Wednesday May 31, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3200

jack tears into them

For the same reason Cool Hand Luke thought it was a good idea to eat 50 eggs because "it sounded like a nice, round number", I'll point out this morning that today marks our 3,200th consecutive day of publishing here at #DMD.

By the grace of God only, we've never missed a day here since starting the website on August 25, 2014. They say God works in mysterious ways. 3,200 issues later, we're proof of that.

It's also interesting to note that today's issue is published in Western Pennsylvania, where I'm playing in a golf tournament later today.

Part of the charm of #DMD comes from the places we've published over the last (almost) 9 years. Baltimore, Ocean City, Deep Creek Lake, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Boston, Tampa Bay, Charleston, Pinehurst NC, Phoenix, San Diego, South Bend, London (as in, England), Omaha and Sea Island, Georgia.

I'm missing a spot or two, I'm sure, but the point is, I've enjoyed a cup of coffee and published #DMD from some interesting and memorable places over the years. I'm eternally indebted to my longtime friend George McDowell for building me a sturdy, dependable laptop that has served as the website's "mobile server" since 2014.

So, on we go. Today's really no different than any other day, except the number at the top -- 3,200 -- seems significant in some small way just because it's a nice, round number. And while I do like eggs, there's no way I'm eating 50 of them.

Thanks to all of you who have stopped by at some point over the last 9 years.

Speaking at his yearly press conference leading up to golf tournament he hosts, Jack Nicklaus tore the LIV guys a new one yesterday in Muirfield, Ohio.

"I don’t even consider those (LIV) guys part of the game anymore," Nicklaus said when a media member asked about the field missing players like Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson. "I don’t mean that in a nasty way. This is a PGA Tour event and we have the best field we can possibly have for a PGA Tour event for those who are eligible to be here. The other guys made a choice of what they did and where they’ve gone and we don’t even talk about it."

Later, when asked if he would allow LIV players to play in his event in future years, Nicklaus doubled down.

"I don’t know if I’d let them back or not. They made a choice about what they want to do and that’s what the rules are."

Of course, the quote that had the golf world stirring on Tuesday was this one: "I don't even consider those guys part of the game anymore."

You just know Greg Norman was seething when he read that one. The LIV players seem to have accepted their fate like grown men. They took the money, which is all they really wanted from jump street, and they understand there's collateral damage associated with that decision.

Norman, who spent a lot of his career attempting to defend his greatness, has never come to terms with the fact that a lot of folks in the golf world are anti-LIV and that's just the way it is.

But, yes, times are tough when the Golden Bear is snapping at you.

Clayton Kershaw stood up for Christianity earlier this week and now he's in the crosshairs after speaking out on the L.A. Dodgers recent decision to promote a controversial LGBTQIA+ group called "The Sisters of Perpetual Induldgence".

The Sisters, a group of mainly men who dress as nuns, is a charity, protest and performance group that was founded in 1979 in San Francisco. Over the years, they have been accused of promoting anti-Catholic and anti-religion themes with their performances.

Last month, the Dodgers announced they were "re-inviting" the Sisters to perform at their June 16th Pride Night game. Earlier in May, the organization said they wouldn't allow the Sisters to be involved, but changed that decision after pressure from local civic groups.

Kershaw said on Tuesday that he recently approached the Dodgers about returning "Christian Faith and Family Day" to the team's promotional calendar and told the team as well that he thought promoting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was the wrong message to send to the city's Catholic and religious community.

"This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that," said Kershaw, who held a players-only meeting in the clubhouse before Monday's game. "This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion, that I don't agree with."

The Dodgers then announced later on Tuesday that the team will host "Christian Faith and Family Day" on July 30, returning that event to the team's promotional calendar for the first time since 2019.

"I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our (today's) announcement was sped up," Kershaw said. "Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the Dodgers' highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence."

Trevor Williams, a pitcher for the Nationals, who are in Los Angeles to play the Dodgers this week, was outspoken on his Twitter account Tuesday.

"To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles county alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization," Williams wrote on his more than 43,000 followers.

"Creating an environment in which one group feels celebrated and honored at the expense of another is counterproductive and wrong. It is a clear violation of the Dodgers' Discrimination Policy, which explicitly states that any conduct or attire at the ballpark that is deemed to be indecent or prejudice against any particular group (or religion) is not tolerated."

It's a tough league when you have own players and players from visiting teams on your case.

We'll be doing a much deeper dive into this soon, but ESPN is slowly starting to move in the direction of a full-time, pay-per-view model in which you will no longer be able to watch their network as part of your basic cable TV package.

While pricing structures and such haven't yet been determind, the powers-that-be are now tackling that issue as the last step in taking ESPN to a Direct To Consumer (DTC) model.

As more and more people cut the cord from traditional cable TV, ESPN (and its parent company, Disney) continues to lose viewers and revene, with the trickle down impact felt all over the company, from advertising sales to content contributors and such.

One rumor floating around the industry is that ESPN is considering charging consumers $6.99 a month to watch their "basic" programming and $9.99 for their upgraded "plus" programming.

Consumers would then be able to view ESPN on any device registered to them, including TV, laptop, phone, etc.

You can bet the four professional leagues are watching the ESPN developments with great interest, particularly the NFL, which has been rumored for years to be evaluating the potential for a "pay per view" model for its 32 teams.

Tuesday May 30, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3199

no need to worry...unless it's about food

The natives are starting to get a little restless on social media.

Not to worry. It's a 162-game baseball season. "Things" happen, as the bumper sticker says.

The O's bats, though, are in a bit of an early summer slumber, having scored just 8 runs in their last four games. The Rangers scored 8 runs in one inning on Friday night. Heck, the O's did the same thing in New York last week, come to think of it.

But yesterday's 5-0 loss to the Guardians (I'm sure glad we changed that name of the team...the country has definitely taken on a new look and improved since then) has folks around town stirring a bit.

Oh, and now Cedric Mullins is hurt. How seriously is still yet to be known, but it could be anywhere from two weeks to four months. That would potentially push Ryan McKenna into more playing time which, you know, might not be such a good thing for Brandon Hyde's team.

Mullins' absence -- if it's long term -- could also give one of the club's minor league hotshots a chance at acquiring "real" playing time. And who knows what that might mean?

Funny enough, other than Grayson Rodriguez, the O's starting pitching has been a real bright spot thus far in 2023. Monday was no exception, despite the loss, as Tyler Wells struck out 7 and walked none in 6 innings of work. He allowed only 4 hits and 1 earned run. Something about deserving a better fate and all that jazz, right?

It was Cionel Perez who came in to start the seventh and, after getting the first batter out, promptly gave up four straight hits and was eventually charged with four earned runs in the inning. A 1-0 game turned into a 5-0 blowout and the O's pretty much went through the motions in the 7th and 8th before putting two runners on in the 9th.

Perez was a diamond-in-the-rough last season.

This season? He's just rough.

It's not time to cut him loose or anything like that, but using him in pressure situations seems like a recipe for wanting-to-lose.

Two more games are on the docket with Cleveland before a weekend trip to San Francisco and three more games in Milwaukee. The O's then return home late next week to host Kansas City for three games followed by three home games with Toronto.

This isn't a "critical" stage in the season or anything like that. When you get out to a 34-20 start there's some room there for a couple of 3-7 stretches of baseball along the way. But just like winning is contagious, so, too, is losing. A couple of wins before heading to California would be a nice way to get back on track.

Meanwhile, my request for "game intel" resulted in a dozen or e-mails yesterday. So, thank you to those who contributed.

I'm compiling your thoughts and opinions and will probably have a full report on Thursday of this week. Those of you who have been to a game or two this season are welcome to chime in with opinions on anything related to the stadium experience at Camden Yards in 2023.

I shouldn't have to say this but I found out yesterday I do. Please don't send in something unless you've actually been to the ballpark yourself. I received a detailed e-mail from someone who ranted and raved about several things at OPACY this season but then said, "I haven't been myself, but several of my co-workers went to a game a few weeks ago and told me all about it."

I'm sure your co-workers are trustworthy and all. But let's opine on our personal experiences only. Thank you.

One thing I can say, for sure, having gone through the e-mails from yesterday. The Orioles have a definite "food problem". I'll go into more later this week, but it's the constant theme you hear (or read) from those who have attended games this season. Food, food, food.

Everyone is complaining about food.

There's other stuff, too, but food is the clubhouse leader in the "gotta get that fixed" department.

If you didn't get a chance to send in your evaluation of the stadium experience this season, you still have time. You can reach me at: 18inarow@gmail.com.

There's still lots of chatter about DeAndre Hopkins joining the Ravens after he was released over the weekend by the Arizona Cardinals.

In fairness, there's also speculation Hopkins might wind up in Cleveland with his old Houston Texans teammate Deshaun Watson. Believe what you want to believe, I suppose.

As it relates to the Ravens, I just don't see how Hopkins fits in. Sure, he's still talented enough to make an impact on any offense, but how would Hopkins, Beckham, Batemen and Flowers co-exist? I just don't see that as a possibility.

Someone -- maybe even two guys -- would wind up getting pinched for snaps or balls thrown their way. I mean, you have to assume the realistic number of pass attempts per-game for Lamar Jackson is somewhere around 25 or 30. And Mark Andrews is still on the team, remember.

So if you add Andrews to the mix, that's five receivers getting anywhere from 4 to 6 balls thrown their way every game. I think we know OBJ's head will blow off if he's only targeted 4 to 6 times in any game, let alone on average for the season.

Sure, we're just talking averages here and there will be games where Lamar probably has to throw the ball 35 or 40 times instead of 25 or 30. This is all just being thrown out there to suggest that perhaps you can have too many outstanding chefs on the schedule.

If I'm wrong, I'll happily be so. I just don't see Hopkins "working out" in Baltimore given what the Ravens already have on their receiving depth chart.

Weird times, right? Any other year, the Ravens would be foaming at the mouth to add a guy of Hopkins' quality to their roster. Now, you have to think twice about it.

Very strange indeed.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

With champions already crowned in England, Spain, and Italy, the spotlight fell on Germany this weekend, where the final day of the season produced a memorable finish.

There was also drama in the battle to avoid relegation in England and in the scramble for the last Champions League qualification places in England and Italy. Over in Argentina, the US U20 team continued to impress in their run through the group stage of the U20 World Cup.

American News and Notes –

The U20 US men completed a clean sweep of the group stage at the U20 World Cup in Argentina this week. They took down Ecuador 1-0 in the opener, then followed that up with a 3-0 win over Fiji and a 2-0 win over Slovakia.

Capturing all nine points without conceding a goal was impressive enough, but the scores don’t even do the effort justice, as the US has dominated the play in all three games and easily could have had more goals in each game.

The team, coached by Mikey Varas, has played aesthetically pleasing soccer, with flowing passing sequences and has clamped down defensively, quickly winning the ball back whenever they lose possession.

Top goalie prospect, Chelsea’s Gaga Slonina, got three clean sheets but was barely tested in the net. Meanwhile, top attacker, San Jose Earthquake Cade Cowell, missed the opening game due to a red card suspension, but returned to deliver two outstanding performances from the wing, with his athleticism overwhelming the competition at this level.

The defense has been anchored by Philadelphia Union center back Brandon Craig, who has been a revelation with his outstanding passing from the back line. With the manner they romped through the group stage, this US team could be poised to make a deep run in the tournament.

They will get a boost heading into the knockout round, as they add Wolfsburg winger Kevin Paredes, who could instantly boost the attack, and Hajduk Split midfielder Rokas Pukstas, who both just completed their club seasons.

The US will kick off the round of sixteen at 1:30pm on Tuesday against New Zealand, where they should be heavily favored. If they win there they’ll face the winner of Gambia and Uruguay.

European Roundup –

Germany

The Bundesliga was the center of the drama in Europe this weekend, entering the final matchday with the title still on the line between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich and the last Champions League qualification spot still to be determined between Union Berlin and Freiburg.

With all games kicking off simultaneously on Saturday morning, it was Dortmund hosting mid-table Mainz, just needing a win at home to secure their first title, and the first by anyone but Bayern, since 2012. Bayern was on the road at Koln, needing a win and a Dortmund loss or tie to win their 11th straight title.

Bayern struck first, jumping out to an early lead with a goal from an excellent shot to the upper corner from Kingsley Coman in the 8th minute. That goal put the pressure on Dortmund and, in what would be a theme of the day, they could not handle the pressure.

Staring down their first title in a decade, Dortmund completely collapsed in a disastrous first half. Just a few minutes after Bayern went ahead, Dortmund gave up a headed goal off a corner to Mainz to go behind 1-0 and put Bayern in the driver’s seat for the title.

Then they conceded again just nine minutes later, allowing a man to get wide open in the box to head home a cross from the left wing and give Mainz a two goal lead.

Just before halftime it looked like Bayern would add salt to the wound with a second goal of their own, but it was called back by VAR for a handball.

Dortmund did find some life in the second half when Youssoufa Moukoko and Gio Reyna came off the bench. Both young attackers had an immediate impact on the game. Moukoko setting up a dangerous chance that Sebastien Haller just missed and Reyna creating several chances all on his own.

Then in the 69th minute, Reyna helped give Dortmund hope. The American attacker played a beautiful give and go to assist Raphael Guerreiro on a shot from the top of the box that cut the Mainz lead to 2-1. However, on a day where Dortmund appeared to be choking away the title, Bayern said two can play that game.

With Dortmund still losing 2-1 and Bayern on their way to the title, the reigning champions conceded an 81st minute penalty when Serge Gnabry was called for a handball on a cross into the box. Koln converted the penalty to tie the game at 1-1 and move Dortmund back into pole position for the crown.

It was help that Dortmund severely needed as they could not find the net despite heavy pressure on the Mainz box for much of the last 30 minutes of the game.

With time winding down it looked like Koln would be Dortmund’s saviors, but then Jamal Musiala stepped up to rain on their parade. The 20 year old breakout star of the season for Bayern capped it off with an amazing goal.

Receiving the ball on the turn at the top of the box, Musiala ripped an incredible low hard shot that seemed to have eyes to find the inside of the far post and secure an 11th straight title for Bayern.

