I was wrong for calling the Houston Astros cowards, turns out they’re just idiots

Everyone point and laugh at the Astros.

This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

On Wednesday I wrote about the Houston Astros being cowards. I called them that word because on the first day that pitchers and catchers reported to spring training the team did not allow media into their facilities and the team even roped off parking lot and had it heavily guarded by security.

I saw that as extremely cowardly because the team knew that the media would be wanting to get some answers about the embarrassing cheating scandal from some pitchers and catches, most notably Justin Verlander, who ended up speaking to reporters on Wednesday and said he wished he would have spoken up when he saw his teammates cheating: “I wish I had said more and I didn’t, and for that I am sorry.”

Well, now it turns out that I was wrong to call them cowards and I must apologize for calling them that. My parents raised me to admit when I was wrong and to say sorry when necessary.

So, I’m sorry.

The Astros aren’t cowards.

They’re just idiots.

I mean, did you see how they handled their “apologies” on Thursday? They had months to figure out the best way to handle this and they apparently settled on being a real-life version of that GIF where the guy walks to the car with a handful of things only to slip and drop them all in spectacular fashion.

The Houston Astros had PR companies across the globe pointing and laughing at them.

The team’s owner, the bumbling Jim Crane, at one moment said this about their sign-stealing: “Our opinion is that this didn’t impact the game.”

Then 55 seconds later, when pressed on that statement, Crane said: “I didn’t say it didn’t impact the game.”

I mean, to steal a line from another popular GIF,  we are laughing!

But Crane’s incredibly poor apology wasn’t even the worst one, which tells you just how amazing this entire fail by the team was on Thursday.

Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve apologized for their actions with such little genuineness that it was stunning and laughable. Everyone on Twitter instantly starting comparing their apologies to Dwight Schrute’s hilarious non-apology from The Office.

Bregman said: “I am really sorry… about the choices… that were made… by my team, by the organization, and by me. I have learned from this… and I hope to regain the trust of baseball fans.”

I mean LOL. That was basically me apologizing to my parents for coming in a few hours after curfew back in my high school days.

Altuve said: “The whole Astros organization feels bad for what happened in 2017. We especially feel remorse for the impact on our fans and the game of baseball. And our teams is determined to move forward and play with intensity and bring back a championship to Houston in 2020.”

Again, they had months to figure this thing out and that’s how they handled it?

Woof.

This year is going to be a mess for this team, and rightfully so. They don’t deserve any forgiveness, at least not yet.

Because what happened on Thursday was another embarrassing day for a franchise that is getting used to those.

Thursday’ biggest winner: Tristan Thompson’s take on LeBron’s diet.

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

The Athletic published a great story on Thursday that had a bunch of people who know LeBron James pretty well tell their favorite LeBron James stories. Former teammate Tristan Thompson dished on LeBron’s diet, which sounds like a lot of fun but not like something that should power such a phenomenal athlete. LeBron LOVES dessert and breakfast.

Quick hits: Tiger’s tribute to Kobe… Crazy Zion facts… Pitches for Tom Brady… And more!

– Tiger Woods paid a sweet tribute to Kobe Bryant on the 8th hole at Riviera on Thursday.

– These 6 mind-blowing facts from Zion Williamson’s first nine games of his NBA career are pretty nuts.

– Here are the perfect pitches for all 13 teams that should be chasing down Tom Brady in free agency.

– Some NASCAR legends had some advice for Jimmie Johnson as he enters his final season.

– The clubs inside Alex Rodriguez’s golf bag are as weird as he is.

UFC on ESPN+ 25 weigh-in results and live video stream (11 a.m. ET)

Check out the results from the official UFC on ESPN+ 25 fighter weigh-ins, featuring Corey Anderson vs. Jan Blachowicz in Rio Rancho, N.M.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s early and official UFC on ESPN+ 25 fighter weigh-ins, which kick off at 11 a.m. ET (8 a.m. PT, 9 a.m. MT local time).

The early weigh-ins take place at the UFC host hotel in Albuquerque, N.M. Unlike most UFC events, there are no ceremonial weigh-ins for the fans ahead of Saturday’s card, which takes place at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho. The event streams on ESPN+.

