Tag: Column

ESPN needs to do us all a favor and go sign Jay Cutler for MNF

We need more of Jay Cutler in our lives.

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There are far more serious issues in the world to be focusing on right now but let’s leave that very serious stuff alone for a bit and put all of our focus on a move that ESPN could pull off that would make all of our lives so much better in the fall, that is if there are NFL games being played.

I’m talking, of course, about ESPN chipping away a bunch of money and offering it to the legendary Jay Cutler to become the new color analyst on Monday Night Football.

My first pick for this position was Peyton Manning, but he has reportedly turned down ESPN yet again.

So there is now only one man who could turn our Monday nights in the fall and early winter to gold, and that’s Cutler. Have you seen how big of a star he has become on that reality show with his wife? He’s basically the Smoking Jay Cutler meme come to life, just without the smoking.

We were so close to having this gold every Sunday a few years ago but the Dolphins stole Cutler away from Fox Sports right before the season was going to start and right before his broadcast career was set to begin.

Thanks for nothing, Dolphins!

But now is a perfect time to bring Cutler back to TV in a spot where he could really have a chance to shine. The world has obviously fallen in love with Cutler’s who-gives-a-you-know-what attitude and would eat up this news if it were to happen.

Could you imagine Cutler philosophizing every week on national TV while calling a sport that he used to kind of enjoy?

That would make us forget all about the the days of Booger McFarland and Jason Witten that we’ve had to experience over the past few years on MNF, which has been brutal.

Cutler has it all – he’s a former QB who knows how offenses work, he seems to be aware of how to entertain people with simple language, and he has the perfect amount of not caring about almost everything.

What’s not to love!?

That’s what MNF these days is made for – the games are usually far from the marquee game of the week so we could use some help to keep us entertained for those three hours each week.

Jay Cutler. MNF. A match made in absolute football heaven.

Make it happen, ESPN.

We could use some good news in our lives right now!

The Rams debuted their new logos and it didn’t go well.

So the Rams had like two weeks to update their new logos after it got leaked online and got slammed by fans… and they decided to just roll with it. The team unveiled its new logos (one of them isn’t too bad) on Monday and got crushed again by fans. It also appears as if the Rams stole the logo of a small Texas college. So much creativity!

Quick hits: Office Week begins… NHL player’s cool TP delivery… Cowboys star retires… And more!

– We kicked off our celebration of “Office Week” on Monday with 8 fun facts you might not know about the show. I’m sure you’ve been binging this classic show lately, so you’re gonna love our coverage this week.

– Here are is the definitive ranking of the 24 best sports moments from “The Office.”

– Los Angeles Kings star Jeff Carter had a special toilet paper delivery from a teammate who used a drone to drop off the goods.

– Dallas Cowboys fans paid heartfelt tributes to Travis Frederick after the five-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement at age 29.

– Lionel Messi and other soccer stars are doing the “Toilet Paper Challenge” while stuck at home… and so did our Charles Curtis.

– Joe Buck is about to show everyone why he really is the GOAT.

Joe Buck is about to show everybody why he really is the GOAT

Joe Buck is about to make our lives funnier.

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

Last summer during our GOAT Week, I wrote about why I thought Joe Buck is the greatest announcer to ever do it. A lot of you disagreed with my stance on this issue, which didn’t surprise me because I’m well aware that lots of people hate Joe Buck for various reasons that don’t seem very accurate to me.

Whatever, we can all have different views on things as trivial as this topic because in the end of the day, what’s the big deal?

But now Buck is ready to win the internet and show everybody that he really is the GOAT by entertaining us during what has become a very stressful time in life and online.

Joe Buck is going to change that. Joe Buck is going to make you smile. Joe Buck, is going to make your life better.

The GOAT announcer asked his Twitter followers on Sunday to send him videos of them doing their jobs or working around the house or doing whatever it is they are doing… and he’ll do some play-by-play on them.

Buck even got things started by doing some play-by-play of his wife holding their baby in their living room.

Buck has had some fun doing this on the Howard Stern show before and it was a really funny bit.

Now he’s going to be doing it a lot on Twitter when we’re all looking for something to make us laugh or make us forget about the craziness that has us stuck in our homes.

Buck isn’t an idiot. He knows lots of people don’t like him but he’s still going out of his way to put himself out there and have some fun. If you still don’t like Buck, he’s also going to be using these videos to raise money for charity.

