Monday Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Boston took a commanding 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals last night with a 105-98 win over Dallas. Game 3 is not till Wednesday. Larry O’Brien once said that the NBA was the only league to make to season shorter but players complained that they just made it more compact. They kept 82 games but just didn’t want their playoffs competing with the baseball season. Now we’re lucky if the Finals are completed by the time of July 4th celebrations… Think that one of the unintended consequences of the NCAA's proposed $2.8 billion settlement could be for the smaller schools and universities leaving the NCAA altogether. Think of leagues like the Patriot League - why would they want to remain if doing so cost their schools (and students) roughly $20 million a year? Not just the Patriot League but many smaller leagues. This could cripple the NCAA. If a number of these schools and leagues departed what would that do to March Madness? Would the broadcasters still want to honor that $1 billion commitment when it appears that its the NCAA is not delivering what was it promised... If you think things are divisive politically today just remember that when Chuck Yeager received the Collier Trophy in 1948 from President Truman for breaking the sound barrier - Yeager's dad wouldn't even shake Truman's hand because the President was a Democrat and the Yeagers were Republicans... Maybe it’s just me but I think schools were more concentrated on education when they were grades 1-12 in a single building. Now they seem more concentrated on administrators and bus schedules… This was supposed to be a Finals dominated by Jason Tatum but Game 1 was the return of Kristaps Porzingis game and last night Jrue Holliday was the leading Boston scorer. Tatum “quietly” had 18 points, 9 assists, and 12 rebounds. He’s still the Celtics best player it just that they are also the deepest team in the NBA… Knew that Pat Sajak was calling it quits as host of Wheel of Fortune but didn't realize it's been 43-years. Man I feel old... Growing up I thought that Bug Tussel was a made up city with a funny name. Now I learn it's a real place...  Also keep in mind that stealing votes is nothing new either. Yeager's dad on election day used to hand out $2 bills and bottles of whisky to get votes for Republican candidates. With George Washington handing out alcohol to first get elected it seems the practice is older than America itself...  Maybe it’s also just me but man how the French Open and tennis in general has fallen off the radar. Just learned yesterday was the men’s finals… Yesterday was also Boz Scaggs 80th birthday. One of my favorite bits of rock trivia is the fact that he used to be the keyboardist for the Steve Miller Band before he went out on his own…

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