Among those weighing in are Corey Anderson (13-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and Jan Blachowicz (25-8 MMA, 8-5 UFC), who meet in the light heavyweight main event, and Michel Pereira (23-10 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Diego Sanchez (29-12 MMA, 18-12 UFC), who meet in the welterweight co-feature.

The full UFC on ESPN+ 25 weigh-in results include:

MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Corey Anderson () vs. Jan Blachowicz ()
  • Michel Pereira () vs. Diego Sanchez ()
  • Mara Romero Borella () vs. Montana De La Rosa ()
  • Kazula Vargas () vs. Brok Weaver ()
  • Rogerio Bontorin () vs. Ray Borg ()
  • Yancy Medeiros () vs. Lando Vannata ()

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 5 p.m. ET)

  • Tim Means () vs. Daniel Rodriguez ()
  • John Dodson () vs. Nathaniel Wood ()
  • Scott Holtzman () vs. Jim Miller ()
  • Devin Clark () vs. Dequan Townsend ()
  • Merab Dvalishvili () vs. Casey Kenney ()
  • Macy Chiasson () vs. Shanna Young ()
  • Mark De La Rosa () vs. Raulian Paiva ()

The MMA Road Show with John Morgan, No. 255 – Las Vegas – Cold Coffee is alive!

Episode No. 255 of “The MMA Road Show with John Morgan” podcast is now available for streaming and download.

Episode No. 255 of “The MMA Road Show with John Morgan” podcast is now available for streaming and download.

MMA Junkie lead staff reporter John Morgan hosts the show while traveling the world to cover the sport.

He’s still not quite 100 percent, but Cold Coffee is back from surgery and ready to catch up with John Morgan on the continued fallout from UFC 247, as well as look ahead to this weekend’s UFC Rio Rancho.

Check it out on iTunes or at themmaroadshow.com. You can also subscribe via RSS.

Rose also went into how his …

Rose also went into how his relationship with Chicago has improved since leaving the Bulls, when he initially felt like the city “basically turned [its] back on me” following his trade to the Knicks in 2016. “I think it’s repaired well. I just know the chi. My vibrations were low,” Rose told ESPN. “When your vibrations are low, you hear everything, you seek everything, and me seeking or hearing everything. That was just me being attracted to how I was feeling at the time, and that’s negative, so when I changed my vibrations and matured as a person and as a man, that’s when I started to grow and develop who I was as a person and individual and change my character.”

“If the people that criticized him knew …

“If the people that criticized him knew him, if they really knew him, they’d have known how much it was tearing him up not to be out there,” Richardson said. “This is a man that has never cheated the game a day in his life, not one. To have it snatched away like that, it had to be the worst thing ever. And that’s also what makes what he’s done since then so sweet. The boy is back to looking the way he did before all of the injuries.”

How did the trade deadline go for the …

How did the trade deadline go for the Mavs? Cuban: “We tried. We came really, really close on a couple deals. Two really big pieces. They were both three-team deals, and in one case was a trade-and-extend and we couldn’t get the player to agree on terms. And the other piece, one of the teams just decided they didn’t want to trade a key guy to make it happen.”

With the addition of Booker, the …

With the addition of Booker, the average age for the NBA All-Stars this year is now just 26.89 years old. This is partly due to key injuries suffered by veteran stars like Stephen Curry, Keven Durant as well as Klay Thompson. However, the rapid rise of the aforementioned second-year players Doncic and Young both factor in this historically fresh group as well. In fact, the average age of the squads this season represents the youngest from an All-Star team since 1980. It is also the third-youngest of all-time, according to our research. The average age this season is a stark difference of 1.82 years younger than the average age of the teams just last season. It is worth noting that marks the largest drop since the All-Star festivities began in 1950.

The NBA fined Clippers forward Paul …

The NBA fined Clippers forward Paul George $35,000 on Thursday for publicly criticizing officials after a loss in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Following the 110-103 defeat, George said he believed the Clippers played well but that “there was some home-court cooking tonight, to say the least.” Asked whether he was referring to calls by officials that the Clippers either did not receive or were not called at all, George responded about the differential in foul calls: “I mean, it was 19 to 11. You all figure out what those numbers are. It was 19 to 11.”