The Bavarians managed to hold out after the 89th minute goal and come away with a 2-1 win. Dortmund only managed a last second goal from Niklas Sule, also assisted by Reyna, that was too late and they finished with a 2-2 draw, leaving the teams tied on points, but giving Bayern the title on goal differential.

Though it was a devastating result for Dortmund, it was a great final outing for Reyna and a good note to end his season on personally.

The competition for the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot was just as intense on Saturday.

For that spot it was Union Berlin entering in pole position, but Freiburg putting themselves in the drivers seats late into the games with a 1-0 lead over Eintracht Frankfurt.

It was then that Frankfurt sprang to life, with American prospect Paxten Aaronson on the field, and scored two late goals to down Freiburg 2-1. Meanwhile, Union Berlin made that result moot by finding a late winner from Rani Khedira to defeat Werder Bremen 1-0 and hold on to the final Champions League spot.

England

After Manchester City wrapped up their third straight title last week, most of the drama in the Premier League final weekend was at the bottom of the table in the relegation battle.

On Thursday, Manchester United secured the last Champions League qualification spot with a 4-1 win over Chelsea. United then won again on Sunday, 2-1 over Fulham to ultimately finish in third place, ahead of Newcastle who drew Chelsea 1-1 on Sunday to finish fourth.

Liverpool concluded a thoroughly disappointing season on the outside looking in, finishing four points behind Newcastle in fifth place. They and sixth place Brighton will head to the Europa League next season.

It was all up for grabs in the fight to stay in the Premier League. Everton entered the weekend just above the relegation line, with Leicester City and Leeds behind them.

For the American contingent at Leeds, things continued to spiral downward. Harry Kane scored for Tottenham in just the second minute and Leeds never really got close in a 4-1 loss.

At the end of the day it wouldn’t matter as Everton pulled out a 1-0 win to secure the last spot in the Premier League, sending down Leicester City and Southampton with Leeds. Leicester City became just the third team to ever get relegated within ten years from winning the title.

Italy

In Serie A, Napoli closed out their title winning season with a 2-2 draw, including two more goals from Victor Osimhen, who finished as the league’s top scorer. Lazio won 3-2 over Cremonese thanks to two goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to remain in second place.

Inter Milan continued their outstanding run of form with a 3-2 win over Atalanta. Romelu Lukaku was phenomenal on the day, scoring one goal and assisting another while proving a handful for the Atalanta backline all game. The win kept Inter in third place with one week to go.

Below them, rivals AC Milan pulled out a 1-0 win over Juventus with an Olivier Giroud header from a deep cross by Davide Calabria. The Milan win, combined with the Atalanta loss, clinched fourth place for AC Milan and the final Champions League qualification spot.

Spain

There was little drama left at the top of La Liga, as the top four were already settled with two weeks remaining. Barcelona had already clinched the title and Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad will follow them into the Champions League next season.

The only remaining drama in the league is a six way battle to avoid relegation. Espanyol and Elche are heading down no matter what happens in the final week, but Cadiz, Getafe, Valencia, Almeria, Celta Vigo and Real Valladolid all sit within two points of each other for the last relegation spot.

France

Paris St. Germain finally clinched the Ligue 1 title with a 1-1 draw against Strasbourg where Leo Messi fittingly scored the lone goal for the Parisians.

It could very well be his final game with the team as rumors have him linked with either a storybook move back to Barcelona next season or a semi-retirement in Saudi Arabia or MLS. Lens and Marseille have also clinched the second and third Champions League spots from Ligue 1 for next season.

Team of the Week

G: Handanovic - Inter Milan

D: Calabria - AC Milan; Acerbi - Inter; Bastoni - Inter; Dimarco - Inter

M: Fernandes - Man U; Casemiro - Man U; Milinkovic-Savic - Lazio

F: Lukaku - Inter; L. Martinez - Inter; Kane - Tottenham

Player of the Week

Lautaro Martinez - Inter Milan

The Argentine striker had a sensational week for Inter Milan as they continued their late season surge. Martinez has been one of the main reasons for their spectacular form of late, scoring twice on Wednesday to help them capture their first trophy of the season in the Coppa Italia final. He then capped off their 3-2 victory over Atalanta that secured their place in next season’s Champions League.

It's not just goalscoring that Lautaro provides, he has been vital in linking up with the midfield to create chances as well. In the final he had 35 touches and created three chances, then against Atalanta he had 49 touches and created four chances, showing his heavy involvement in the games.

If Inter is going to pull off the huge upset over Real Madrid in the Champions League final, it will likely involve a standout performance from Lautaro Martinez.

Monday May 29, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3198

summer...is....here

Those are three great words.

Sure, we didn't exactly have a crazy-cold, snow-filled winter or anything even close to it. It's more than fair to say we had a "mild" winter and then some.

But Memorial Day in these parts always signifies the official start of summer. Everything's open in Ocean City, grass is getting cut, outdoor events are a pleasure and, hey!, even the baseball team is winning.

They don't call this "The Land of Pleasant Living" for nothin', you know.

So, here's to a great summer. I hope you have a blast.

Today, of course, is also Memorial Day in our country.

Memorial Day, annually observed on the last Monday in May, is a federal holiday for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

It's arguably the most important non-religious holiday in our country. Without military personnel fighting to keep our country safe (and free), we'd be fearful for our safety on a daily basis.

Those who have died while serving their country and its citizens offered up the greatest sacrifice of them all.

I realize a lot of things have changed in our country over the last decade or so. Some Americans have developed a bizarre lack of appreciation for those who put themselves in harm's way, whether that's police and emergency personnel or those involved in various branches of the military.

It's weird how the respect level for those individuals has changed, but thankfully there are still people who willingly join the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, police, fire department and so on. Even when they're appreciated less and less, there are still folks who sign up and say, "I'll do that job."

And, sadly, there are military personnel in various points abroad who wind up losing their life, even in 2023. For those, and all others before them who have provided us with safety and security, we take today to remember them and their service to our country.

My father served in the Korean War. Thankfully, he didn't lose his life serving his country. But my fondness for the military runs deep, just as it does for police, firefighters and all other emergency personnel.

So, Happy Memorial Day to all. May we remember those who have died while protecting us and may God grant them all eternal peace.

Some odds and ends from the holiday weekend --

Those two lacrosse semifinal games on Saturday were both outstanding. I suppose if defense is your thing, maybe you were a tad put off by all the goals that were scored in both games, but neither contest lacked for quality or drama.

I'm still trying to find a video clip of Duke's OT game-winner that clearly shows the goal-scorer was in the crease. I've seen three different clips and none of them definitively show it as such. It sure "looks" like he was in the crease in the replays I've seen.

But I haven't seen one piece of video evidence yet that shows his foot was definitely on the line.

The Notre Dame game-winner was a piece of lacrosse art. There was no denying the greatness (and legality) of that goal.

So, those two teams meet today for the NCAA Division I lacrosse title. Duke vs. Notre Dame. Should be a good one.

Emiliano Grillo won at Colonial CC yesterday, capturing his second career PGA Tour title and first since a 2015 win at the Frys Open.

Grillo, 30, is an interesting story on the PGA Tour, as he reportedly turned down $35 million from LIV Golf last year while some fellow South Americans (Niemann, Pereira, Munoz) jumped ship and took the guaranteed money from Greg Norman and Company.

For reasons only he knows, Grillo stayed the course and continued to play on the PGA Tour. Yesterday's win was especially gratifying for him after he made double bogey at the last hole to squander a 2-shot lead and force a playoff with Adam Schenk.

Grillo then birdied the second playoff hole to win the tournament at Colonial CC.

The Orioles avoided a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Rangers with a nail-biting 3-2 win at Oriole Park on Sunday.

Despite Yennier Cano giving up a rare run in the 8th inning, the O's picked up the win with a run of their own in the bottom of the 8th and a 9th inning gem from Felix Bautista, who threw a half dozen pitches at 101 MPH and was again in command of his splitter that dives into the dirt and simply can't be hit.

25,124 were at the ballpark to see the win, with Austin Hays collecting 3 of the O's 7 hits on the day, including the game-winning single in the 8th.

Kyle Bradish had another solid start for the Birds, going 6.2 innings and allowing just one earned run on four hits.

More good news -- The Orioles somehow won a game batting James McCann (.181) as the team's designated hitter. Key word there: "hitter".

McCann and the word "hitter" don't often collide in the same sentence.

Anthony Santander supposedly had an elbow injury on Saturday, but it was miraculously healed 14 hours later and he was in the lineup yesterday afternoon. He could have been the DH and you could have used Terrin Vavra in right field. Anything to avoid McCann coming to the plate as the team's designated hitter.

Anyway...a win's a win, but skipper did some weird stuff with the lineup again yesterday and the O's still figured out a way to come out on top.

One final O's side note: I'm receiving a number of e-mails (and seeing lots of social media posts on this as well) about an overall bland experience at the stadium so far this season. Complaints about food and beverage in particular, both in quality and price, are making the rounds.

I'll put together something for later this week, but if anyone has been to the stadium this year and has an opinion -- both good and bad -- please send me an e-mail and I'll include your commentary in my piece.

Sunday May 28, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3197

bump in the road?

So the O's have floundered a bit this weekend at Camden Yards and the natives are starting to get restless.

It's baseball. You're supposed to lose two in a row every other week or so. If you didn't lose two or three straight here and there you'd wind up with 120 wins. And no one's winning 120 games.

The Birds gave up 12 runs on Friday night, so they weren't winning that one no matter what. But they did only score 2 in that loss. And then yesterday in front of an awesome crowd of nearly 39,000, they scored a total of 3 in a 5-3 defeat, but two of those came in the bottom of the 9th when they game was already pretty much decided.

James McCann struck out against lefty Will Smith with a man on and 2 outs, down 5-3, in the last half of the 9th. I have no idea why Brandon Hyde didn't go with Anthony Santander there as a pinch hitter. One swing and we have a tie game.

Maybe "Hyder" had one too many Memorial Day picnic cheeseburgers earlier in the day and was taking a quick snooze in the dugout.

Whatever the case, Santander would have been a much better choice there than McCann, but on we go.

Afterwards, O's fans took to social media to vent their frustrations at this 33-19 ballclub.

Had you just flown in from Pluto, you would have assumed the team's record after 52 games was the opposite; 19-33. And that, of course, was usually right around what the O's were, record wise, in 2018, 2019 and 2021.

The vitriol was remarkable given that we're in 2nd place and rolling along nicely at Memorial Day.

"Mateo is awful."

"How much longer is Givens going to be on the roster?"

"Why get rid of Chirinos for this McCann guy?"

"Here comes the mid-season collapse."

But the best of them all didn't even center on the team's on-field performance.

The team's City Connect uniforms have felt the wrath of the fan base, for some weird reason.

"Ditch these trashy uniforms, they're nothing but bad luck."

"Who is the genius in the Warehouse who decided to change uniforms while we're on a hot streak?"

"Never wear those Connect uniforms again!"

You can make an argument about Mateo's play, which hasn't been good both offensively and defensively of late. He's definitely scuffling through the first third of the season.

Mychal Givens hasn't been very good in his first two weeks back with the club, I'll agree with that. But he needs a little time to get back into the swing of things, right?"

Chirinos wasn't very good. Neither is McCann. But using that as a chief complaint seems kind of weird.

Mid-season collapse? The team's 33-19. They're on pace to win 100+ games. Two straight losses to a pretty good Texas team represents the start of a collapse? Sheesh, this is a tough league.

But the whole "these uniforms are bad luck" issue is, frankly, a really stupid take.

The uniforms have zero to do with anything, other than they're black and, I assume, rather hot on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Losing two straight games has nothing to do with City Connect uniforms. Even losing three straight wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Editor's note: I will admit to having thought about this a lot over the last few days: In 2008, I lost my season media credential with the Orioles because of my on-air bellyaching about the Orioles refusing to put "Baltimore" back on their road jerseys. Years later, I was told my a club official who knew about the decision that my credential was revoked because the decisions makers in the Warehouse thought I was on a "crusade" to embarrass them into making the change. I probably was, actually. Now, not only are they wearing "Baltimore" on their road jerseys (and have been for nearly 15 years now), they're actually wearing "Baltimore" home jerseys and marketing the daylights out of them to get their fan base to proudly buy-and-wear them around town. Interesting...

The City Connect jerseys might not be your cup of tea. I like them, personally. But I understand that not everyone likes change and we all look at things differently. Some folks liked Nirvana's "Nevermind" album cover, others thought it was borderline pornography.

But the new uniforms have nothing at all to do with losing two straight games.

Grayson Rodriguez? He has something to do with it.

Dean Kremer? He's involved.

Jorge Mateo? He's also involved.

Mullins, Rutschman, Hays, etc.? They're playing a role.

Brandon Hyde? Involved.

What's not involved are the freakin' uniforms. I don't know much. But I know that.

Speaking of the O's and pitching and losing 12-2, something happened on Friday night that really agitated me.

No, it wasn't Corey Seager's grand slam that lit me up. I actually liked that dinger, as I had him and three other players recording 2 or more total bases for a nice little Friday night payday. Thanks, Corey, Adley, Josh and Robbie for that one.

What agitated me was O's outfielder Ryan McKenna pitching the 9th inning.

It's bush league.

What's the use? I mean, I know why McKenna was pitching. The game was out-of-reach and Brandon Hyde didn't want to use a pitcher in the 9th inning. I get it.

But why even play the 9th inning at that point? Why embarrass the sport like that by having a guy come in and throw 38 MPH softballs up there that sorta-kinda aren't even strikes in the first place?

What's wrong with having a rule in place that says the trailing team can call an end to a game where they're trailing by (pick a number) eight or more runs after eight innings of play?

I know the easy answer: gambling.

Gamblers would go crazy if the game ended after 8 innings. Less at bats, fewer chances to score runs, and so on.

Players could have a gripe, too. They get one less inning to beef up their stats.

But having Ryan McKenna up there looking like a 10-year old Little League pitcher isn't the answer, either. Either have a rule that says you have to use a "real" pitcher at all times or give the trailing team the flexibility of opting out of a blow out after 8 innings of play.

You don't have to quit, mind you. You can go ahead and play the 9th if you're down 10-2 after eight. But if you do decide to carry on in the 9th, you have to use a real pitcher.

I understand why McKenna was used on Friday night. I get it.

