John Rooke - Thinking Out Loud
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Thinking out loud…and wondering what the heck I could possibly do with $648 million…
• Mega Millions lottery madness…if you walked down the street and found a dollar bill on the ground every 10 feet, you'd have to walk the circumference of the Earth at least 41 times to pick up all 600 million of those bills. I don’t know how long that would take me, but I sure would like to find out…
• So…hell actually froze over this week. It snowed in Cairo, Egypt for the first time in 112 years…
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST• Not for nuthin’…but there were 763 points scored in the NFL during last Sunday’s games, the most on a single day in NFL history. Happy now?
• Gotta love the fact (if only because you’d be crying otherwise) that the guy who made the game-saving pick in the end zone on TB12 for the Dolphins was a signee off of San Francisco’s practice squad just a couple of days before the game. Michael Thomas was so new to the Dolphins most of the players on the team didn’t even know his first name…
• Ok, so TB12 uttered a profanity on live TV this week. You’ve heard it before, and you’ll undoubtedly hear it again. That doesn’t mean it’s right. The problem here, as I see it, isn’t the use of the word itself. The problem is that we’re USED to it, and that’s a shame. There’s a reason why the FCC still bleeps it out, when given the chance. It wasn’t spoken on cable TV or the internet, where the rules are more relaxed. And, it came from someone who you expect more from. I get frustration, and I understand being angry. But what I don’t get is a lack of civility. It’s what makes us better – in theory – than animals. He has quite a few people who look up to him…and not just because he’s a HOF-caliber QB…
• Shame on WBZ-TV, too, for not having a delay so they could dump out of the profanity. We can cure diseases and put men on the moon, but not catch a curse word on TV? This is now the 21st century. Act like you’re in it…
• The way I see it – and I’ve called it correctly for a while now (11-3 ATS for Patriots’ games this season, btw) – the only way the Patriots advance this season is to somehow outscore the other guys. Because the defense “is what it is…”
• You can’t have 15 and 16-play offensive drives and get only field goals out of those, which is what happened against Miami. The entire offense – play-caller Josh McDaniels included – needs to look in the mirror. They also need to recognize who they are, and that they don’t have Rob Gronkowski…
• But you do have “Minitron.” Julian Edelman put up Calvin Johnson-type numbers (or Wes Welker-type numbers?) with his 13 catches for 139 yards against the Dolphins. Playing on a one-year contract this year, he deserves a nice, new deal in the off-season, don’t you think? Hmmm…maybe you should think again. These ARE the Patriots we’re talking about. Just sayin'...
• And let’s give some credit to Miami. They’ve bounced back nicely from the midyear circus surrounding Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito – and neither player has returned to the team. They took TB12’s newest binky, Shane Vereen, out of the offense…holding him to three receptions for eight yards. Gotta do better than that with the play calls before criticizing performance…
• The defense? It’s not going to get appreciably better than what you see out there right now. All is not lost, however. Sure, it hurts to lose Pro Bowl caliber players from your lineup (Wilfork, Kelly, Mayo)…but if the defense could somehow figure out a way to force turnovers again – which they’ve stopped doing – you’ll see rapid improvement on that side of the ball…
• Ryan Tannehill’s passer rating was a season high 120.6. Brady’s was 85.7. Tom, if you want to get upset…start with the guys on the other side of the ball…
• They’re better against the run now that Sealver Siliga is in the rotation at tackle, and that they’re playing more four-man fronts. But the linebackers aren’t reacting well at all once a runner, or receiver, gets past the line of scrimmage. Reverses and receiver rushes are getting big yards…
• After making some great halftime adjustments in recent weeks to come from behind, the Patriots were out-adjusted by Miami’s staff last week. They took TE Charles Clay effectively out of the mix, but in the second half Brian Hartline and Mike Wallace found themselves against a lot of man coverage…when the Pats had played primarily zone in previous weeks. And there was little to no pressure on Tannehill in the second half, after sacking him three times in the first half. Seems to me somebody in the MIA locker room made some changes, while someone else was simply M-I-A…