He doesn’t have to do this, of course. Buck could easily just go about his days doing what the rest of us are doing – trying to get by in a wild world. But he wants to have some fun and raise some money for a good cause in the process.

Come on, admit it – you don’t hate Joe Buck anymore.

Or least you won’t this time next week.

Joe Buck, the GOAT.

Sunday’s biggest winner: Tom Brady’s mom.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

ESPN on Sunday celebrated Tom Brady’s days with the Patriots with a 7-hour marathon of the QB’s biggest moments in New England. Brady’s mom, Galynn, was watching and sent her son a perfect text about the coverage.

Quick hits: Gobert details struggles… MLB star crushes homer off son… NFL fans had jokes about FedEx Field… And more.

Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

– Rudy Gobert opened up about his struggles with the coronavirus and said he’s lost his sense of smell and taste.

– Braves star Freddie Freeman is staying sharp for the MLB season by crushing homers off his young son.

– The Redskins’ home stadium, FedEx Field, is going to be used as a coronavirus testing site and NFL fans had jokes.

– Kansas fans celebrated after a CBS aired a replay of the Jayhawks winning the NCAA title back in 2008.

– NASCAR drivers had so much fun tweeting during Sunday’s virtual iRacing event.

– Deshaun Watson is the Las Vegas favorite to start at QB for the Patriots in 2021. For real.

– The Patriots took out a classy ad in the Tampa Bay Times to thank Tom Brady.

LeBron James had a weekend that’s better than any MVP award

LeBron is still very much the man.

LeBron James had one of those weekends.

One of those weekends where he reminded a bunch of young stars that the “old man” is still very much the face of the league.

One of those weekends where he shut a lot of haters up who are always ready to rip the King.

One of those weekends where he should have locked up another MVP award, even though he probably won’t win it.

Which his fine, because MVP awards shouldn’t mean anything to LeBron at this point in his career. He’s better than that.

LeBron started his weekend by going for 38-8-8 in a home win over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, who own the best record in the NBA.

Then King James finished off the weekend by going for 28-9-7 in big win over the Clippers while hearing MVP! chants late in what was technically an away game for the Lakers.

The whole weekend was vintage LeBron.

So why’s he better than MVP awards? Remember when Michael Jordan played and realistically should have won the MVP award every year he played? LeBron reached that status a while ago and reminded everyone of that over the weekend.

Let the league hand out hardware to other guys, because everyone knows that  in the biggest of games there’s only one MVP that is really feared by everybody, and that is LeBron James.

In these two wins LeBron seemed to take things up a notch in all facets of his game. Each game seemed to mean more than normal regular season games, which you could see in the final minute on Sunday when he went nuts after hitting a layup and getting fouled, which sealed the win.

Giannis is on track to win a second straight MVP award, which is also fine. He’s an awesome player who has one heck of a future in front of him.

Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers are the sexy pick to win the West, which is also fine.

But LeBron is LeBron. He’s on a level that nobody else in the game is currently at. He’s been the face of the NBA since making the jump from high school about 900 years ago and he continues to be able to deliver in huge moments as if he hasn’t played in 9 billion games in his career.

Weekends like these by LeBron might be taken for granted by some people, which is too bad for them. But when all is said and done and LeBron walks away from the game, we’re going to remember times like these where he showed everyone just how great of a basketball player he remains to be after all these years.

LeBron had one of those weekends.

And it was fun as heck to watch.

Weekend’s biggest winners: Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, and Jon Anik.

While the main event at UFC 249 stunk, the co-main event between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and strawweight champ Weili Zhang was incredible. You know what else was incredible? The reaction by Rogan, Cormier, and Anik to a powerful knockout in an earlier fight on the main card. These guys really loved it, and rightfully so because it was an awesome KO.

Quick hits: Lonzo’s lengthy alley-oops to Zion… Rams’ new logo leaked?… Tom Brady’s accurate statement… And More!

– Lonzo Ball threw two ridiculous alley-oops to Zion Williamson on Sunday.

– A possible new logo for the Rams might have leaked on Sunday and fans on Twitter had fun roasting it.

– Tom Brady made a very accurate statement about his free agency.

– Mets fans had fun banging on a trash can before Houston’s Alex Bregman struck out.

– Tyrrell Hatton had an epic meltdown before getting his first PGA Tour win on Sunday. How epic? He flipped off a pond!

– This beer snake at Sunday’s XFL game in Washington D.C. was monstrous.