But the look is worse than the contribution, in my mind. It's stupid. It might only happen twice a season (unless you're the A's), but it's still an awful look.

And the umpires...

Don't even get me started with those goofs. McKenna threw three or four pitches on Friday night that weren't even close to the strike zone that were called strikes. And we all know why. The umps wanted the game to end just as quickly as the players did.

And that's precisely why the game should just be called after eight innings when it's a 10-2 blowout or 13-3 blowout.

Phil Mickelson and Brandel Chamblee of The Golf Channel are knee-deep in a pretty tense Twitter fight these days over LIV Golf.

Mickelson, of course, has $200 million reasons to defend Greg Norman and the Saudi government that bailed him out of debt.

And Chamblee has never backed down from a controversial topic, including LIV Golf, which he has objected to over the last 16 months.

Both men are full-time involved in golf and part-time social media activists. Mickelson, of course, has used the Twitter platform for both on and off the course measures, including selling his coffee brand that started sputtering the minute he joined up with the Saudis last year.

Chamblee doesn't say anything on TV that he doesn't also want splattered all over the internet. That's what the media uses social media for, of course. I don't have to watch Chamblee on TV to find out what he said about a certain subject. I can just read it later on, at my leisure.

That Chamblee essentially shares my opinion on LIV (or, I guess, you can say I share his...) is really neither here nor there as it relates to this debate.

I have to assume no matter what Mickelson says, Brandel Chamblee isn't changing his opinion on LIV Golf. And, vice versa, there's nothing the TV analyst could say to Phil that would make the 6-time major champion say, "You know, Brandel's right about those scummy Saudis...I think I'll give my money back."

Mickelson was the first of the American guys to take the bait. To his credit, he never really hid his reasons for leaving. It was always about money. Plain and simple.

He wanted a bigger piece of the pie from the PGA Tour, even at age 51, and, as Phil tends to do, thought he was the smartest guy in the room when it came to marketing issues and media rights.

Oh, and Greg Norman threw $200 million at him, which helped make his argument much stronger.

The thing that Phil never wanted to openly admit was that his American-based sponsorships were all connected to his play on the PGA Tour. As long as he played and stayed relevant, the folks at Workday, KPMG, Exxon, Barclays and Rolex were all right there with him. Once he left the TOUR, they were all gone, too.

Whether Phil is willing to concede his move to LIV was ill timed is up to him. He did get $200 million, which is essentially all he really wanted anyway.

But he also cost himself a gazillion dollars from his American-based sponsors and also robbed himself of legacy-making years on The Champions Tour, where he could have cleaned up for a decade or so at least.

In the end, Phil won. And he lost.

He got the money. And that's definitely good.

But he also showed himself to be what everyone in the sport already assumed he was; a greedy, occasionally-toxic second fiddle to Tiger who always wanted desperately to be the top dog and never quite got there.

That he has Chamblee nipping at his heels might make for good theater and internet content, but it's also not a great look for Mickelson, a Hall of Fame golfer with an out-of-this-world career.

He should be above this sort of thing.

Alas, not only is not above it, he actually craves it.

And that, as Chamblee points out, is why Phil is Phil.

Saturday May 27, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3196

it's looking like...

We've been monitoring Grayson Rodriguez here at #DMD all season. Many of you probably have, too.

Expectations were high back in April.

Now? Well, let's just say we've lowered them a bit.

OK, maybe more than a bit.

Rodriguez got lit up for the second straight home start last night, allowing 8 earned runs in 3.1 innings of work, including three home runs to the Rangers in a 12-2 Texas win at Camden Yards.

A lousy-for-a-beautiful-Friday crowd of just under 21,000 saw Rodriguez labor through an 83-pitch effort that included 6 strikeouts and 3 walks before he departed with one out in the 4th inning.

Editor's note: It's Ryan Mountcastle bobblehead night this evening at the ballpark. This one should draw 30,000 or more.

Rodriguez is now 2-2 on the season with a 7.35 ERA. It's not getting any better as the starts pile up, that's for sure.

So, it's looking like a trip to Norfolk is in the cards for Rodriguez. We've basically reached June and he's not yet anywhere close to his groove. Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde can keep trotting him out there if they want, but nothing seems to be working for the rookie pitcher.

At some point, you have to wonder when is enough...enough?

If last night wasn't "enough", what will be?

Twelve days ago, Shohei Ohtani hit a ball off of G-Rod that just landed in Fells Point. And last night the Rangers teed off on him like it was the varsity vs. the junior varsity in the annual "spring game".

It's just not getting any better.

Sure, he wasn't awful in Toronto last Saturday, allowing 2 earned runs in 5 innings of work, but once again he had to throw a large number of pitches (91) just to get there.

But overall, there's no consistency. A decent start, two stinky starts, a decent start, two stinky starts. It's the same old, same old.

It's time for a visit to Norfolk to get things straightened out.

So, DeAndre Hopkins was released by the Arizona Cardinals yesterday, igniting speculation that the once-super-talented wide receiver could be headed to Baltimore.

The Cardinals axed him after three seasons in part because of a $30.75 million salary cap hit in 2023. As it stands, releasing Hopkins now saves Arizona $8.15 million on their '23 cap. But it also hands the Cardinals a $22.6 million dead cap hit this coming season.

You know things have derailed when the team effectively pays $22.6 million to have you go away.

Hopkins was one of the best receivers in the league during his days in Houston. Since moving on to Arizona, he's had flashes of his old self but by and large, he was "just a guy" in Arizona. He missed the first six games of last season while serving a PED-related suspension.

Several teams are supposedly "in" on Hopkins, including the Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Carolina and, yes, perhaps even the Ravens.

Rumors were swirling last month that Lamar Jackson told the Ravens he wanted DHop and Odell Beckham Jr. on the '23 roster. It's probably not in the cards to have both of them unless the guy who comes in last (Hopkins) is willing to play for peanuts.

It's looking like Hopkins is probably a better fit with the Chiefs, Patriots or Bills. It's hard to imagine the Ravens could fit him in their 2023 salary cap unless the 30-year old wide receiver is willing to take a restructured deal that favors Eric DeCosta and Company.

I'm not here to say D-Hop wouldn't help the Ravens. But I don't see how you fit him in with the group already in place; Duvernay, Bateman, Beckham and Zay Flowers, the 1st round draft pick. Forgetting the salary cap issues for a second, how are you going to employ that group of receivers PLUS Hopkins and satisfy all of them for 17 games?

John Angelos and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott were on 105.7 The Fan yesterday afternoon to talk about the new "City Connect" jerseys and some other downtown related stuff that involves the Orioles and Camden Yards.

No one asked me for PR help, but I have a pretty simple solution for Angelos. He should recuse himself from any media obligations until the team signs a new lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority.

Anything he says about, well, anything, doesn't amount to a hill of beans if there's no lease guaranteeing that the Orioles are staying in Baltimore.

The team is very good.

This organizational rebirth is wonderful to see. And, frankly, Angelos deserves some credit for the upgraded version of the Orioles we've been witnessing over the last 12 months.

But without a lease, none of it matters.

I appreciate the Mayor and John Angelos trying to create new programs and entertainment options to liven up the downtown area. It's meaningful.

But it's all second fiddle to a new lease.

I've contended from jump street the Orioles are never moving to Nashville. The owners would simply never allow it to happen.

It's one thing for the Athletics to pack up and leave Oakland. Their stadium is joke. The city of Oakland has very little interest in helping the A's get back on solid footing. I can see why Las Vegas is a nice alternative for the A's.

But there's nothing at all about Baltimore that's unappealing from the standpoint of playing Major League Baseball games there. Nashville might indeed get a team someday, but it's not going to be the Orioles.

That said, I'm just a guy who contends the Orioles are never moving.

There are thousands of other guys in the market who think there is a chance the Birds might fly off to Nashville sometime in the next few years.

The only way to squelch that commentary? Sign a new lease. Telling everyone you're staying in Baltimore is easy. Showing Baltimore you're staying is another thing entirely.

It's looking like there's a reason why Angelos doesn't want to obligate the franchise to a long term lease in Baltimore. I have no idea why Angelos would be holding off, but it appears he is.

And that's not cool.

Perhaps he's trying to generate some much-needed leverage with the MSA. If so, that's reasonable. But with each passing day that there's not a new lease, there's more and more speculation that Angelos is just sneaky enough to move the team to Tennessee.

Bob Irsay taught us not to trust anyone.

I don't think the Orioles are ever leaving Baltimore for a new city.

That said, sign the lease already. Finish the job so people don't have to keep fretting over this week in and week out.

Coming to the realization that their "network TV deal" with C.W. isn't helping them at all, LIV Golf announced a new media option on Friday that had the golf world buzzing.

Or not.

A few weeks ago, just minutes before a playoff that featured, among others, Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith -- two of LIV's marquee players -- the C.W. network switched their coverage from the golf tournament to "regularly scheduled programming". Instead of getting the playoff, you got Petticoat Junction.

Editor's note: Petticoat Junction was a heckuva show 50 years ago. It really was.

LIV was outraged at the idea that the network would stop its tournament coverage to show reruns of old shows. The network, of course, countered with, "We hate to tell you this, but more people watch Bonanza than your golf tournament."

In its second season of active play, LIV has improved in several areas, namely in terms of field quality and the number of tournaments they play.

The one area they're still suffering in greatly is coverage of those tournaments. No one is able to watch them without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

So late this week, LIV endeavored to fix its coverage issue.

You can now watch LIV golf on YouTube, just you like could have watched the Calvert Hall-McDonogh championship lacrosse game last week.

LIV has struck a deal with YouTube to air their tournaments and all you have to pay is $3.00 per-day to see some of the greats tee it up, like Bryson DeChambeau, Pat "Is this ball embedded?" Reed, Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith and one of your all-time faves, Abraham Ancer.

You might know that LIV is actually playing an event just outside of D.C. this week at the golf course owned by former President Trump. At one point 20 years ago, the course was called "Lowes Island" and it was actually a really nice test of golf. Then the ex-President bought it and changed things around and pretty much ruined the place. But that's neither here nor there, now.

In yesterday's first round, LIV put the YouTube product up for purchase and people rushed to their computers or mobile devices to check it out.

At one point on Friday, there were 75 people online watching, all of whom had ponied up $3.00 to watch it.

No, I'm not talking about Calvert Hall-McDonogh lacrosse. That game last week had almost 1,000 people watching it.

I meant LIV golf. They had 75 people watching it yesterday.

Hey, that's $225 more they can give to Sergio Garcia, right?

It's looking like most of the golf population in this country isn't interested in LIV golf. Why wouldn't you just put the tournaments on YouTube free of charge for at least the first year to figure out if folks will actually tune in and watch?

Why embarrass yourself by asking for $3.00 and then finding out 75 people forked over the money to check it out?

These people who run these sports leagues are something else.

Friday May 26, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3195

now do you believe?

I assume those who doubt the Orioles are legitimate are slowly starting to say less and less about this 2023 edition of the Birds.

I mean, what's left for you to bellyache about, other than those City Connect shirts (which I like, btw), the still-sluggish attendance and Brandon Hyde's occasional odd pitching decisions?

In golf, there's a saying I preach to my players. "It's not about how...it's about how many." As in, strokes it takes you to get the ball in the hole.

I've seen players with weird grips, a strange posture and a homemade swing make par after par after par. I've also seen kids with an awesome looking set-up and nice, on-plane golf swing make bogeys like they were hit songs from a Taylor Swift album -- one after another after another.

The Orioles -- or any team, for that matter -- are mostly the same way. They're winning. Period. It's not about "how" they're winning, it's that they're now 33-17 through 50 games of the '23 season. Their "how many" is...33. So far.

If you didn't believe in the O's before this little six-game trip to Toronto and New York, that's all well and good. But you most certainly must believe in them now. They swept the Blue Jays in three straight and then won two of three in New York when they could have easily gone 3-0 there, too.

Sure, they aren't going to sport many eight run innings this season like they did on Wednesday night in the Bronx, but 5-1 is still 5-1. They played six road games and won five of them. Against two of the supposed "better" teams in the American League, remember.

And don't look now, but Gunnar Henderson is slowly starting to sneak up the batting average ladder. He's now at .210 on the season, which certainly isn't great or even close to great, but it's better than the .175 average he carried around for a month and a half.

If he can get going in a real way (.250 or higher) and the O's can get more production out of Jorge Mateo at the plate, they'll really be cooking with gas by the middle of the summer. Adam Frazier has acquitted himself well and Austin Hays (.307) is quietly putting together a solid first-half of the season.

Their pitching has been so good throughout the season that you almost feel like the other shoe has to drop at some point.

Gibson, Wells, Kremer, Cano, Bautista. I know all five of them can't pitch every day, but those three starters and two relievers are pretty much a solid bet to win 4 games a week by themselves.

Memorial Day weekend is here and the Orioles are really good.

Read that again and savor it.

Memorial Day weekend is here and the Orioles are really good.

It's been a long, long time since we could honestly say that here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

This is going to be a memorable summer, friends.

The ump show rolled on last night in New York, where Aaron Boone was tossed from the game because the home plate umpire had missed four calls by the third inning and wasn't interested in hearing about it.

Home plate ump Edwin Moscoso, lathered with a substance called "Thin Skin", ran Boone from the game about 30 seconds after the Yankees manager started reminding him he should pay attention to the strike zone. That is the umpire's job, after all.

Boone was barely animated during his initial discussion with Moscoso. But the umpire wasn't interested in letting the Yankees skipper vent, so he tossed him out of the game.

This is going to go on all summer and fall, of course. These umpires have lost their minds. No one is ever allowed to question them or suggest they should do their job more efficiently. It's unreal how much authority they own without any responsibility for their own performance being taken into consideration.

Baseball players and managers get hammered all the time for their performance or lack thereof.

Umpires have somehow positioned themselves to be above the fray and are never to be questioned at any point during the game. It's laughable to watch them in action, knowing they're foaming at the mouth with the anticipation of being able to eject someone from the game. It's their "merit badge" of sorts.

"How'd the game go tonight?" an ump's wife asks via text.

"Great!" he replies. "I threw Boonie out in the third inning."

"That's awesome," she says. "I know how much that excites you. Well done, sweetheart."

