note one game today, Tottenham disgracefully falling at home, 2-1, to Leicester City, which climbed out of the relegation zone.
Ange Postecoglu’s Spurs squad has now won just one of their past 11 matches in the Premier League and has fallen to 15th. It’s not time to panic just yet, re the possibility of relegation, but they’re going to need some ‘Ws’ and the home fans are getting rather surly, putting the heat on chairman Daniel Levy.
NHL
--Alex Ovechkin had a goal Thursday, No. 875, now needing just 20 to best Wayne Gretzky’s mark.
--The Rangers, who entered today’s matinee at the Garden on an 8-1-3 streak to get back in the playoff conversation, lost a crusher to Colorado, 5-4, the Avalanche scoring with 15 seconds left in the contest.
Stuff
--Mikaela Shiffrin announced she is making her return following her Nov. 30 crash next Thursday in a slalom race in Courchevel, France. So the pursuit of World Cup win No. 100 is back on, though Shiffrin said she is not concerned with winning, but just wanting to show progress.
The puncture wound she suffered in the crash at Killington, Vermont, penetrated through three layers of muscle, which required hours of arduous rehab to reactivate those crucial core muscles to feeling comfortable again weaving through a course.
Top 3 songs for the week 1/30/71: #1 “Knock Three Times” (Dawn) #2 “My Sweet Lord” (George Harrison) #3 “Lonely Days” (Bee Gees...back when they made good music, pre-Disco era...)...and...#4 “One Less Bell To Answer” (The 5th Dimension...immensely beautiful but depressing song for some of us...) #5 “Rose Garden” (Lynn Anderson) #6 “Groove Me” (King Floyd) #7 “I Hear You Knocking” (Dave Edmunds) #8 “Your Song” (Elton John...his best...) #9 “One Bad Apple” (The Osmonds) #10 “Stoney End” (Barbra Streisand...B+ week...)
NBA Quiz Answer: Only five, aside from LeBron, to average double digits at the age of 40.
Kareem (who did it three times), John Stockton (twice), Michael Jordan, Robert Parish and Karl Malone.
Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tuesday.