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. Come yell at me on Twitter right here.

The Houston Astros are having the worst time at spring training

The Astros are gonna snap soon.

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.

Spring training is usually a fun time for Major League Baseball players, a time spent sharpening their skills for the upcoming season while playing lighthearted games in front of crowds made up of fans who are more concerned with catching some rays and enjoying the day than worrying about who wins the actual games.

The crowds for these games are often made up of people who like to have dinner around 5 p.m. and might have their grandkids in town visiting during a school break.

If you’re a player, you’re outside all day under a warm sun, chewing on free gum or seeds, and hanging out with some really good friends.

I mean, what a way to get prepared for another season of work!

Well, that is unless you’re a member of the Houston Astros this year because this spring training has been anything but fun as the players continue to be harassed for cheating their way to a World Series title back in 2017.

And this weekend was a rough one for the Astros, who might be getting ready to snap, or least take their frustrations out on a trash can or two.

In case you missed it, fans have continued to let them have it in Florida. A video emerged this weekend of a heckler giving them the business while the players hung out in the dugout during a rain delay in a Grapefruit League game. Somebody on the bench could be heard snapping back at the fan, which means yeah, this team is absolutely getting ready to snap.

Then during Sunday’s home game against the Cardinals a fan sitting behind home plate heckled Jose Altuve while he was in the on-deck circle. The fan yelled about how Altuve should give his MVP trophy to Aaron Judge, which angered some fans sitting around him.

Again, these have just been heated moments at spring training games, where fans are basically there for a good day-buzz and some nachos. Imagine what it’s going to be like when the Astros travel to Yankee Stadium for real games in front of a real crowd?

Last week I suggested the Astros turn full heel and be the villains everyone wants them to be. That’s not going to happen, but it should.

Because it’s going to keep getting worse.

Right now the fans, like the players, are just getting warmed up.

Sunday’s biggest winner: The NBA.

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Zion Williamson and LeBron James squared off for the second game in five days on Sunday night and it was another really fun matchup that will hopefully be a playoff matchup in the first round next month. The best moment came when Zion threw down a big dunk… and then seconds later LeBron reminded everyone he’s still the best in the game. Too good.

Quick hits: What did Brady say?… XFL player throws flat at ref… Did Ariza go too far?… And more!

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

– Tom Brady had everyone trying to read his lips after he said something to Julian Edelman at a Syracuse hoops game on Saturday.

– A XFL player got called for a penalty over the weekend and reacted by… throwing the flag at the ref. That earned him another penalty.

– Did Trevor Ariza do the right thing by checking Trae Young during Saturday night’s game?

– Alabama WR Henry Ruggs has a ridiculous dunking highlight reel.

– A Kentucky basketball fan hit a half-court shot for $10,000 and celebrated spectacularly.

– Tony Romo got PAID by CBS and fans had reactions.

The NFL combine can be the most embarrassing job interview

One prospect learned how rough the combine can be.

The NFL Scouting Combine is an absolutely unwatchable event, which I’ve already gone over earlier this week.

But now that this thing is finally underway in Indianapolis with prospects doing all sorts of things to prove that they are athletic and good at football (as if their game film from college wasn’t enough proof), it’s clear once again that this whole thing is an embarrassing way to try to woo a future boss.

Imagine if you were going out for a job and you had all this prior experience that showed you were pretty darn good at stuff that will be required for this new gig. But then the powers that be had you do a ton of different tests, all on live TV and in front of the other people who were looking to show the future bosses that they were better than you at a bunch of things.

Then imagine if you went out and made a mistake or didn’t look the part, everyone watching would know that you were out of your league and didn’t belong and that you had just blown the biggest opportunity of your life.

Pretty awkward, right?

Sure, this is all a test to see if you can hang in pressure-packed situations and perform when the lights are shining on you.

But it can also be pretty rough if you mess up, which one prospect learned during Thursday’s sessions.

That prospect was USF tight end Mitchell Wilcox, who went out and took a pass to the face in the gauntlet drill, which is where you run down a line and have a bunch of footballs thrown at you every few yards or so, because that totally happens to you when you reach the NFL.

Wilcox had a slow 40, then he had that ball bounce off his face, and then he had people on Twitter making fun of him, which is so Twitter because most of those people would never be invited to the NFL combine, let alone be able to nail a job interview with even a small fraction of the pressure that is on each and every prospect going through the drills in Indianapolis.