#blueclownshoes

PGA club professional Michael Block is now in the 14th minute of his 15 minutes after yesterday's opening round 81 at Colonial Country Club.

Block, as you probably know, went from "never-heard-of-him" to a household golf name last week at the PGA Championship after he became the first club pro in 40 years to record a Top 15 finish at the major championship at Oak Hill CC.

It's been a whirlwind two weeks for Block, who also received an invitation to the Canadian Open next month thanks to his fine play last week in Rochester.

And in a sure sign that he's truly an American sports centerpiece, people on social media are now ripping Block for both his shoddy play on Thursday and some comments he made earlier this week on a national podcast with Bob Menery.

"He's a lot longer than I am, that's what it is," said Block, when Menery asked him about the state of Rory's game.

"So the length is the big thing?" Menery added.

"Oh my God," Block said. "What I would shoot from where Rory hits it would be stupid. I think I'd be one of the best players in the world.

"Hands down. If I had that stupid length, all day. My iron game, wedge game, around the greens and my putting is world class," he said.

And with that, the internet started roasting Block. Relentessly.

"Dude forgets he's just a club pro who had the luckyest (sic) week of his life," someone wrote.

"World class player who just shot 81 on the easiest course on the PGA Tour," another guy snarked.

Neither of those statements are even close to true, of course.

And it's also worth mentioning that Block's 81 was almost sorta-kinda expected, if you will, based on the life changing events he's experienced in the last two weeks. At some point, he was going to bottom out. Sooner, rather than later, most likely.

There was nothing at all "lucky" about Block's performance at the PGA Championship last week. He earned his spot into the field by virtue of his play in the national PGA Club Professionals Championship.

Once there, he shot 70-70-70-71. One round of 70? OK, maybe that's just a day where your chakras were lined up the right way and you made 150 feet of putts and all the sudden you're on 16 tee at even par and you say, "Damn, I just have to make three more pars and I'm in the clubhouse at 70."

But you're not "lucky" when you shoot 70-70-70-71. Anyone who thinks you can play four rounds of tournament golf at Oak Hill CC at one over par and be "lucky" has ZERO idea what they're talking about.

And Colonial CC in Fort Worth, Texas is far from the easiest course on the PGA Tour. It might be short, but it's certainly not the easiest course the players will encounter in 2023.

I didn't see much of Block's round yesterday, but what I heard of it while I was driving around suggested he drove the ball very poorly.

And that goes back to his commentary about McIlroy.

"If I drove the ball like he does..."

Some people took that statement as a slap at Rory. As if to say, "He should be way better than he is based on where he drives it."

Maybe it sounds like he's saying that, but I don't think that's it at all.

I had the great fortune of playing a practice round with Retief Goosen at the 2021 U.S. Senior Open. I don't think I'd be a "top senior player in the world" if I got to play my ball from where Retief drives his ball, but I also know I'd shoot a lot of better numbers if, for example, on the par 4 10th hole at Omaha CC, I had Retief's 170 yards into the green instead of my 220 yards into the green.

I saw it first hand. And I definitely said to my caddie on more than occasion, "The game is a lot easier from where he plays it, that's for sure."

It's easier because he's a great driver of the golf ball. If I could drive it like that, I'd be a way better player and my scores would certainly reflect that.

Block made the mistake this week of trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame into 20, 25 or 30 minutes. That's the risk you take when you step into the spotlight and you're pulled in a million different directions and, oh, by the way, you have a golf tournament to play starting on Thursday.

I don't think he said or did anything wrong, personally.

But social media, man. They're just waiting for you to slip up so they can crush you.

How dare you enjoy your day in the sun.

faith in sports

We had our first free junior of the summer last night at FCA Maryland Golf and one of the things we ended the evening with was a discussion about the "triangle" that is part of FCA's belief system as it relates to athletic performance.

I thought it would be good to share here today. This is suitable for anyone, athlete or not, and it's also suitable for athletes of any age. If you have a junior athlete in your family or you're the coach of a team, this 8-minute video is a quick-but-thorough explanation of the "triangle" we talk about within FCA.

Our thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our Friday feature, "Faith in Sports".

Thursday May 25, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3194

around the horn at the 30% mark

For the most part, MLB teams are at the 30% mark of their 2023 schedule.

Let's buzz through the standings and see what's what in both the American and National League.

A.L. East --

1. Tampa Bay (36-15) - They've cooled off a bit after that red-hot start, but they couldn't keep up that pace, obviously. I still don't know how they do it year after year with no "real" players to speak of, lo and behold, they're doing it again this season. So far...

2. BALTIMORE (32-17) - Get a healthy John Means back and add another arm and a left-handed bat at the deadline and who knows what 2023 might hold? October baseball in Bawlmer? You can feel it...

3. New York (30-21) - They'll get their inevitable rash of mid-season injuries and grab a player or two at the deadline just in time to cobble together a decent second half and make the playoffs. But they're not going anywhere...

4. Boston (26-24) - Can't see how they come close to winning 81 games with that pitching staff, but they still have a few bats that can hurt you if you're not careful. Nothing to see here...

5. Toronto (26-24) - Expected more from them, but it's still early. Their offense has legitimate break-open-the-game potential every single night. It's their pitching and bullpen that need to sharpen up. Do not count these guys out...

A.L. Central --

1. Minnesota (26-24) - They might be able to win 88 games and win this lousy division. All they really have to do is just beat up on the Central and they're golden. Won't beat anyone in October if they get there...

2. Detroit (22-25) - Not sure how they've won 22 with that offense. They've scored the second fewest runs (172) in all of baseball, ahead only of Cleveland (169). Here's a weird one: Detroit can't wait until footbal season starts...

3. Cleveland (21-28) - They're not out of it yet, but their offense is like listening to a Beatles album; a snoozefest. Are they good enough to win 88 or 90 games? That's the question...

4. Chicago (21-30) - I guess it wasn't the manager after all, huh? They have a robust lineup, but it seems like on nights they pitch well they don't hit and on nights they hit the ball, their pitchers flatline. Hard pressed to win 77 games at this point...

5. Kansas City (15-36) - Wasn't expecting much, but thought they were better than this. Too many good, young players to be wallowing in last place with these kind of numbers. Love their home white uniforms, if nothing else...

A.L. West --

1. Texas (31-18) - Fairly potent offensive lineup and decent pitching goes a long way in a so-so division. They've scored the most runs in all of baseball thus far. This might not be a fluke...

2. Houston (28-21) - Don't count them out just yet. They know how to win and the Rangers don't. The Astros will be heard from by September, we know that...

3. Los Angeles (28-23) - One of the great mysteries in sports is how this team continues to flounder every year with "those two guys" on their team. Maybe this is the season they put it together and make the playoffs? Baseball would benefit greatly from Ohtani and Trout playing in October...

4. Seattle (25-24) - I'm very surprised at their mediocrity thus far. They're just not firing on all cylinders. The good news is they don't have much ground to make up. Could still be there in October...

5. Oakland (10-41) - If this was a horse race, they'd be "eased" by the jockey at this point. No sense in anyone getting hurt for the last mile. Pretty much a professional embarrassment...

N.L. East --

1. Atlanta (30-19) - So solid in almost every facet. Going to be very difficult to unseat them. If they stay healthy, they're as good as anyone in either league...

2. New York (25-25) - They've given Buck every thing he could want. And it's still not enough. How do you lose any games with that pitching staff? They have their work cut out for them...

3. Miami (25-25) - Does it say more about the Marlins or Mets that both teams are 25-25? I can't name five guys on the Marlins roster. I guess that answers the question. If they win 81 games, there should be an investigation...

4. Philadelphia (23-26) - This will turn around at some point, right? Just way too much talent to be a sub-.500 club. But they're starting to lose a lot of ground to Atlanta. Can't wait too much longer...

5. Washington (21-28) - Their pitching and defense have actually been decent. They just don't score enough runs. Anything other than last place would be a good season for them...

N.L. Central --

1. Milwaukee (27-22) - They're probably going to win the division by default but they need some real deadline help to have any kind of chance of post-season success. Not nearly complete enough...

2. Pittsburgh (25-24) - After that 19-9 start they've cooled off as expected. They're one of only three N.L. teams to have allowed less than 200 runs thus far. Won't make the playoffs, but 75 wins is a real possibility.

3. Chicago (22-26) - A bit of a puzzle thus far. Have played well in stretches and stunk it up in stretches. Are plus-28 in runs and are four games under .500. They'll be right there if the Brewers stumble...

4. St. Louis (22-29) - Have scored gobs of runs (261) but they've also allowed gobs, too (248). Feels like a down year for them. Will be hard to overtake the teams at the top...

5. Cincinnati (21-28) - Zero pitching. Beyond zero, actually. They just give up runs and after runs after runs. If they win 72 it will be a shock...

N.L. West --

1. Los Angeles (31-20) - Good at home, just OK on the road. Have to be a little better away from Chavez Ravine if they want to dominate the N.L. If they get Mookie Betts in gear, they'll run away with the division. Again...

2. Arizona (29-21) - One of the surprise teams of the first 2 months of the season. In either league. Hard to imagine they can keep this up, but they could wind up in the 78-82 win range...

3. San Francisco (24-25) - Nothing special about this Giants team. They do some things decently, but they're not going to overpower any of the good teams. Might challenge for a wild card spot. Might...

4. San Diego (22-27) - How is this possible? Still lots of time to win 18 of 22 and go from the outhouse to the penthouse, but they can't wait until August to make their move. Still thinking they can reach 90 wins...

5. Colorado (21-29) - Right where they belong. In last place. But not a pushover, either. They could be a spoiler in the division in September...

Three Guarantees --

1. O's are making the playoffs: It's a done deal. As long as nothing happens to Rutschman, they're in.

2. Dodgers are winning the N.L. West: The division just isn't good enough overall to press them at any point in September.

3. San Diego will make a run and scoot into the post-season in the final week of the season. There's just too much talent there.

---

For anyone with a junior golfer, our popular free clinic series run by Maryland FCA Golf will kick off tonight at 6 pm at Pine Ridge Driving Range.

We run these clinics once a month throughout the summer and fall, teaching the basics of the golf swing to any junior golfer who comes out.

This year, we'll also add short-game and putting to the clinic for all in attendance.

Bring your own clubs, please. Range balls and instruction are provided free of charge by Maryland FCA Golf staffers.

We generally try and gather at the far left side of the driving range. Be on the lookout for the Maryland FCA Golf banner and flags.

Wednesday May 24, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3193

maybe it's me, but...

Brooks Koepka almost has an automatic Ryder Cup spot locked up.

It's not yet a done deal. He has to at least make the cut in both of the final majors to ensure he'll get in on points. But even a missed cut at, say, the U.S. Open and a Top 20 at the British Open would likely be enough for him.

There's been a lot of discussion over the last three days about the U.S. Ryder Cup team that will face off against Europe this September in Italy. Most of it centers on Koepka, who is currently in 2nd place in the point standings. The top six players in points at the end of the Fed Ex Cup in August automatically make the team. The remaining six spots are captain's picks.

Koepka does not play full-time on the PGA Tour, thus his ability to record Ryder Cup points is limited to only the four major championships. His victory at the PGA Championship on Sunday should, in my opinion, make him an automatic entry on the team, but that's not how it works. He has to earn enough points to make the team. So on he goes...

I have a fairly steadfast opinion about LIV golfers and their position on the Ryder Cup team. If an American LIV golfer earns enough points to automatically qualify for the team, he should, therefore, be on the team. This is my contention with Koepka. If he finishes in the top 6, he's on the team.

The outstanding issue is that of captain's picks. Should a LIV golfer be considered for the Ryder Cup team despite only playing (presumably) in four major championships? As an addendum, it's fair to ask, "Should their play on the LIV circuit be counted and/or included in the decision-making of the captain's picks?"

This is a slippery slope.

I'm not sure how you tell, say, Xander Schauffele, who finishes (example) 8th in the standings, that he's not going to Italy but Bryson DeChambeau is. Schauffele plays "American golf" as it were. He plays on the PGA Tour, an entity established and run here in the U.S. and generally acknowledged as the best professional golf tour in the world.

LIV Golf is a fly-by-night pick-up league funded by a government that was directly involved in helping organize the attacks on our country on September 11, 2001.

If English golfers or Australian golfers or Japaense golfers want to take their money and play for the Saudi-run league, so be it. "Have at it", as Brian Billick used to say.

But for an American to take their money and prop them up as "good folks"? I can't sign off on that.

Maybe it's me, but this seems fairly simple. If you qualify on points, you get to play. Easy peasy. If you don't qualify on points, the team captain is under no special pressure to add you to the team.

They're called "captain's picks" for a reason. The captain gets to pick the six additional players he wants on the team.

There's nothing at all wrong with having an opinion either way.

If you think LIV golfers are worthy of full consideration despite french kissing a government that assisted in the murder of over 3,000 Americans on 9-11, that's your cross to bear. I'm not judging you.

If you think LIV golfers shouldn't represent "American golf", that's your call as well.

I probably fall in that camp when the rubber meets the road, but I'm also interested in fielding a representative team when we go to Italy in four months.

So, yes, I'd love to have Koepka on the team. I wouldn't even mind having DeChambeau with me in Italy. But they have to make it on points or I'm not taking them.

If they're in the top 6 when the points are added up and finalized, I'll welcome them with open arms. If they fall outside of the top 6, they can watch the Ryder Cup with the rest of the Saudi government and LIV players.

As those guys said when they bolted with the other charlatans for LIV last year: "It's nothing personal. Just business..."

The Orioles "City Connect" uniforms made by Nike and distributed by Fanatics have been the talk of the town this week.

I haven't taken any kind of formal poll, but I'd say a fairly extensive review of social media tells me most people don't like them.

I'm on the other side.

I do like them, actually.

I don't know what the end game is for this sort of thing, other than an attempt to sell more apparel and generate more revenue. I mean, I get that. But I don't know what "City Connect" means and I'm not sure there's anything else to it all other than a new in-season jersey that people might purchase.

I like the look of them, though.

As for the price? They're $150. Seems about what I thought they'd be.

People are up in arms about paying that much.

As Danny Noonan said in "Caddyshack", if you don't want to pay 50 cents for a coke, then "you ain't gettin' no Coke..."