• The stark reality of this week’s game at Baltimore has the Pats going from a potential 1-seed a week ago to OUT of the playoffs altogether. Bizarre. But true. And the way this team is limping to the finish line, it’s hard to feel like they could “go on a run” anytime soon. But then again, a big win wouldn’t surprise me, either. That’s just the nature of these Patriots. Edge-of-the-seat stuff, but a gambler’s nightmare…
• Know what $648 million is? It's your salary for 6,480 years if you earn $100,000 a year…
• Pats fans, maybe this will make you feel better. The combined record of the New York Jets, Giants, Knicks and Brooklyn Nets was 26-48 at the beginning of the week…
• And, the Yankees still have A-Fraud…
• Tweet of the Week – from Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (@MMehtaNYDN): “Since Santonio Holmes signed with the Jets after 2010, he has made $269,662.92 per catch…”
• No matter how bad you have it, someone else always has it worse. Like Cincinnati. The Bengals had the chance to slide into the two-slot in the AFC last week, and threw up a stinker at Pittsburgh. Yes, it hurts to lose. But New England hasn’t really lost anything. Yet…
• The Bengals are banged up like the Patriots are on defense, missing Geno Atkins, Leon Hall and Terence Newman…and they lost Dre Kirkpatrick late against the Steelers, leaving them with barely enough defensive backs to play. They also lost James Harrison to a concussion. Small wonder they struggled stopping the Steelers…
• For $648 million, you could buy a thousand $648,000 houses…or one from Shaquille O’Neal…
• Don’t look now…but there isn’t much run on the Friars right now in the Big East. No one is talking about them, no one thinks much of them…few believe they can do anything once the conference season begins primarily because of the loss of Kris Dunn to the lineup. One web story I saw this week even failed to include them in a weekly power ranking of the teams – listing only NINE, not 10 teams. Talk about falling off the radar…
• I will say this right now…the Big East is there for the taking. There is no dominant team. There are several good ones, but no monster in the group. Everybody’s team du jour, Villanova, lost to the Friars twice last season. One anonymous league coach thinks the Friars will be helped immeasurably if Brandon Austin reappears from suspension. Opportunity continues to knock for Providence. Let’s see if they can answer…
• Free the Friar Two? I’m not privy to the inner-decision making process at PC when it comes to the suspensions of freshmen Brandon Austin and Rodney Bullock. But I do know this…no one is happy with the way things have been handled here. Yes, there were transgressions, mistakes made, penalties served. What really happened? Nothing criminal, it appears. But egregious enough to cause this delay…at the expense of watching the athletic departments’ only revenue-generating program – with high expectations this year – twist in the wind with depth problems. Someone needs to show some leadership and decide this thing already…
• The personnel losses continue to pile up for Seton Hall…after losing guard Tom Maayan to the Israeli military, now Sterling Gibbs could be out awhile with a knee injury he suffered in an OT loss to St. Peter’s. Fuquan Edwin and Patrik Auda also have ankle problems, but Edwin is expected back after Christmas. Just in time, perhaps, to face the Friars on New Years’ Eve…
• At URI, the realization that three out of five students are still a relatively short distance from the campus during the semester holiday sparked a plea from the athletic department…to those same students. Please show up at our winter break games. Good grief – they’re free! Ingenious, yet sad that they had to do it in the first place…
• UMass just completed its’ second season as a full-fledged, FBS school. And it wasn’t pretty. They need to generate revenue through ticket sales and donations…but who will give to a one-win program? Add to the problem having to travel 90+ miles from campus for your “home games” at Gillette Stadium, and you can see why the phrase “revenue shortfall” is a common one on campus. To remedy some of this, half of their home games will move back to campus next season, as McGuirk Stadium nears the completion of renovations. But football expenses will continue to outpace revenues…at about double the amount from when the program was in the FCS. How long until the phrase “it ain’t worth it” becomes popular on campus?