The combine itself just feels icky. Coaches and personnel people sitting in the stands like a bunch of creeps with notebooks and stopwatches, looking to record every little thing a prospect does.

The guys in suits on TV talking about how some prospects really made good impressions on the creeps in the stands, as if this combine is even a good way to tell if somebody is going to be a great pro (it isn’t) or not. And then how some guys didn’t make good impressions at all.

Then you have Fans weighing in about every little thing they see while, for some reason, watching on TV, including 40-yard dash times that don’t always mean you’re going to be a good player if you run fast. Seriously, for all the talk about 40-yard dashes look at how some of the fastest guys in combine history have had terrible careers.

The combine is two two things – a gigantic bore and a totally overblown event.

Ok, and there’s a third thing – it can also be embarrassing for some guys, like Mr. Wilcox.

Thankfully, in a few days this whole thing will be over and we can move on with our football lives!

Thursday’s biggest winner: Michael Smith.

Going to a professional darts event overseas has somehow become a bucket list thing for me in recent months, as the atmosphere in these events looks absolutely bananas. The latest example of this came in Dublin on Thursday when Michael Smith nailed the first 9-darter in the Premier League since 2017 and everyone in the crowd lost their darned minds. This looks like so much fun to be at. Who knew?

Quick hits: Jerry Jones’ shower thoughts… Tatum’s beard the real MVP?… WWE is a mess… And more!

Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports

– Jerry Jones shared that he’s been thinking a lot about Dak Prescott while in the shower recently.

– There’s a very good case being made for Jason Tatum’s beard being the difference lately with the Celtics.

– The WWE found a wild way to celebrate Throwback Thursday… and angered a lot of fans in the process.

– What does the latest Tom Brady report mean? Probably… nothing?

– The Astros need to turn full heel and go nuts on the rest of MLB.

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What to do if you find out someone you care about is watching the NFL Scouting Combine

The combine is the dumbest thing on television.

We’ve reached that time of the year in which you might, by accident, find out about a dark secret of a close friend or family member. It’s something they probably hoped would remain a thing that is only known by them and they will go to great lengths to make sure nobody else finds out about it.

But sometimes it just happens, for better or worse. Their secret gets exposed and their feelings of shame take off to ridiculous levels.

I’m talking, of course, about those close to us who secretly, or not-so-secretly, choose to watch the NFL Scouting Combine on television.

One moment you’re skipping through the front door after getting home early from work and the next you’re walking in on a roommate sitting there watching offensive linemen making their way through the 3 Cone Drill. Or watching intently as quarterback after quarterback makes their way out of the blocks in the 40 yard dash. Or, and this is really bad, they’re gleefully watching as a defensive tackle attempts to get a personal best in the broad jump.

The horror, right?

I mean, who would choose to watch this glorified track meet where NFL prospects attempt a number of drills that will realistically have nothing to do with how they perform on a football field on Sundays? Who would take time out of their lives to watch the hours-long coverage on NFL Network when they could be doing something so much more productive with their time – like catching up on Better Call Saul on Netflix, which I’m currently choosing to do.

Whatever happens this week in Indianapolis should stay in Indianapolis. And it should stay off all of our televisions.

It’s already gotten off to a laughable start as Joe Burrow, who is going to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, has been dinged for having really tiny hands. As if suddenly these “tiny hands” will make him not be a great quarterback at the next level. As if these “tiny hands” should make us all forget about his historic season last year as QB of the national champion LSU Tigers.

It’s all just so silly.

But here’s the thing – if you come across somebody watching the combine you don’t have to run away and lose their number forever. Instead, you can sit down with them and explain to them that it doesn’t matter how a QB does in the vertical jump. Patrick Mahomes had a 30-inch vertical during his combine a few years ago. Is that good? Is that bad? Who in the world knows!? What we do know is that number had nothing to do with him winning a Super Bowl a few weeks ago.

You can tell your friend or loved one that the amount of bench press reps a linebacker can do are meaningless, too. Terrell Suggs “only” did 18 reps of 225 back in 2003 and he’s had a pretty decent – and lengthy – NFL career despite those struggles.

Most importantly, you can just be there for this person and help introduce them to more enjoyable things to watch on TV, of which there are currently plenty to chose from.