If you don't want to pay $150 for the jersey, then you don't have to pay it. Why bark and bellyache about it?

Maybe it's me, but I don't see why everything has to be a social media uproar. It's a baseball jersey. The team will wear it a couple of times and try to sell a bunch of them. If you want to buy one, buy one. If not, don't.

But stop acting like everything's a conspiracy against the fans.

The NFL announced a "trial rule change" for 2023 that will allow teams who call for fair catches on kick-offs to receive the ball on the 25 yard line.

They're saying it has something to do with injuries and concussions.

Maybe it does. They do a lot of research in the NFL. I assume they know what they're talking about on matters like that one.

So here's a question: Why not just eliminate kick-offs altogether?

Seriously. Why have them at all?

If injuries and concussions are an issue because of the violent nature of offensive and defensive players colliding with one another at rapid rates of speed, why continue to have kick-offs?

Why not just start every possession following a score by giving the (new) offensive team the ball on their own 25 yard line?

There's really no need to even kick-off any longer. All a team has to do is fair catch the ball and they get it on their own 25. Kick it out of the end zone and they get it at the 25.

I don't see any reason, really, to even have kick-offs. Just put the ball at the 25 and let's get moving.

I'll throw in an even better rule change for you.

You can either get the ball on the 25 yard line to start a series after a score or we'll give you the ball on your own 40 yard line but you have to get to the 50 yard line in three plays or you turn the ball over on downs.

That way, you might get rid of punts, too. Or at least a few every game.

It's really simple: Eliminate kick-offs and just give the teams a choice of whether they start at the 25 or 40.

Maybe it's me, but pretty soon, if you keep avoiding hitting and tackling, you'll be about as close to flag football as you can be without actually calling it "flag" football.

I understand the issues with concussions and injuries.

Got it.

But it's football. It's a dangerous sport. I understand trying to reduce those dangers, but at some point you just have to accept that people are going to get injured along the way.

Some stick-in-the-mud in the Comments section recently threw out some snark about not wanting to read about gambling near-misses and oh-so-close parlays.

I thought about that. A lot, actually.

And I think he's right.

So instead I'll write about the one I hit last night. Judge, Guerrero and Chapman. Three-way-homer-parlay. I won enough to buy everyone in Seacrets this Friday night a drink.

I hate that the O's lost last night, but I'm sure glad it was Judge who homered in the bottom of the 9th. I think they call that "looking at the bright side" or something of that nature.

Chapman and Guerrero also both homered in...you guessed it...the 9th inning.

I went from not having enough cash to buy an egg sandwich to paying the breakfast shop's mortgage for a month. Or two. Or three.

So there you go Mr. Party Pooper. As you wanted, no more talk about missed parlays and too-close-for-comfort-wagers-gone-wrong. You like apples?

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

England --

The title race in the Premier League officially concluded on Saturday. Arsenal’s spirited and unexpected title challenge ended with a whimper after a 1-0 loss to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. Arsenal couldn’t find the net despite managing 82% of the possession in the game.

The Arsenal loss clinched the third straight Premier League title for Manchester City before they even played their game on Sunday. The game was just as important for Nottingham Forest, as the win secured their safety from relegation in their first year back up in the Premier League.

Having already secured their fifth league title in six years before taking the field, City ran out a lineup full of backups and still managed to beat a floundering Chelsea 1-0. Julian Alvarez picked up where he left off from the Champions League game with an early goal that proved to be the difference. The win draws a stark contrast between the two clubs, both who have spent massive amounts of money, but with wildly different outcomes.

With the league title secured, City now has the opportunity to complete a “treble” this season, winning the league, Champions League and FA Cup.

Around the rest of the league Newcastle United and Manchester United moved close to securing the third and fourth spots in the Champions League. Manchester United defeated Bournemouth 1-0 and Newcastle got a 0-0 draw with Leicester City. However they both benefited from Aston Villa pulling out a draw on the road in Anfield against 5th place Liverpool.

At the bottom of the table, Leeds once again let an early lead slip through their hands, falling 3-1 against West Ham after going up early. A long Weston McKennie throw-in set up a Rodrigo volley in the box for the opening goal, but from there it was all West Ham.

The loss leaves Leeds needing a win and help in the final week to avoid relegation. They will need to win at home against Tottenham and have Everton lose to Bournemouth to remain in the top division.

Germany --

There was big-time drama in the Bundesliga title race as well. On Saturday Bayern Munich faced a stiff test, hosting third place RB Leipzig. Bayern got off to a good start with an early goal after a flowing move finished off by Serge Gnabry. However, the perennial champions collapsed in the final thirty minutes. In the 65th minute Leipzig got even when Konrad Laimer finished off a jailbreak counter attack after a Bayern corner at the other end.

Nine minutes later Christopher Nkunku earned a Leipzig penalty on another quick counter attack after a turnover deep in Bayern territory. Nkunku converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Leipzig the lead. They would then double that lead in the 84th minute with another penalty, awarded for an unfortunate handball in the box by Bayern defender Noussair Mazraoui. This time it was Dominik Szoboszlai converting the penalty to close the door on the game at 3-1.

With the loss, the odd late-season firing of Julian Nagelsmann is looking like an unmitigated disaster. Following the change to Thomas Tuchel, Bayern has been booted from the Champions League by Manchester City and has coughed up their lead in the league title race.

For Leipzig, the win clinched qualification for next season’s Champions League.

On Sunday, Borussia Dortmund took advantage of the opportunity provided by Bayern, claiming an emphatic 3-0 victory on the road at Augsburg. The first half was goalless, but a 38th minute red card for Augsburg gave Dortmund the upper hand and they managed to take control in the second half.

Julian Brandt and Sebastien Haller led the way. Haller opened the scoring in the 58th minute with a precise shot from the right side of the box and added another goal from close range in the 84th minute. Brandt sealed the victory in injury time when he fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to make it 3-0.

The win leaves Dortmund in control of their own destiny heading into the final weekend of the season. They will host 9th place Mainz and a win will secure their first league title since the 2011-12 season, the last time anyone other than Bayern won the Bundesliga. For Bayern to continue their title streak they will need to win on the road at Koln and hope for a Dortmund loss or tie.

In the battle for the last Champions League qualification spot, Freiburg won 2-0 over Wolfsburg on Friday and then Union Berlin lost 4-2 at Hoffenheim on Saturday, leaving the two tied for fourth place. Union holds the tiebreaker on goal difference and they will host Werder Bremen in the final week while Freiburg will travel to face Eintracht Frankfurt.

Italy --

In Serie A, already crowned champions Napoli downed a heavily rotated Inter Milan 3-1 with a standout performance from Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa. The loss allowed crosstown rivals AC Milan to gain ground with a 5-1 win over Sampdoria on Saturday.

However, Inter, Lazio and AC Milan all received a significant boost from the off-field decision to dock Juventus ten points for financial violations. The deduction dropped Juventus from 2nd place to 7th, allowing AC Milan to move into the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot. Leaving them three points clear of 5th place Atalanta with two games remaining.

Lazio managed to secure their spot in next year’s Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Udinese with a Ciro Immobile penalty. They moved into second place with the Juventus drop.

Spain --

There is little drama left in the La Liga season with Barcelona having clinched the title and the top four fairly well defined. Real Sociedad strengthened their grip on the final Champions League qualification spot with a 2-1 win over an unmotivated and possibly hungover from celebrating their league title Barcelona.

Yunus Musah and Valencia pulled out a 1-0 win over Real Madrid to move five points clear of the relegation line and breathe a little easier in the final three games.

France --

In Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappe scored two goals in the first 10 minutes, the second assisted by Leo Messi, to lead Paris St. Germain to a 2-1 win over Auxerre and all but clinch the title for the Parisian giants.

Team of the Week --

G: Ederson - Man City

D: Walker - Man City; Akanji - Man City; Bastoni - Inter

M: Calhanoglu - Inter; Rodri - Man City; Stones - Man City; Brandt - Dortmund

F: Silva - Man City; L. Martinez - Inter; De Bruyne - Man City

Player of the Week --

Bernardo Silva - Man City

The Portuguese attacker was the standout among many great performances in City’s emphatic Champions League win over Real Madrid. Silva scored the first two goals of the game, effectively putting the game to bed. He netted the first with a thunderous strike after some outstanding movement to find space in the box and receive a well placed pass from Kevin De Bruyne. He then dispatched the second with his head after popping up in the right place at the right time to meet Gundogan’s deflected shot.

In addition to the goals, Silva was secure passing, completing 90% of his passes and provided tireless defensive work, helping to lead a relentless City press and providing seven ball recoveries. Often an overlooked player on a team full of superstars, Silva was outstanding against Real Madrid and earned his moment in the spotlight.

Tuesday May 23, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3192

preakness, thursday football and those o's, hon

So it would seem like at some point soon, the conversation gets started again, right?

Should the Preakness be moved to another location?

Forget the red tape and political in-fighting that would go along with even the hint of a move. The whole thing would end up in court -- or several courts, really -- and would be a three year fight, at least.

But in the end, the Stronach Group will have the match on their racquet and they will have a decision to make.

Would the Preakness be better off somewhere else?

I think we all know what the answer is to that question. Deep down, at places we don't talk about at parties, we know the truth.

Those of us who have lived here forever are doing our best to ignore that nagging feeling in the pit of our stomach whenever that topic is brought up in our presence.

"Move the Preakness? Are you insane?"

But we know.

There have been plans after plans after plans, all designed to boost Pimlico race track and reinvigorate both the Preakness and the racing card in general. There have been improvements and modifications made, yes. But your Aunt Betty's smelly feet will always create an uncomfortable aroma at the family picnic in August, no matter how much bug spray she coats on her legs to try and mask it.

Here's the truth as it is today.

There is no more "horse racing" in Maryland. That's gone. We know that. It's sad, but it's true. That "sport", in terms of people going to watch it live, is over. Breeding and training still exists, but racing is kaput.

But you can still have the Preakness even without a real, lively horse racing industry in your midst.

Or can you?

It appears, in 2023, that even the Preakness is on life support.

And that's really the topic of the day. No one cares much about race days at Pimlico or Laurel, even. But people have cared about the Preakness for a long, long time.

If crowds of 50,000 are going to be the norm at Old Hilltop, what's the use? Sure, wagering continues to escalate at record numbers as more and more venues and platforms are created to allow for off-track betting, but the event itself, in Baltimore, is no longer a captivating experience.

And that's not me telling you it isn't a "captivating experience", by the way. That's the attendance figures telling you.

How does it get fixed? Probably by moving to Florida.

I hate it. You might hate it, too. Anything that gives Baltimore a black eye isn't productive for any of us.

The wagering numbers are up and the race day concerts and other activities are awesome for the diminished numbers who are involving themselves in such things. The Bruno Mars show on Saturday night was packed with 10,000 or so eager young people wanting to see one of music's top performers.

But in terms of the Preakness actually being a "horse racing event"? That appears to be over with at this point.

This, of course, is all part of the collateral damage that comes with "changing with the times" and allowing for more off-track wagering opportunities, gambling casinos and anything else we've created over the last 20 years to make things "easier" on us.

It used to be if you wanted to bet on the horses and experience horse racing for yourself, you had to go to the race track to do it. Once a year, there was a big event on the third Saturday in May and everyone went because everyone else was going.

Now, you don't have to go to the track to wager. And you don't have to go to the track to watch the races you're wagering on.

And if you want to gulp down a dozen beers or High Noons or Transfusions on the third Saturday in May, you can do that in your own backyard with your buddies and you can sit right there and play Bruno Mars on your back deck and bet on horse races taking place in Maryland, New York and California at the same time.

We always seek "easier" ways to do things in this country.

I know you know that.

Everything we experience today is all about "making it easier".

Well, they made the Preakness "easier" to pass up and guess what happened? People started passing on it.

And the truth is...they're not going back.

What happens from here, though, is the final, most important chapter of the story.

I wish I could create a happy ending for the race in Baltimore.

Alas, I don't think I can.

The standing joke in the NFL is that the acronym stands for "Not For Long" because the career span of most players is four years or so on average.

I don't know how you do it, but perhaps we should change that to, "The NFL stands for The League Doesn't Care About Anything Except TV MOney."

Yesterday, the league announced they are going to institute a "Thursday Flex" option to the 2023 schedule and could, with a month's notice, move a Thursday Night Game in Weeks 13-17 out of that slot and replace it with a game from that week's Sunday slate of games.

Unreal, right?

In Week 13, Seattle plays at Dallas.

Let's say you're a Seahawks fan who would like to venture to Dallas for that game. You need to get your airline tickets early to save the most money possible. You want to snag a hotel room now so you know you have the one you want. You get a couple of days off of work to make the whole trip as enjoyable as possible.

A month out, the NFL says, "Oh, yeah, we're deciding that Seattle-Dallas game will now be played on Sunday, not Thursday. Sorry about that."

The owners voted yesterday to have that flexibility in the final 5 weeks of the season. Thursday football is bad enough. Now, you have Thursday football that might be changed to Sunday football and Sunday football that might be changed to Thursday football. With roughly a month of advance notice.

The players, of course, can't really say much about this latest decision. They're the ones getting $70 million signing bonuses and $17.5 million a season to "work" for five months or so. If they complain, the obvious retort will be: "You want to go back to the days when you were having to scrape by on $1.2 million a year?"

The NFL will create a fancy press release reminding the fans that a Thursday flex option is, ultimately, all about pleasing them.

You can write the lede paragaph yourself, basically.

"In an effort to provide our fans with the most competitive and meaningful games at the end of the season, we're creating the ability for the league to move games in and out of Thursday Night Football based on records and importance of any particular game."

That's code word, of course, for what we all know to be true. The league gets tired of hearing from the TV networks about how the Thursday night schedule is garbage.

"You're giving us the Falcons and Eagles on Thursday night? Atlanta is 4-9 and Philadelphia is 5-8. No one in the country wants to watch that disaster."

Now, they'll have a month to preview the games from weeks 13-17 and decide if they matter enough to keep in the time slot.

From a football standpoint, that seems like a good thing.

That is, if you think Thursday Night football on a streaming platform or some other network you have to pay extra money to watch is a good thing.

