Thursday 1/18/24
It's nice to see that the San Antonio Spurs are even worse this year than they were last year. Gregg Popovich is among the most abrasive, arrogant, blowhards in American sports, a nasty old barnacle of a man. He reminds me of that device women use to scrape dead skin off their heels. Maybe he can lecture me on something.
The coach hardly matters in the NBA. So long as he's not a deterrent. The manager hardly matters in baseball--same thing goes. The coach matters in hockey and football.
Another observation about Jerod Mayo: He came off as very overweening in that press conference. And calling Robert Kraft Thunder--as in Thundercat--as this nickname for him was embarrassing. What a tongue job. Clearly, Mayo's tonguing of Kraft was important in him landing the role.
I listen to Kraft talk and I hear stupidity. A bumbler. I hear hubris, too. He kept talking about his instincts. Humans don't have instincts, smart guy. They have free will. Instincts are not a human thing. People can get upset when you say this, and then argue. They have no clue about the science. But instincts, if you are a human, are not something you have. That's just a scientific reality.
He also said that it was Jerod Mayo's destiny to be a head football coach. Did you hear that, Homer? We got a destiny here.
I hate stupid shit like this. Instincts, destiny, tonguing. And the race thing. Because of course it had to be about race, which Mayo brought front and center at his press conference.
You just got hired for a job that no one else was even interviewed for. There was no search. No competition. It wasn't open to anyone else but you. You have no prior experience as a head coach. You've never been a coordinator. You have only coached at all for five years. You have no more head coaching experience than my mom. Spare me the race thing.
And you know what? Most people could not care less about race. But you know also what? People discriminate against people all the time. But if it's the right kind of discrimination, that's cool. Hardly anyone likes someone much smarter than they are. Free to hate that person. Free to hold that against them. A lot of mediocre people don't like the non-mediocre people they know. But race. We always have to do the race thing. It keeps the "hustle" in demand. Does Mayo get this job with everything I listed above if he was white? He could have. But would it be less likely? Much less likely? He could be outstanding as a head coach. He could be the new greatest coach ever. But just as a reasonable, thinking person, when I see things like the above, I do not think, "This looks like a sound approach with a strong chance of leading to success." Ironically, race becomes a bigger issue the more it is flung around, put in people's faces, and used as the back atop which people sometimes--or often--climb, to get something or somewhere or a position or a payment or a combo.
The Patriots also put an unqualified person in charge of supervising the head coach with this confusing, made up title simply for optics--someone with no football-related experience. That was done for the look, because that person is female. Could a woman know every bit about football as a man? Yes. But this one doesn't. It's never been her job or a part of her job. But now it is. At yesterday's press conference, Kraft repeatedly talked about how the world was different now than it was twenty, or ten years ago. This is a guy all about optics, who is trying to ride the current in vogue wave. Kraft also has this ingrained belief that if the decision is made by him, it will work out. I think he's going to be sorely disabused of that belief in this final era of owning the team for him.
I also will not be surprised if Jonathan Kraft is the GM or head of football operations or something like that. I'll say right now: This is not going to work. It's closer to what gets you on the path to becoming the worst franchise in the league.
There's nothing to suggest that Robert Kraft has any clue or has ever had a clue, beyond one single hire. That's it. He screwed up the Parcells situation. Over Parcells wanting to have personnel say. Like you couldn't let Parcells have more power? At that stage of his career?
He was also bragging about his run of success over fifty years. First of all, your late wife's family set you up in business. Thanks, wife's dad. You're not like some mogul who rose through life via your ingenuity and vision.
As for the fifty years, all that was relevant in this context was the years of owning the football team, which, again, comes down to one hire working out, because one quarterback came along. I've recently discussed exactly what happened and why.
High draft picks are not a way to become successful, as I've said again and again. Most players, wherever they are drafted, end up sucking. Most players taken number one overall do not end up becoming any good, let alone great, let alone a franchise player, let alone a Hall of Famer. It astounds me that so few people seem to know this. Go back and look. Or look at where the guys on the All-Pro teams were drafted. They're from all over the place.
I will reiterate: Caleb Williams is not going to be the guy. I don't think the Patriots should pick a quarterback with that third pick because there isn't one worth taking there.
Anything can happen in sports, and I could be wrong about most or all of this. The Patriots could win the division next year, the Red Sox could make the ALCS, Caleb Williams could place second in MVP voting in 2026, etc. But I believe the Patriots will be bad, the Red Sox will be bad--and that it's possible both franchises are being run into the ground and will be bad for quite a while--and the Bruins will choke. The Celtics are the true hope of Boston sports right now. They will need to win a championship this year in order to not be a disappointment, because that's where they are at. A team always has a place where it's at. It can change within a few games, or from year to year. That's where the Celtics are. It's time, if this group of players is going to be a championship team.
Comments