There really is no reason for anyone with half a brain and a subscription to a streaming service or two to watch the combine. Unless, of course, you’ve been suffering from insomnia – then by all means fire up the NFL Network and let this thing that has somehow become popular take you to some of the deepest REM levels of sleep that you will ever reach.

My pal and colleague, Henry McKenna, is in Indy this week and will be watching and reporting on all the things you’ll need to know, so just follow him on Twitter and fire up some Better Call Saul for you and your friend or loved one to enjoy together.

That will be so much more fun to watch than the silly combine.

Shaq delivered the perfect Kobe Bryant story at Monday’s emotional tribute.

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Monday’s tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant at the Staples Center was incredible. Vanessa Bryant showed so much strength and courage while delivering a beautiful eulogy. Michael Jordan brought the perfect amount of humor to his emotional speech. And Shaquille O’Neal delivered the line of the day when telling a great story about Kobe’s level of competitiveness. It was just a beautiful celebration of two lives that ended way too soon.

Quick hits: Altuve gets booed… Wilder blames his costume… D-Backs had no idea about Bumgarner… And more!

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

– Jose Altuve played in a road spring training game and he got booed relentlessly. He also got hit by a pitch.

– Deontay Wilder blamed his loss to Tyson Fury on the heavy costume that he wore to the ring on Saturday night.

– The Diamondbacks had no idea that Madison Bumgarner’s been competing in rodeos.

– Fans have noticed that Dwight Howard has been taking some long free throws.

– Here are 10 ways Zion Williamson can beat teams. He’s really good at basketball.

The PGA Tour apparently loves protecting cheaters, too

The PGA Tour will do whatever it takes to protect Patrick Reed.

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.

It’s been quite a week for Major League Baseball, as commissioner Rob Manfred has been ripped by just about everyone for not punishing any of the Houston Astros that cheated their way to a World Series title in 2017.

But MLB isn’t the only league doing its best to protect cheaters. The PGA Tour is right their with them, as we saw Thursday in Mexico City.

This centers around Patrick Reed, of course, and new allegations by a former CBS announcer that he had been seen improving his lie a number of times over the years.

In December, Reed was caught clearly using his club to move sand from behind his ball during an event the Bahamas. Reed was “punished” after the round by being given a two-stroke penalty and was said to have taken the punishment like a “gentleman” by Slugger White, the Vice-President of Rules and Competitions for the PGA Tour.

That whole thing was an embarrassing look for the Tour, which should have come down harder on a player who blatantly cheated.

Reed denied that he knowingly moved the sand, which is absurd, then later saw his caddie throw a punch at a fan during the Presidents Cup in Australia, and threatened legal action on the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee if the analyst wouldn’t stop calling him a cheater.

Well, this week former CBS analyst Peter Kostis (who didn’t have his contract renewed this year because CBS has proven that they aren’t interested in producing good golf broadcasts) said during a must-listen appearance on the No Laying Up podcast that he had seen Reed improve his lie four different times over the years, including this time when he subtly brought it up during a broadcast.

Oh, and making things even better, Brooks Koepka also took some shots at Reed this week for “building sand castles in the sand” and insinuating that Reed knew what he was doing in the Bahamas.

Reed is playing at the WGC event in Mexico City this week and was asked about these new allegations after Thursday’s first round. First he danced around the topic, saying. via Golf Digest:

“I mean, I said what I have to say about what happened in the Bahamas,” Reed said. “At the end of the day, all I’m trying to do is go out and play good golf and trying to win a golf championship and hopefully run Rory down.”

And then this happened when the media had the gal to ask a follow up:

When a follow-up question was asked — if Reed was at all bothered that the topic of what happened in the Bahamas keeps coming up and following him — an official from the PGA Tour ended the interview, saying that Reed was only there to talk about golf.

A PGA Tour official saying Reed was only there to talk about golf is just so rich, considering the media was talking about golf and how Reed was being accused of cheating in golf. The Tour is one of of the more gutless organizations in professional sports, so this shouldn’t have surprised anyone, but it’s still an embarrassing look for them.

Though I’m guessing Rob Manfred thought it was handled really well.

But yeah, apparently the PGA Tour thinks they can just run and hide from this ongoing controversy and it will just go away. Apparently the PGA Tour is OK with one of their players blatantly cheating. Apparently the PGA Tour doesn’t believe this should be a big deal and the media should no longer question Reed about it.

Which should only make things worse for them.

Which is fine with me.

Thursday’s biggest winner: Marshawn Lynch.