From any other standpoint, though, it stinks. The fans, as usual, get the shaft. It doesn't really "look" like it's the shaft, which is all part of the NFL's crafty way of doing things. They're masters of deception when it comes to this stuff.

The O's just finished off an important road sweep in Toronto and now it's another step up in class as they start a 3-game set in the Bronx tonight.

But wait...

Maybe it's not actually a "step up in class" after all.

I mean, the O's are 31-16 and the Yankees are 29-20. If anyone's going from 6 furlongs to a mile-and-a-quarter, it's the Yankees, not the O's.

It's Kyle Bradish vs. Gerrit Cole tonight.

That match-up favors the Yankees, sure, but it's not like Cole is unhittable. Depending on what new ways he's come up with to doctor the ball, the O's can certainly get to him tonight at Yankee Stadium.

No matter what happens tonight, though, the Birds continue to fare well in the A.L. East. They'll either be 32-16 or 31-17 at the 30% mark of the 2023 schedule. That's good baseball for any team.

And they're doing it with a "decent" starting pitching staff and nothing more. They'll eventually get John Means back, which should help, and they're one of several teams who will likely be looking for a trade deadline acquisition to help on the mound in the second half of the season.

Oh, you want to know what they face in the 4th, 10-game segment of the season? We're glad you asked.

at NY Yankees (2)

vs. Texas (3)

vs. Cleveland (3)

at San Francisco (3)

at Milwaukee (3)

vs. Kansas City (2 of 3)

I'm sure you're thinking what I'm thinking: "Looks like 10-6 or 11-5 to me."

8 of the 16 are at home and the Texas, Cleveland and Kansas City visits give the Birds a real opportunity to get fat-and-happy.

It's pretty early to being saying things like this, but I'll say it anyway. The A.L. East might very well come down to what the O's do against Tampa Bay over the remainder of the season.

They have a weird two-game series in Tampa Bay on June 20-21.

Then they're back in Tampa Bay for four games, July 20-23.

Then they host the Rays for four September 14-17.

Nine games left against Tampa Bay. Those nine might decide the A.L. East.

In the meantime, let's do some damage up in the Bronx and get back home this weekend to feast on the Rangers, huh?

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer review

This was a momentous week in the European soccer season.

It began with the Champions League semifinal second legs, narrowing down the final two competitors for the most coveted trophy in club soccer. Then the weekend brought massive developments in the title races in both England and Germany. It was an eventful week for American soccer as well, with a significant off-field announcement regarding the USMNT and the U20 team taking the field in the U20 World Cup.

American News and Notes

For the USMNT there was a huge development off the field that could prove pivotal to their hopes during this important build up to the 2026 home World Cup. Late last week rumors that had been swirling since the last international window were confirmed when Folarin Balogun submitted official paperwork to switch his allegiance from England to the US.

This is a coup for US soccer, as the 21 year old Balogun is an exceptional talent and fills a void that plagued the team throughout most of the last cycle. In many ways this is like acquiring a number one draft pick. Balogun has been on loan from Arsenal this season, playing for Reims in the French Ligue 1, where he has scored 20 goals, 4th best in the league.

He has been one of the top strikers in the league, trailing only superstar Kylian Mbappe in non-penalty expected goals. Balogun is also the youngest player among the combined top ten scorers from the “big five” European leagues. To put it in perspective, Balogun is just a year and a half older than Ricardo Pepi, who has had a decent season in the weaker Dutch Eredivisie.

As soon as he is fully integrated into the team, Balogun will be the clear top choice at striker. He brings a more complete skill set than any of the current options, with the ability to get in behind the defense, finish chances and critically to create shots for himself, something the current crop struggles to do.

The presence of Balogun should also provide motivation to players like Sargent, Pepi and Ferreira to continue to improve their games to compete for playing time. Balogun will likely join the US team for the Nations League semifinal against Mexico in June and could continue with the team for the Gold Cup later in the summer.

In other US soccer news, the U20 team kicked off their World Cup with a 1-0 win over Ecuador. The US got the winner with an injury time rocket from the top of the box by right wing back Jonathan Gomez.

Despite needing the late winner, the US controlled the game and displayed some impressive passing and movement. With a little more sharpness around the box and the goal they could have had a larger victory. The win puts them in great position to advance to the knockout rounds as they head into their second group game against the weakest team in the group, Fiji.

European Roundup

Champions League Semifinals --

On Tuesday, rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan met for the final Milan derby of the season to decide who would advance to the Champions League final. This time it was Inter “hosting” and carrying a comfortable 2-0 cushion from the first leg, knowing a solid defensive effort would see them through.

With their hopes boosted by the return of star attacker Rafael Leao, AC Milan came out swinging, creating an early chance for Brahim Diaz that was expertly denied by Inter keeper Andre Onana. Leao then showed his burst of pace to blow past the Inter defense but pulled his shot just wide of the post.

Inter had their share of chances in the first half as well, with Lautaro Martinez forcing Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan into a superb save in the 39th minute. Despite enjoying a majority of the possession, Milan were unable to translate that advantage into goals in a scoreless first half.

The second half saw more of the same from Inter, who continued to absorb pressure while looking to strike on the counter. Finally in the 74th minute it was Inter who broke through, when Romelu Lukaku found Lautaro Martinez in space and the Argentine powered a left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner.

With a 3-0 aggregate lead, Inter controlled the final fifteen minutes of the match, with Milan unable to make any serious inroads. After a tense ninety minutes, the final whistle was met with roars of joy from the “home” fans as Inter booked their place in the Champions League final.

Across the continent on Wednesday, Manchester City hosted Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on the other side of the bracket. Level at 1-1 from the first leg, the stage was set for a thrilling encounter. What followed was one of the most comprehensive and dominant performances in recent Champions League history. Manchester City produced a resounding 4-0 victory over Real Madrid to secure a 5-1 aggregate win.

Pep Guardiola's side dominated the game from the beginning. After a cagey first twenty minutes where both sides had their chances, the deadlock was broken in the 23rd minute when Bernardo Silva finished brilliantly with a left footed blast off a Kevin De Bruyne assist. The opening goal came from City overloading the wide areas to pull apart the Madrid defense and open gaps to exploit. It was a pattern they repeated to great effect throughout the game.

From the early going Real Madrid struggled to deal with the relentless pressure applied by City, and the Spanish giants never found a solution. City’s momentum carried them forward with Silva adding a second goal in the 37th minute, calmly looping a header into the top-right corner after the ball deflected to him following an impressive effort from Ilkay Gundogan.

Despite a few spirited attempts from Madrid, including Toni Kroos rattling the crossbar from 25 yards out, the first half ended with City comfortably leading 2-0. Following the restart, City continued to dictate proceedings and their dominance paid off in the 76th minute when Kevin De Bruyne sent in a perfectly placed free kick that deflected off Eder Militao for an own goal.

With their multitude of previous magical Champions League comebacks, it was hard to write Madrid off, but they never truly looked like they would mount a comeback in this one. For their part, City left no doubt this time. Substitutes Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez combined for a nice move to slam the door shut in the 4-0 victory, moving the team to the precipice of their one missing trophy.

Manchester City and Inter Milan will face off in Istanbul on June 10th. City will enter as one of the heaviest favorites in a final in recent memory. Meanwhile Inter has demonstrated with their run through the knockout rounds that they are a battle tested, veteran team that can’t be taken lightly.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, Randy provides an in-depth look at last weekend's play in Europe, including a big weekend in England.

Monday May 22, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3191

rare air for brooks and the birds

A long time ago, a guy in black pants and a red shirt would tee it up in major golf championships and be head and shoulders better than everyone in the event from the first moment of the tournament.

He would go on to win 15 of those major tournaments, second only to Jack Nicklaus. When it came to the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA and British Open, no one was in the same world as Tiger Woods throughout his career.

Brooks Koepka won't get to 15 major championships. That's probably asking a bit too much of him. But he isn't finished winning them yet, either, as we saw this weekend when he put on a commanding performance at Oak Hill CC to win his 5th career major and 3rd Wanamaker Trophy.

Koepka is, for sure, a "major killer". He doesn't always feel the hype of regular, run-of-the-mill-golf-tournaments like The Players, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, The Memorial or the like. But four times a year, he puts his work boots on and morphs into a player unlike anything we've seen in golf over the last decade.

Rory McIlroy -- the face of golf these days with Tiger nearing his closing chapter -- had a remarkable run early in his career, winning four majors right away in rapid-fire fashion. But Rory hasn't claimed a major title since 2014 and remains stuck on four. He's now one behind Koepka.

In the history of the sport of golf, only 20 players have ever won five or more major titles. You know the names, of course. Nicklaus (18), Woods (15), Hogan (9), Watson (8), Palmer (7), Trevino (6), Mickelson (6), Faldo (6), Ballesteros (5).

Think of those names. And their greatness.

Brooks Koepka has now won five majors. And, unlike Woods, who at 33 years old won the 14th of his 15 majors and then fell victim to a decade of back problems and surgeries, Koepka doesn't look like a 33 year old who is anywhere near a decline.

There's lots of winning left in Koepka's career, it would seem.

For all of the greatness of guys like Raymond Floyd, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, Greg Norman and Nick Price, Koepka has surpassed all of them with his five majors.

And the current group of elite players? Spieth, Morikawa, J.T., DeChambeau, Rahm, Dustin Johnson? All but DeChambeau have multiple major wins. None of them have as many as Koepka, though. He's the best of them, at least major-wise.

When there's a winner, though, there's a loser. And although his career has blossomed nicely over the last year, Sunday marked a third straight major championship where Viktor Hovland failed to ignite in the final round. Hovland didn't play poorly yesterday. But he also didn't grab the moment by the horns, either.

Hovland will win major championships in his career. He'll likely be an outstanding Ryder Cup player for a long, long time. But none of that will take shape until he figures out a way to turn it on during the final round and play the same golf on Sunday that he played on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

There was one other winner on Sunday, and he didn't even win the golf tournament. But PGA golf professional Michael Block certainly came out on top yesterday despite finishing in a tie for 15th place.

Block made par on the last hole yesterday to snag that T15 spot and earn a return visit to the PGA next May at Valhalla. He did that, in part, by virtue of making a hole in one at the 15th hole in the final round. He did that, by the way, with Rory McIlroy playing alongside of him and watching it all unfold.

"I've seen a lot of things in golf," Rory said afterwards. "But that was magic. Pure magic."

Block received two tournament invitations in the hour after his final round concluded, getting a phone call from this week's TOUR stop in Fort Worth and the Canadian Open in a few weeks. He'll likely get more calls, too.

Club professionals are "good" players, through and through, but almost every single one of them are "good" and not "great", which means they can't make a living on the professional golf circuit.

Block, from the Southern California PGA Section, is different. He is a great player, as his performance this weekend showed in high definition. What he does with these upcoming sponsor's exemptions remains to be seen, but what happened over those four days at Oak Hill CC was definitely not a fluke.

And neither was Brooks Koepka's victory. When it comes to Koepka and major championships, there's no doubting his potential to be in the winner's circle. He gets that trophy in the crosshairs and won't let go until it's in his grasp.

Other than Tiger, we haven't seen much like it in golf over the last 25 years.

Road sweeps in baseball are rare. For the Orioles, Toronto has been a house of horrors over the years, including, of course, back in 2016 when Zach (or was it Zack?) Britton and the rest of Baltimore watched Edwin Encarnacion end the O's playoff campaign with a walk off 3-run homer off of Ubaldo Jimenez.

This weekend was different, though. This weekend even "felt" different, as the Birds went into Toronto and beat the Blue Jays three straight times in front of one of the great musicians of our lifetime, Geddy Lee of RUSH.

To borrow an old RUSH song: These O's definitely aren't "fly by night". This team is good. Very good, in fact, as evidenced by their 31-16 record to date.

Yesterday it was an 8-3 win over Toronto to culminate the 3-game sweep. Sure, they coughed up a 3-2 10th inning lead, but with the runner-on-second to start the extra inning(s), you almost expect each team to score at least once in those frames. The Birds then exploded for five runs in the 11th to win and creep ever so closer to Tampa Bay, who has clearly cooled off since their remarkable start to the season.

Sunday's win was especially gratifying because it came without the availability of Cano and Bautista to close things out. Instead, a combo-package of relievers got the job done, including Coulombe, Voth and Baumann, none of whom are exactly known as shut-down-specialists.

Cedric Mullins had 5 hits on the day. That was the good news.

Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Gunnar Henderson went 1-for-15 combined. That was the bad news.

But the scoreboard told the best news of all. 8-3 in favor of the Birds. Two straight extra-innings victories. And a 3-game sweep in a place where most of the memories aren't favorable.

A food and beverage professional who was involved in the Preakness on Saturday tells me there were rougly 46,000 people at Pimlico.

My reply text to him: "Your numbers can't be right."

His reply to me: "I'm looking at the numbers. They're right. It's sad, but their (sic) right."

46,000 people went to the Preakness?

Didn't 110,000 people used to go?

Sure, those published numbers were probably inflated for sponsorship purposes. It's always exciting to hand out a press release in the corporate tents at 5:30 pm with the headline, "PREAKNESS DRAWS RECORD CROWD TO PIMLICO" even if the numbers aren't exactly accurate. By 5:30 pm on Preakness Saturday, half the people in those tents can't read the press release anyway.

But let's just pretend there were 100,000 people there on an annual basis.

46,000 people showed up on Saturday?

If 86,000 people were there I think we'd all say, "Holy schnikee, what's happening to the Preakness?"

40,000 less than 86,000 people were in attendance.

How is that possible?

The fact you can wager from your phone now makes that much difference? I can see an attendance drop-off, sure. I get it. If I can stay home and bet or go to the track and bet, why wouldn't I just stay home?

But 90% of the people who attend the Preakness don't go there to bet. They go there to attend the Preakness. Sure, they bet while they're there, but that's not why they go.

Now, Maryland Jockey Club officials have to figure out why people aren't going. That's going to be quite a task.

The state of Maryland has stopped caring about the Preakness. How does that get fixed?

Sunday May 21, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3190

we found a windmill

I'll start at the end and work backwards from there since there's no real point in drawing it out.

Calvert Hall won the MIAA A-Conference golf championship yesterday, 12-9, over an outstanding St. Paul's team.

