Basketball Jones

 

College basketball: this morning on the way to work I was thinking about how I would have to read up on exactly what’s happening. I’ve heard a few headlines and heard bits and pieces, but not the whole story. Lots of coaches being fired as well as assistant athletic directors who took the bribes are quitting.

 

I am not a big Louisville fan. On the radio this morning they were wondering how long football coach Bobby Petrino will last since his buddy the AD has been fired. The new AD will be bought in to make sure the ship is clean. Petrino’s buyout clause is now reduced from $8 million to $4 million, making him a sitting duck. They’ll milk the Lamar Jackson cow another year. Petrino might have a year or two after that, but he’ll be on the hot seat.   

Makes you wonder if anything happened under the table to get Tech to sign with Adidas. Shows you just how little clout Tech’s deal with Russell Athletics had in the recruiting world. Hopefully the Jackets will show at least a slight improvement over the next few years. Goes to show you what a good coach Paul Johnson has been. Being able to remain in the upper half of such a competitive conference is more a tribute to his coaching ability and scheme than the quality of athletes he coaches.

 

Didn’t I tell you the whole “amateur” athletics world is soiled by grownups and corporations, from AAU basketball to Triple Crown baseball to the Little League World Series? East Cobb Baseball has contracts with Reebok and other manufacturers. Back in the day when I coached mighty mites at SPdL Don Head used to give me Cokes for free. Just kidding about that last part.

Frank Deford on sportswriting: “In the hallowed past we were more engaged in trying to reveal human nature, but now, because all the games are on TV or online, there is a natural disposition to endlessly analyze, dissect, and predict, to enlarge minutiae. No wonder a whole profession didn’t detect steroids; we were too busy studying the animal entrails of drafts.”   

 

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver probably knows players are going to protest, so he’s sending an early message for several reasons: (1) let the players know what his position is, so they’ll have that in the back of their mind when they consider protesting (2) let the fans know what his (and the NBA’s) position is so they won’t be mad and not buy tickets, and (3) let the media know what his position is so that when players protest, the media will already know.

 

Some say there are polls showing the majority of the public is against the NFL anthem protests because that would be a win for Trump. Like Frank Deford said, the media has stopped reporting the news and instead give their own biased opinions, in an effort to change what people think.  

 

Wednesday: I worked till six last night. Ceil had driven to Augusta, so I took the long way home. Stopped by three stores. Bought a pair of shoes. Got home just before eight. Watched the Braves and Designated Survivor.

 

Thursday night I watched The Orville and several episodes of Seinfeld. Packaged three eBay shipments. M went out with friends.

 

Tomorrow morning I’m working a water station for the race downtown. The station isn’t in the best part of town, but I should be ok to hike down to the Falcons stadium afterwards, then across the street to the college football hall of fame. Then home for GT/UNC, GA/Tenn, and Clemson/Virginia Tech. For volunteering I get a ticket to Tuesday night’s Atlanta United soccer match.

 

With C out of town and not many leftovers in the fridge, I’ve had to plan ahead on my meals.

 

Wed lunch: grilled chicken

Wed supper: yogurt, corn salsa & chips, cinnamon bread

Thur breakfast: cereal and yogurt

Thur lunch: breaded chicken

Thur supper: Arbys turkey sandwich

Fri breakfast: Chickfila chicken biscuit

Fri lunch: Moes burrito

Fri supper: Arbys roast beef sandwich

Sat breakfast: Chickfila

Sat lunch: Arbys chicken sandwich

Sat supper: quesadillas, popcorn

Sun breakfast: cinnamon bread

Sun lunch: Arbys sandwich

Sun supper: Cuban restaurant with Matthew.

 

Growing up when I did, I had no idea what military service commitments were like. I knew that several years there might be a Braves player who had to miss a week or two during the summer to fulfill his military service.

 

Realized I own eight pairs of black and white sneakers. Gotta take a picture. Need to sell five of them.

 

Nike golf spikeless wingtips

Nike running shoes

Nike Huarache cross trainers

Reebok Furys (sell)

Reebok basketball shoes (sell)

Footjoy spikeless golf shoes (sell)

Adidas Sambas (Matthew’s to sell)

Crocs loafers (sell)

 

Continuing with the list theme, I think I have more UGA apparel than Tech. Maybe the same amount.

 

UGA red Nike long sleeve tee

UGA black Nike coach’s shirt

UGA red heavy jacket

UGA black baseball tee

GT navy Russell jacket

GT navy Russell t-shirt

GT yellow Russell cap

GT white/gold cap

Clemson orange Nike coach’s jacket

Clemson orange pullover

Clemson white t-shirt

Clemson orange cap

Darryl passed away about a month or two ago. Back in late January he was laid off. After that he drove for Lyft and loved it. He was on the kidney transplant list and took dialysis at home 4 or 5 days a week. He’d been fighting poor health for so long that he was pretty much worn out and too tired to keep fighting. In July he got a staph infection in his arm and was in the hospital for 2 weeks, then was released. A week later he wasn’t feeling good and went back to the hospital for another week. He lost consciousness and they had to revive him. The next time they weren’t able to revive him. Bill and I went downtown to the viewing, along with a few others.