The new trailer for the third season of HBO’s hit show “Westworld” hit the internet on Thursday and NFL fans were quick to spot Marshawn Lynch playing a bit role in it, which is awesome. Let’s hope he plays another role in the NFL next season, too.

Quick hits: Big Papi calls Fiers a snitch… Ryan Newman’s miracle… Antonio Brown’s weightlifting snafu… And more!

Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

– David Ortiz spoke to the media about the Astros and called out Mike Fiers for being a snitch. Yikes.

– Ryan Newman surviving that horrific crash at the Daytona 500 is the latest miracle for NASCAR.

– Antonio Brown had a painful moment while working out… and of course it was caught on Instagram.

– Here are the 50 best NFL free agents ranked by value.

– Kevin Garnett told a great story about once talking trash to Michael Jordan.

The NFL would be really dumb to let more teams in the playoffs

It ain’t broke, NFL!

Have you ever watched the NFL playoffs and said to yourself, “Man, I wish two more teams that weren’t good enough to have a chance to win it all got a shot in the playoffs!”

Probably not, right?

Yeah, me neither.

But that’s what could happen as early as this coming season as a report by Adam Schefter on Wednesday night had details on a CBA proposal that would push the season to 17 games and expand the playoffs to seven teams in each conference. Oh, and only one team in each conference would get a bye week.

It’s just a proposal and still would need to be voted on but it’s very likely that it could happen.

Which would be silly.

We’ll get to the 17 games part in a second, but do we really need to allow two more teams in the playoffs? Last year the Steelers and Rams would have made the playoffs and neither team would have had a chance to win the Super Bowl. Do we really need to watch more mediocre teams try to win a playoff game in January? Why are more leagues trying to push rewarding mediocrity on us?

I know why – more money, duh. But is this really good for the overall product?

No. It wouldn’t be. Stop watering things down, let’s just go right to the hard stuff!

Six teams and two bye weeks is the way the NFL should continue to go. The football season is a long stretch that takes more than its toll on the players. The top two teams in each conference should be rewarded with a week off at the most important time of the season. While upsets do happen (hello, Titans) the top two teams in each conference are generally the four teams with the best chance of winning the Super Bowl. The others teams are OK but chances are they have no shot at winning the Lombardi Trophy.

And now you want to add two more blah teams to the mix?

No thank you.

Oh, and yeah, that 17-game season is a bad idea. These players put enough damage on their bodies during a 16-game schedule, why put them through another week that can put them all at more of a risk of suffering injuries?

Would it be fun for fans to have another regular season game? Maybe, but it could also just add another week of meaningless football games to the schedule. By Week 17 we know who the best teams are. And we know who the bad teams are – which are normally a lot come the end of December.

Stay with 16 games. Stay with six teams in the playoffs.

This thing isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing.

Wednesday’s biggest winner: Ryan Newman.

(Roush Racing via AP)

The NASCAR driver walked out of the hospital with his two daughters on Wednesday, just two days after his horrific crash at the end of the Daytona 500. If you saw that crash then you know just how awesome that above photo is.

Quick hits: Wilder, Fury get in lame shoving match… Cowboys fans fight over Romo… Patrick Reed allegedly cheated more than once… And more!

– Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury had one of the lamest shoving matches you’ll ever see between two fighters on fight week.

– Dallas Cowboys fans battled over a ranking that Tony Romo as the No. 5 QB in franchise history.

– Peter Kostis explained how he saw Patrick Reed cheat a number of times on the PGA Tour.

– Josh Reddick said the Astros are going to shut everybody up by winning. Good luck with that.

– Here are 10 NFL stars that could be traded this offseason.

Rob Manfred apologized to the World Series trophy in another laughable press conference

Rob Manfred admitted the Astros used the trash can in the playoffs.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is a man who is in over his head.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that.

The baseball boss has completely botched this Houston Astros cheating scandal, punishing just the team’s GM and manager, who were then both fired by the team, and letting the players who cheated off the hook with no punishments.

Since then, Manfred has continued to get crushed for not punishing the players who cheated their way to a World Series title in 2017.

We’ve heard from the usually bland Mike Trout, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, and even from LeBron James, who plays basketball but is still livid at MLB.

Manfred hasn’t done himself any favors, of course. Just the other day he referred to the World Series trophy just “piece of metal” and didn’t see a point in trying to get it back from the Astros.

