• The YouTube broadcast of the Chiefs/Chargers game (which was a great game) was uneven, overdone, and just silly at times. They introduced some guy called “Destroyer” with huge hype who appeared twice for 15 seconds each time. Too many people with too little to do. Curt Warner was a good color commentator, but the rest was not exactly threatening to the memory of Roone Arledge.
• It’s the first game of the season, so you can’t make too many judgments. But if Patrick Mahomes keeps trying to save his weak offense by running for every third down conversion he’s not going to make it through the season.
• The US Open is not very interesting when it’s simply strong players standing on the baseline and pounding balls back and forth. What ever happened to “serve and volley”?
• Baseball games may have been speeded up, but the analytic insistence on removing pitchers after X pitches, even with a no-hitter going, is just stupid and boring. Sandy Koufax pitched more complete games in one season with an ERA around 2.0 than the complete staffs of major league teams today.
• When you spit on an opponent, as the Eagles’ Jalen Carter did to the Cowboys’ Dan Prescott, you ought to be suspended, not simply allowed to keep playing during the season. What’s the penalty for “vulgar”? Is this the “good sportsmanship” the NFL wants to promote?
• Gambling at home on sports events—often promoted during the event, as with golf—is going to create scandals in the game and danger for the athletes (many of whom have been threatened by gamblers desiring them to influence the outcome or as a result of their performance).
• Why does a tennis player or golfer require total silence during their play, enforced by the hosting organization, while a professional quarterback can operate at peak performance despite 70,000 people in the stadium shouting, the opposing team yelling to each other, and other assorted distractions, while the hosting team’s organization screams “make noise!” on the PA system?
• A ten million dollar purse for winning a golf tournament?