• Do you know the name Barry Hinson? If you’re a hoop junkie, you might know he’s the head coach at Southern Illinois, and that he’s having a tough time getting through to his players right now. So…coach has turned the tables on “molly-coddling” his players, by ripping them. Publicly. Maybe the truth will embarrass, or hurt? Dude came unhinged the other night after a loss at Murray State…if you haven’t seen or heard what he said, it was funny, brutally honest stuff. Hope the PC-police (politically correct) don’t ditch this guy…
• You know, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe wrote this week that basically it’s his job to cover the games and write about them…and not to root for the teams involved. Couldn’t agree more. When you are attached to a team, however, through years of observance (if not an actual paycheck), the line between having a rooting interest and not having one blurs considerably, and that’s what we have in the present day and age of instant information. Teams hiring journalists is nothing new, and they do it in an effort to attract interest, if not control it. And fans often expect the media to be fans, too. Combine this with the unprecedented era we have going on in New England sports over the past decade-plus, and if you offer an opinion that differs with the mainstream, you’ll probably get beaten up for it…
• I get asked all the time – “don’t you want the Friars (or Patriots) to win?” Those are the two teams that have been a huge part of my broadcast past and present. And my answer is always the same. I root for the story…and for the paycheck…
• Shaughnessy is rarely accurate in his prognostications, which I can only assume he throws out there just to “juice” his audience. ‘Cuz he’s really, really bad at predicting. Either that or he simply doesn’t watch the games he’s paid to cover…
• On very rare occasions when I feel like splurging, I can come up with a $5-plus drink at Starbucks or a breakfast sandwich at Dunkin Donuts. But with $648 million, it's triple venti caramel macchiatos and sausage, egg and cheese on a croissant on the house! You could buy more than 100 million of the drinks -- or one for everyone in the state of California, New York and Texas and still have enough to buy two of them for all your friends in Washington state – plus if you were feeling generous, one for everyone in Oregon too…
• Shawn Thornton deserved every game of the 15-game suspension he was dealt by the NHL for his sucker-punching Brooks Orpik. I’m surprised it wasn’t more. This was the proverbial black-eye for hockey, an indefensible act of random violence that really has no place in organized sports or in society…even though fighting is condoned (applauded?) in pro hockey. I know there’s a history of bad blood between the Bruins and Penguins, and I know Orpik is no angel himself. And sure, I’m happy Thornton was apparently trying to defend what he thought was a cheap shot on a teammate. But with another cheap shot? No, no…the sport is better than that. So is tough-guy Thornton. There’s a time and a place for everything…
• If the NHL really wanted to eliminate fighting, they’d simply give out more game misconduct penalties. And then suspend players, like they do in the NFL, the NBA and MLB. But they don’t want to…and the fans? They don’t want to see the fighting stop, either. So throw the book at yourself, NHL, while you use Thornton as a whipping boy for what’s wrong with your sport…
• Is it just me, or is Tony Romo one of the all-time biggest choke artists we’ve seen in recent memory within pro sports? Or is that just the Dallas Cowboys as a whole? Because they both give up more leads than a front-running politician on election day…except in Rhode Island, of course…
• Zen question of the Week: Is Peyton Manning the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year because he gave away all of those free pizzas on TV?
• To my follicly-challenged friends…I heard this week that eating onions and garlic will help your hair grow. So good luck with that, as you spend the rest of your days in solitude…
• 240 years ago this week, American colonists decided to object to England’s overly-taxing Tea Act…and dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Just wondering, but do you think the price of tea jumped a bit in Boston thereafter?