Yeah, calling the historic trophy a “piece of metal” didn’t go over well at all with players at all. How could it? Dodgers star Justin Turner ripped Manfred over it, saying the commish has probably never won anything in his life.

Well, on Tuesday afternoon Manfred held another press conference and it showed once again that this guy needs to be out of a job.

Because it was laughable.

He did apologize to the World Series trophy, calling what he said a “mistake.”

Duh.

Watch this apology and tell me this is someone who should be in charge of a major sport:

Manfred said:

“In an effort to make a rhetorical point I referred to the World Series trophy in a disrespectful way… It was a mistake to say what I said.”

Manfred also had this wild explanation about the Astros cheating in the postseason that should only infuriate fans even more:

He also blamed “today’s society” for the amount of outcry that MLB has faced over this issue.

For real:

Manfred was rightly ripped even more as this situation continues to get out of control:

 

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spit in the face of all baseball fans on Sunday

Rob Manfred thinks the World Series trophy is just a “piece of metal.”

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Last week I wrote that, for many obvious reasons, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred should be fired from his job. I think I even wrote about somebody tossing him out on the sidewalk with his little cardboard box of stuff, too.

That’s not exactly a hot take, because many people hit me up on social media after to let me know they agreed and that they loved me (not all of that is true).

And then on Sunday #FireManfred trended on Twitter for many, many hours. I wish I could say that was because of my post from a few days ago but I can’t take credit for that. Nope, all that credit goes to Mr. Manfred for being so utterly terrible at his job.

On Sunday, the spineless commish came out and defended the punishments handed out to the Houston Astros for blatantly cheating their way to a 2017 World Series title, even though none of the players who cheated were punished. Manfred apparently thinks the boos they’ll receive are punishment enough. Good luck getting through those boos, Astros players!

Manfred also said any pitchers that throw at the Astros (which will be a lot, I assume) will be punished very strictly for doing so. Don’t you dare throw at those protected cheaters, you honest pitchers!

But here was the kicker, the ol’ spit in the face of all the fans out there who love baseball. Manfred called the World Series trophy just a “piece of metal” and MLB didn’t need to get it back from the Astros for their tainted 2017 World Series title.

How dare you, sir?!

Here’s what Manfred told ESPN about the piece of metal:

“The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act. People will always know that something was different about the 2017 season, and whether we made that decision right or wrong, we undertook a thorough investigation, and had the intestinal fortitude to share the results of that investigation, even when those results were not very pretty.”

I mean, ew, right?

Not cool, Mr. Commissoner!

You think taking back a trophy that a team proudly displays is futile? You don’t think there could be some embarrassing way you could go to Houston and strip them of their trophy? I mean, this could be turned in to a fun (I know fun isn’t a word often used in MLB headquarters) and therapeutic way to handle the situation. Embarrass the heck out of the Astros by taking their trophy! Broadcast the removal of said trophy! Have some fun with it! Send an embarrassing message to the rest of the league!

But instead you call the idea of taking back the trophy futile? This trophy that teams fight all season for? This trophy that players kiss after they battle their whole lives to try to win? This trophy that is proudly paraded through a city after a World Series win?

And instead of going after that “piece of metal” you’ll punish players who take things into their own hands because you’re afraid to do anything?

That’s weak and all fans should be grossed out by you.

#FireManfred feels like it’s gonna be around a while.

As it should be.

Sunday’s biggest winner: Dr. Dre’s tribute to Kobe Bryant.

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Dr. Dre released a really touching tribute video to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi before Sunday’s All-Star Game and, man, is it absolutely beautiful. You need to go watch this right now.

Quick hits: Chaka Khan’s interesting anthem… XFL QB’s perfect TD pass… CBS’ golf broadcast stinks again… And more!

– Chaka Khan’s national anthem before Sunday night’s NBA All-Star Game was rightly compared to Fergie’s doozy from a few years ago.

PJ Walker is a QB in the XFL. But after a TD pass like this on Sunday he should be in the NFL next year. Because this was beautiful.

– Golf fans rightly ripped CBS for missing a very important – and very bad – shot in Sunday’s final round of the Genesis Open. CBS’ golf broadcasts lately have been brutal.

– Here’s how Tom Brady fared as QB for all 32 teams on Madden.

– Dale Earnhardt Jr. really misses racing.

– This story by Michelle Martinelli on the spotters at the Daytona 500 (which will hopefully be completed on Monday) is too good.