It was our first title since 2013 and completed a season where we went 11-3 overall.

That's the nuts-and-bolts of it.

How we got there is a much longer story.

Coaches often come up with phrases or slogans for their team(s) heading into a season. This isn't done to be corny or anything like that. It's done mainly to have something to remind the players of throughout the campaign when they need a quick reminder of how they're going to get to the finish line.

In 2021, we lost a semifinal match to St. Paul's by one point at their course on a day that included some controversy regarding the behavior of some of their fans. In 2022, we again lost in the semifinals on the very last hole, at the same course, to the same team. St. Paul's won the MIAA title in both of those seasons.

So when we gathered last December to get the wheels in motion for the 2023 season, I handed out our team information and on the front page were these words:

Make A Difference.

We needed someone to make a difference.

Our best player, Lorenzo Sanz, a 2-time All-Conference selection and 2-time Individual Championship winner, had graduated in 2022 and moved on to play college golf at Loyola University. His departure left a huge hole, obviously. Now, more than ever, we really needed someone to make a difference.

"That's your challenge for the season," I told them. "As a player. As a competitor. How will you make a difference? Next May, when we're at Hayfields playing in the championship match, can you make a difference?"

And so when we met after the holiday break in January to start working out and preparing for the season, those three words -- Make A Difference -- were constantly used by the players. They had it in their minds. They wanted to make a difference.

To their credit, that's exactly what they did.

The difference showed up on Thursday in our semifinal win vs. Loyola and again yesterday vs. St. Paul's. Under the gun, coming down the stretch, when it mattered most, the players came through. The "difference" in 2023 was in our golf. They hit better shots. They made more putts. When they needed to win a key hole, they managed to do that.

And we did that pretty much from the first match back on March 22nd to the last match on May 20th. In what I consider perhaps the team's most impressive "feat" from the 2023 season, we played 14 MIAA matches in total and never once had a "bad" match.

We only lost three times all season. And in each of those three defeats, we played very representative golf. We just got outplayed that day. Never once did I get on the bus after a loss and say to myself, "Well, that was a real stinker today. I have no idea why we played that poorly."

It's really hard to win. In any sport. On any level. It's also just as hard to play well all the time. It's nearly impossible. But Calvert Hall golf went 14-for-14 in 2023. We never once stunk it up.

My assistant coach, Brian Hubbard, has a saying he uses quite often. "We don't have to play golf at Calvert Hall. We get to play golf at Calvert Hall." I think that theme really resonates with our entire team. It's a privilege to play golf for the Cardinals.

Our individual performances were incredibly solid. Our 1-2 pairing stayed the same all year and those two kids -- Sam Telljohann and Caleb Itzoe -- took on the best players in the conference match after match and were always in the mix, picking up points and setting the pace for us.

There were always important little moments along the way with those two. Telljohann won his final two holes at our last match of the season at Chartwell CC that turned a loss into a win for us and gave us a home playoff match, which was vitally important. Itzoe played well all season long and capped it off yesterday with a crucial birdie on the final hole to give us a big 2 points in that first group of the day.

Freshman Ryan Hoffner set a school scoring record for points in a season -- by any player, let alone a freshman -- and did something else that I've never seen done at Calvert Hall. He never once lost a match all season. He played in all 14 matches and was never defeated, winning 13 of them and tying one. In the playoffs, he won both of his individual matches 3-0, as did his partner in the 3-4 pairing, Felix Endler.

Felix missed two weeks at the end of the season with an elbow injury, but when he returned to the lineup for that final regular season match against Spalding at Chartwell, he jumped right back in and truly "made a difference".

Our 5-6 pairing fluctuated a bit during the season. We played a total of four players in that group, occasionally mixing in newcomers when we felt the course was right for them. In the two playoff matches, it was Ryan Henneman and Ben Dawes in that spot. At other times this year, Clayton Wright played in that pairing and was outstanding. Carson Organt and Brad Palm also made appearances in that group as well.

Yesterday, as things got really tight late in the match, I walked with Henneman and Dawes on the 10th fairway at Hayfields.

I was getting scoring updates throughout the match and started putting the math together as I stood with Dawes some 100 yards from the 10th green.

"There's no scoreboard out here for you to see," I told him. "So do you want to know where this stands? Or do you not want to know?"

It's important to give players that flexibility. Some players like to know what's happening, others don't. In match play golf -- particularly a team format like the one we play -- it's important to know what every putt and every hole means. But even still, I wanted to let Dawes and Henneman make the decision.

"I want to know," Dawes said.

"Well, we have 10 points right now," I told him. "We need one more point in this group to get to 11 and win."

Minutes later, I asked Henneman the same question. He's a standout soccer player at Calvert Hall and was a big part of their championship team last Fall. He's used to looking at scoreboards.

"Tell me what we need to do," he said.

They both lost the 10th hole, as it turned out, to outstanding play from their St. Paul's counterparts. We still had two holes left, though, and both matches were tight and in the balance.

"Get your aim right and make a good golf swing here," I told them both on 11 tee, a 155 yard par-3. The rest was entirely up to them.

They both hit the green and two-putted. One St. Paul's player made par, the other made bogey. Now the entire season was going to come down to the 12th hole. Dawes had won his front six point and was tied on the back six standing on the 12th tee. Henneman had lost his front six point and was also tied on the 12th tee. The very important "team point" was also tied.

There was no room for error. We needed two tee balls in the fairway and two balls on the green. St. Paul's, with two very talented players in that pairing, needed the same thing.

All four players hit great drives. Henneman and Dawes laid back with 3 woods off the tee, while the two St. Paul's players used driver and left themselves 30-40 yards to the green.

What happened next is still kind of a blur. Dawes hit his approach to about 25 feet, but above the hole in a dangerous spot. Henneman hit a great, "handsy" 85 yard shot to about 15 feet below the pin. Both St. Paul's players were also on the putting surface.

Dawes hit a nice birdie putt that just slid by the hole and rolled out to 10 feet. Henneman's putt came up about four feet short.

It was time to make a difference.

All that work for four months came down to two putts.

First, Dawes made his putt.

A miss by a St. Paul's player now meant if Henneman ran his four footer in, we were the winners.

And he made it as well.

10 years after winning the 2013 MIAA Championship, Calvert Hall was back on top.

Challenged to "make a difference", the 15 players on the team did just that. Those who didn't play yesterday are still champions. They earned their spot on the team and they played a role for us that can't be measured: Peter Buttarazzi, Jacob Hubbard, Brooks Manning, Carson Organt, Brad Palm, Enzo Pobletts, Tate Roberts, John Smithberger and Clayton Wright. They'll be getting gold jackets this week to symbolize the 2023 championship.

On Saturday morning, we gathered for a 10 am team breakfast to start our day off together, as a team, and talk about what was to come at Hayfields later in the afternoon.

"No matter what the outcome is today," I told them, "I will not feel any differently about any of you. Win or lose. My opinion of of you will not change. I promise you that. I know enough about every one of you to know that one golf match doesn't change anything about you as a young man or a golfer."

And then I showed them one of my favorite clips from the outstanding TV series, "Ted Lasso".

The Richmond soccer team is in Amsterdam for a game when they find themselves with a rare off night to "experience the town".

Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt, enemies throughout season one and season two, have suddenly found themselves on my friendly terms in season three.

Tartt swallows his pride and asks Kent to "teach me to better" and Kent takes the younger player under his wing, showing him training tips and workout programs designed to upgrade his performance on the field.

In Amsterdam, in the wee hours of the morning, Kent confesses to Tartt that he doesn't believe in windmills. "I've never seen one," he says. "Has anyone ever actually seen a real windmill?" he asks Tartt.

"Of course, man, they're everywhere," Tartt tells him.

"I don't believe it," Kent says.

This, of course, is a metaphor for faith. Whether it's religious faith or just faith in something you can't actually see, like improving your training and workout programs to get better at soccer, the windmill scene is all about faith and believing in something you can't see or aren't sure really exists.

I apologized in advance for the sensitive language of the clip and told them team to gather around a TV. Unlike rap music, there are no "clean versions" of Ted Lasso episodes.

I then showed them the windmill scene.

"None of you in here have ever won a golf championship at Calvert Hall," I told them. "I won one in 2013, but I inherited that team. Those players were given to me by the late Bernie McGinn. I took the job in 2013 with that team and we won. It counts and all. But this team is the group of kids I saw come into Calvert Hall and you're the group of kids I've been in the trenches with for three years. So, I've never really won a MIAA championship either."

As we watched the scene unfold, Roy tries to learn how to ride a bike.

It takes a while, but he finally picks it up.

And then he says, "Let's go find a f***ing windmill!!" and he and Jamie Tartt go racing off together.

"That's what we're going to do today," I told them team. "We know championships exist, but we've never seen it or experienced it."

I turned the TV off.

"Let's go find a windmill, guys."

And that we did.

With the best group of gutsy, gritty kids any coach could ever ask for, we found our windmill on the 12th green at Hayfields yesterday.

There's not a doubt who the best team was in 2023.

It is Calvert Hall.

Here's the windmill scene for those interested, but it's most certainly "adult only" content. There have been some incredibly poignant moments in the Ted Lasso series over the last three years. This is, without question, a remarkable four minutes about life and the pursuit of whatever it is you're chasing.

big day in store at oak hill

Can Brooks Koepka win his 5th major?

Can Viktor Hovland win his first?

Can Rory McIlroy do what Justin Thomas did a year ago and come from off the pace to win his 5th career major?

Or is it time for Corey Conners of Canada to fulfill his promise and win one?

And let's not forget about Bryson DeChambeau. He's looking more and more like the DeChambeau we used to know a few years back.

Those are the main storylines heading into what promises to be a captivating final round at Oak Hill CC in Rochester, NY.

Koepka was also in the lead at the Masters back in April through 54 holes but couldn't finish the job. Will today be different for him?

Could a victory for Koepka start another run where he wins two or three majors in rapid-fire order? It's a definite possibility.

The golf course continues to win, which isn't all that surprising. Oak Hill is a supreme test of golf. And the names on top of the leaderboard are symbolic of how difficult it is to score well there. They call them "majors" in golf for a reason. The best players typically show up on the Sunday leaderboard.

Today should be riveting theater.

Speaking of golf and the PGA Championship, I'll be on today from 3-5 pm for a special "major edition" of "Fairways and Greens" on 105.7 The Fan. Hope you get a chance to tune in.

I didn't see any of the pre-race festivities from the Preakness yesterday due to my golf duties, but an in-depth review of stories and accounts from Pimlico indicate the crowd was "off" in 2023.

Someone on Twitter said: "This place is dead. Been to 20 Preakness's (sic) and this is the worst."

"What happened to this event?" someone else asked.

I don't have the answer to that question, but it's fair to say "something" has happened.

The race itself was very compelling with National Treasure and Racing Sevens duking it out gamely for the last 20 seconds of the race before John Velazquez made a hero out of Bob Baffert, who won as a trainer for the 8th time at the Preakness.

It was a heckuva horse race. I wish we could figure out a way to make it a big deal again. Baltimore needs that.

Saturday May 20, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3189

so much saturday stuff

Yeah, so now Rafael Devers hits a couple of home runs, huh?

What a rat fink.

10 days ago, all I needed from Devers was one lousy home run on a night I played a 5-man home run parlay and FOUR of the five connected -- with only Devers in the way of a massive, life changing amount of money for me.

The Red Sox were playing in Philadelphia. I watched helplessly on my computer as he flew out in 7th inning and struck out in the 9th inning to keep me living in Parkville for the foreseeable future.

Last night, Devers hit two round-trippers in his first two at-bats in San Diego. What a classy guy.

Friday night must have been "rub salt in the old man's wounds night", because both Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge hit homers in New York's 6-2 win over the Reds.

On Wednesday in Toronto, I had both of those guys on a 3-man homer parlay with Jake Burger of the White Sox. Burger delivered. But Rizzo and Judge both went 0-fer in a 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays.

Last night, though, they came through with homers in Cincinnati. Except last night...I didn't have them.

It's so maddening.

This is setting up to be a whale of a PGA Championship, with several huge names at the top of the leaderboard and a potpourri of others who could surely use a trip to the winner's circle.

Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners share the 36-hole lead at 5-under par.

Scheffler has "been there, done that", with a Masters win to his credit and a 2023 Players Championship title as well.

Hovland has knocked on the door at several majors, including last year's British Open, and seems ripe to finally break through and win one. His suspect chipping action hasn't been under the gun this week, so far, because he's playing so well tee-to-green.

And Conners is one of those "when he wins one, he'll win a few" kind of players who has a marvelous reputation but just hasn't been able to break through in major championship golf yet.

Two shots back are a pair of players at the opposite end of the golf spectrum; Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Suh.

DeChambeau, revitalized and looking like Bryson circa 2018, is trying to get back among golf's upper echelon and, at the same time, perhaps take a big step towards earning a Ryder Cup spot later this year.

Suh, a 25-year old Southern Cal grad, is still looking for his first big moment as a TOUR player. I'm sure it's not lost on him that guys like Shaun Micheel and Jason Dufner won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in a similar "out of nowhere" fashion.

Well positioned are guys like Brooks Koepka (-2), Justin Rose (-1), Rory McIlroy (even), Shane Lowry (even) and Keegan Bradley (even).

In reality, anyone making the cut (+5) is still capable of winning, but it would likely require two rounds of 65 to finish at 5-under and have a shot at the title.

Looking for a name in the 2-over par range who could piece together a solid final 36 holes and make some noise? We'll give you two. J.T. Poston and Sahith Theegala.

#DMD's pick to win, Patrick Cantlay, is very much alive and well at +1 through 36 holes.

Today's play is going to be dicey. The weather looks lousy from start to finish, with temperatures in the low 60's, rain all day, and winds in the 20-25 mile per hour range.

Any player in the 3 to 5 over par range who puts together a round of 66 or so in round 3 could move into the top 5 by the end of the day depending on how bad things get later on in the afternoon.

I know it hasn't "felt" like the Preakness in these parts this week, but they really are running the race early this evening at Pimlico.

In case you missed it yesterday, here's our predicted order of finish. Happy wagering to all who venture out there.