• Business Insider and USA Today combined on some research you might find interesting…the highest paid/compensated college basketball coaches in the country. Not a shock at all to find Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski at the top of the list, with an annual take of $7.2 million. A few you might find curious, however – Kentucky’s John Calipari is #2, but at a mere $5.4 million. Rick Pitino is 3rd, earning $5 million. Former Friar Billy Donovan has done nicely for himself, in the #6 spot earning $3.7 million at Florida. The top Big East coach? Surprise…Marquette’s Buzz Williams, ranked 9th at $2.8 million…
• A few others of interest here – Texas’ (and former PC coach) Rick Barnes is 13th in total compensation, earning $2.4 million; Villanova’s Jay Wright is 14th at $2.3 million annually, Georgetown’s John Thompson 16th at $2.2 million, and Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim is a mere 21st in salary…earning a pittance of $1.9 million per year. That one surprised me…
• If you need some comparison for sanity’s sake…the highest paid college football coach is Alabama’s Nick Saban, after getting a boost (and an alleged courtship from Texas) to $7 million annually. Overall, the top football coaches do earn more than their hoop counterparts. The highest paid college president? That honor belongs to University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer, who made more than $3 million in 2011…less than half of the top-paid football and basketball coaches. Do not weep for these educators, however…42 of them made more than $1 million annually, according to data from 2011…
• If you think our priorities are out of whack, consider what top CEO’s for the highest-earning corporations make…and perhaps you can begin to understand our system of economics. College sports are big business, and the CEO’s (the coaches) earnings are commensurate with what they bring in…
• Or you know what? For $648 million, maybe I’ll just buy out a huge share of Dunkin Donuts. And 100 pair of Prada shoes for the gal in my life. What, you didn’t win? Yep, that was my ticket out in San Jose, CA. I pulled six teeth, too, just to give me a little insurance…
• That overwhelming need to hit the mute button during NFL games? Here’s one man’s take on the best – and worst – NFL announcing teams, based on the facts and opinions they present during their broadcasts. Hard for me to disagree with much, but my rule of thumb is “did they say anything really dumb?” If I can answer “I don’t remember,” they did ok…
• I get it, but didn’t like it. Happy that Family Guy creator Seth McFarland brought Brian Griffin “back to life” last week…through the ingenious use of Stewie’s “time machine.” The message? Never take those you love for granted. Very true. Also, never kill off a money-making character or brand, and always re-invest in your product to keep it relevant…
• You’ve heard the phrase ‘love is more important than money?’ My buddy Statbeast sez he doesn’t buy that. If love was more important, he could pay off his bills with just a hug…
• Ok, so Money magazine tells me this week that my odds for winning the Mega Millions jackpot were roughly 1-in-176 million. Not my kind of odds, but hey…you can’t win if you don’t play, right? You stand a better chance of getting hit by a meteorite (1-in-700K), or struck by lightning 1-in-280K), than you do of winning that kind of a jackpot. But after all of the taxes are paid, and everyone gets their cut…with that kind of jack you can make roughly $100K in interest every three days, without spending a single penny of the principle. Whoa. That’s NBA dough. Or, New York Yankee cash. Belly up to the lottery ticket counter…
• From the mailbag this week – Shawn from Sacramento, CA laments the sudden demise of the Patriots via Facebook: “The Patriots are too banged up, they’re not good in the Red Zone, and I don't think the defense will be able to get a stop or turnover when they need it. And next weekend will determine if the Patriots go forward or not. I don't like it, hope I'm wrong.” Shawn: Join the club. Tough to see the team as it currently stands making an impact during the playoffs – if they even get there. But things are so wide open in the AFC, all you need is a little momentum push to get there. Having a home game (or two) would certainly help. I’m not in a “buy” mode on these Patriots, but I’m not yet ready to “sell” my stock, either…
• Interested in having your questions on local RI sports (including the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send ‘em to me! It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions and comments to [email protected]. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
• Don’t forget to join us for GoLocal Sports on 103.7 FM, every Saturday from 7:00-9:00 am! Call in (401) 737-1287, or text us at 37937…and send email to the show - [email protected] .
• The book “Rhode Island Radio” from Arcadia Publishing is available for sale, and it tells the story of the 91-year history of the medium in our state through photographs, clippings and memories from many of the personalities who have graced our airwaves. If you’re in search of the gift that says “Rhode Island,” you’ve found it. Or, find it in local bookstores and online right here…