1st -- 1. National Treasure

2nd -- 7. Blazing Sevens

3rd -- 5. Red Route One

4th -- 3. Mage

OK, so Yennier Cano is human after all. The O's reliever gave up an earned run in the 8th inning of last night's 6-2 win at Toronto.

Cano had thrown 21.2 scoreless innings until Bo Bichette's single plated Toronto's second and final run of the night. It was almost a shock to see Cano give up two runs and a hit in one inning of work.

The Birds only managed seven hits on Friday night and no one on the team had more than one, but Mountcastle, Frazier and Santander went deep for the O's to support a solid start from Kyle Gibson (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER).

Mountcastle -- for those who like those "homer parlays" -- now has 15 career home runs vs. Toronto, the most he's hit off of any MLB team. Just sayin'.

Grayson Rodriguez gets the start for the O's Saturday afternoon (3:07 pm) and will hope to erase the awful outing he produced last Monday in Baltimore on Shohei-Beats-The-Birds-By-Himself-Night.

The O's have three games left in this third, 16-game set of the regular season. They're currently at 29-16. Three straight wins and a 32-16 record through 48 games would be remarkable. Anything in between is acceptable, too.

Even a 1-2 record would put the O's at 30-18, which is very commendable at the 30% mark of the regular season.

I won't even mention Ryan McKenna in Boston on opening weekend or Brandon Hyde lounging on a hammock in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Those two losses might not even matter all that much come the end of September.

This isn't officially a Q&A day here at #DMD, but Robbie sent me a question that I thought I'd answer here this morning.

"Drew, if you could do any one thing in the world of sports for just one day, what would it be? Throw a pass in a NFL game? Pitch to a batter at Fenway Park? Have a 20-foot putt on the 18th hole of the Masters to make the cut?"

DF says: I'm going to cop out a little bit by saying this: Providing that I could do "this" without getting injured or killed...I would want to drive in a NASCAR race. If I could race the car without worry of injury or death, that would be my choice. Those NASCAR drivers are incredibly talented athletes. What they do at 180 or 200 miles per hour is unreal. Just once, I'd like to experience it if possible."

What about all of you? Anyone have something in sports they'd like to do just once?

Friday May 19, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3188

who would you not trade?

It might be too early to start doing this.

I mean, after all, we haven't even reached Memorial Day yet. So it's probably a tad premature to start talking trade deadline stuff as it relates to the Orioles.

But that's what we do here. We chat about things. Maybe a little early, but we chat nonetheless.

There is a reason to bring up trades now instead of, say, mid-June. There are some teams (we're looking at you, White Sox) who might be a month away from letting some guys move on if they continue to sputter like they have in the first two months of the season.

Why would the White Sox wait to move Lucas Giolito if they could perhaps get a smidgen more for him by trading him on June 1st instead of July 15th?

That's just one example. But it's worth remembering that the earlier you get a good player via trade, the better the chances he makes an impact for you.

So let's flip the script and talk about the Orioles and who they would be willing to part company with if the right trade package was made available to them over the next 4-8 weeks.

Better yet, let's do this: Who isn't available via trade?

That's an easier way to go about it.

I'll start.

Your mileage may vary on these names. But here's what I think:

Rutschman is unavailable.

Gunnar Henderson is unavailable.

One of these guys is unavailable: Bautista and Cano. One of them is available. Which one? Doesn't matter to me.

If someone blew us away with a package and insisted Bautista was part of the O's offer, off he goes and Cano moves to closer.

If someone blew us away with a package and insisted Cano was part of the O's offer, off he goes and we'll find someone else to throw in the 7th and/or 8th innings.

I'm not getting rid of both of those guys, though. That's not happening.

Grayson Rodriguez isn't available. I know he's scuffled a bit and 2023 could be somewhat of a "lost season" for him because he'll definitely be regulated innings-wise, but I'm not getting rid of him under any circumstances.

Everyone else? Available.

I'm not saying I want to get rid of Cowser, Ortiz, Westburg, Ortiz, Stowers, etc. I am saying, though, that if we have to part company with one or two of those guys in order to bring in a quality starting pitcher or a legitimate DH-type bat for the final three months of the season, that's the price you pay for being good (finally).

I'm not including Jackson Holliday in this discussion since he's currently "only" at Aberdeen, but if anyone does call about him, I'm hanging up on them.

It's also worth wondering if any of our guys really do have any trade value. In any sport, we always tend to value our guys a lot more than most other people value them.

We think Cedric Mullins is the cat's meow. He's a nice player, sure. But that's about it. He's certainly a guy who could be replaced.

I always look at trade discussions like this: If Mullins suffered a season-ending knee injury tomorrow and was done for the year, would the Orioles still be able to put together a successful season and make the playoffs? I think the definite answer to that is..."yes".

And I like Mullins. A lot, actually. And that sorta-kinda proves what I wrote above. We tend to think our guys are better than they probably are, mostly because we see them every day for six months.

So, yes, Mullins is available. So is Mountcastle. Hays? Yep, he's available.

Mateo is available, but he's also close to being on the "don't ask about him" list. I think he's a keeper. The deal would have to be very sweet for me to stamp "APPROVED" on that trade offer. But I also know he's a .250 hitter who doesn't get on base all that much. Those guys are like coffee shops in L.A. -- they're everywhere.

Pitchers? All of them are available except Grayson. I don't want to get rid of Wells or Kremer. I'm hanging on to them unless I have to include them in order to make the trade complete. But if I'm getting Jordan Montgomery, Alex Wood, Eduardo Rodriguez or Lucas Giolito and we have to throw in Dean Kremer to get one of those two? Don't wanna do it. But I'd do it.

If the Brewers want to unload Corbin Burnes and we need to send them Wells, Cowser, Westburg and two other prospects, so be it.

What's better? Trading 4 or 5 players from your overstocked minor league system because you're winning or reaching June 27 every year and pretty much being eliminated from the playoffs and having nothing to trade for or play for?

This is the cost of being good. You can either stand pat and continue to be "good" or you can gamble and trade a quality prospect or three in an effort to improve this year and next year.

You can't have Rutschman, Gunnar or Grayson. Sorry.

Everyone else, though, can be had for the right piece. Or pieces.

The O's are trying to win now. It's "lift-off" time. I know we've heard that before, but now, it's true.

---

The first round of the PGA Championship isn't quite in the books yet, as a frost delay Thursday morning left 11 groups on the course when darkness set in last night.

That was always going to be the gamble the PGA of America took when they moved the major championship from August to May and then decided to play in places like Long Island and Rochester, NY.

It's not a major imposition. Those 11 groups will finish up early this morning and they should be able to get round two finished on time today. But it's still not cool (no pun intended) to have a major be broken up like it was on day one.

As expected, the bulk of the opening round talk centered on the golf course itself and how difficult Oak Hill CC is going to play over the (next) four days. There's almost no doubt that the winning score on Sunday will be in the single digits unless one guy just has a blinder of a week with the putter and separates himself from the rest of the field.

There is lots of talk about Oak Hill resembling Winged Foot both in appearance and difficulty. That favors certain players more than others, for sure. Winged Foot is a place where grinders tend to fare well. It's not flashy. It's just there, in your face, challenging you to make a par on every hole. Oak Hill is taking on that same look.

Eric Cole, a guy who very much fits the profile of other Oak Hill CC winners like Shaun Micheel and Jason Dufner, was your "overnight leader" at 5-under par. I know you probably haven't heard of him, but he's a really nice journeyman-type player who is enjoying a redeeming run of sorts in 2023. He nearly won the Honda Classic back in March and has made 12 of 23 cuts this season.

It would not be a fluke if he wins. I don't see that happening, honestly, but I also know it wouldn't be the shock of all shocks if he did win. He's a very good player.

Bryson DeChambeau is also on a redeeming run of sorts, having fallen out of the garden spot thanks to a bizarre decision to balloon up like Fred Flintstone in an effort to hit the golf ball 600 yards off the tee in 2020-2021.

He led for most of the day and finished at 4-under to serve as the "clubhouse leader" due to Cole being on the course at 5-under when darkness set in as he played the 14th hole on Thursday. DeChambeau won at Winged Foot in the Covid-delayed 2020 U.S. Open, remember, and has recently gone back to just looking like a regular human being again.

He says his new fitness level has rewarded him with more energy and a better capability of competing. We haven't seen any of him this year because he sold his soul to LIV last summer, but DeChambeau -- when physically "ready" -- remains one of golf's best players. A PGA Championship for him would not be out of the question in the least. He's very talented.

Three guys are 3-under par; Scottie Scheffler, Dustin Johnson and Corey Conners. The first two have major championships, Conners does not. But his ball striking talents are certainly "major worthy". Putting has always been a bug-a-boo for the Canadian, but if Conners hits it close enough over the next 54 holes, he could find himself no longer without a major championship on Sunday night.

One player to watch carefully, from a wagering standpoint at least, is Keith Mitchell. We've championed him on several occasions this year here at #DMD and mentioned earlier this week that his Driving statistics aligned perfectly with what's required at Oak Hill. He put together a nice round of 69 (-1) yesterday and is well-positioned heading into day two.

The golf course is perfect and some of the biggest names in the sport are within six shots of the lead after day one. May or not, this PGA is setting up to be well worth the wait since the April Masters win of Jon Rahm.

---

The Preakness rolls into Pimlico tomorrow, which means I have to once again be reminded of the year (2011) that stinking-rat-fink Mike Smith couldn't get Astrology into second place behind eventual winner Shackleford for what would have been a pretty nice payout for your "site owner".

Astrology had 2nd locked up and the 5-1 exacta was going to pay out handsomely. And then Smith forgot the finish line was still 250 yards away and he let Animal Kingdom roar past him to snag second place and leave me in an outrage in the Pimlico press box.

But that's just a memory now. I've pretty much let it all go at this point.

OK, maybe I haven't let it go. But there's a race tomorrow that I'm trying to hone in on and win some summer vacation money for the family.

As is usually the case with horse racing's second leg of the Triple Crown, most of the owners and trainers in the country avoid Baltimore. This year's field will have just eight competitors. In some ways, that makes for a better race than the Derby, where a horse can get mixed up in the field of 20 or so entries and never get a fair shake.

No one will be able to say tomorrow, "I got boxed in early on and never recovered." There's plenty of room to run at Pimlico on Saturday.

Here's the list of horses for tomorrow's Preakness, along with some very basic info on each:

1. National Treasure (John Velazquez, jockey) -- Trained by Bob Baffert, this horse was highly regarded as a 2-year old but didn't run in the Derby two weeks ago. Ran well at the Santa Anita Derby. Getting blinkers for the first time tomorrow. Velazquez has never won the Preakness, but has won the Derby (3 times) and Belmont (2 times).

2. Chase the Chaos (Sheldon Russell) -- There's almost nothing at all that suggests this horse is capable of competing tomorrow. His speed numbers have dropped in each of his last two races. Unless the owner and trainer know something no one else does, this horse will be out of his element.

3. Mage (Javier Castellano) -- Backed up an impressive run in the Florida Derby with a win at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. Is certainly "rising sharply", but many a Derby winner have made their way to Pimlico and then suffered the inevitable energy lag that goes with competing twice in 14 days. Has a history of bad breaks from the gate, which didn't hurt at the Derby. Castellano is one of the best in the game. If anyone can get another massive performance out of Mage, it's him.

4. Coffee with Chris (Jaime Rodriguez) -- The Maryland-bred horse doesn't have a "real" win in his career, having visited the winner's circle at Pimlico last year due to a DQ. Will likely press into the lead early on and then wear down quickly. There's not much hope for anything except a post-race coffee for this guy.

5. Red Route One (Joel Rosario) -- He's an interesting entry. Has as much race experience as just about any horse in the field, but his Bath House Row victory came against a listless group of entries. Rosario is a seasoned jockey with Derby and Belmont wins and if the pace is somehow lightning fast for the first half-mile, this is one horse who can apply some late heat as the early leaders lose their wind.

6. Perform (Feargal Lynch) -- The Tesio winner was added into the field for $150,000 so they must see something in this guy that others don't. Will he "perform"? It seems unlikely. His only hope is a fast pace and tiring horses. If that does take place, he has shown some decent closing ability, albeit against far lesser talent than what he'll face tomorrow.

7. Blazing Sevens (Irad Ortiz Jr.) -- Trainer Chad Brown is known for keeping his talented competitors home for the Derby and then racing them at Pimlico with winning success (Cloud Computing and Early Voting). This horse had some impressive recent workouts at Belmont and the whispers from Old Hilltop on Wednesday and Thursday were that this could be the horse to watch if the track is good on Saturday.

Editor's note: #DMD initially had First Mission winning but with his withdrawal on Friday morning, we have re-shaped the race as follows.

DMD's race call: Coffee with Chris heads out early and for about 30 seconds or so, his handlers are thinking to themselves, "We might win the freakin' Preakness."

Blazing Sevens settles in to fight with "Coffee" and Mage hangs around early as well, maybe even a bit too early, actually.

Velazquez and National Treasure make their move on the backstretch and he moves into the lead past a winded Coffee with Chris. Blazing Stevens hangs in there and Mage continues to shuffle along although he's starting to lose space.

Perform and Chase the Chaos are just trying not to get anyone hurt.

As they reach the final quarter-mile, it's a horse race. National Treasure has a narrow lead with Blazing Sevens hanging in there gamely. Red Route One starts to get interested and into the fray as they head for home. Mage also gets engaged and there's now a chance we could see a Derby-Pimlico winner. Any of four horses could win with 300 yards remaining.

Velazquez pokes National Treasure in front and Red Route One, Blazing Sevens and Mage dual it out tightly at the wire.

And this is how they finish...

1st -- 1. National Treasure

2nd -- 7. Blazing Sevens

3rd -- 5. Red Route One

4th -- 3. Mage

And just to show I can take a joke, here's the 2011 Preakness that cost me a bundle because of that rat-fink Mike Smith.

faith in sports

The Damar Hamlin incident during the 2022 NFL season sparked a lot of debate about "prayer in sports".

Those who believe in prayer were ecstatic to see Hamlin's recovery.

Those who aren't believers in prayer were likely still happy to see Hamlin recover, but less likely to believe that prayer made an impact on the fallen Buffalo Bills defensive back.

This is a great 4 minute video about prayer in sports. Prayer, of course, is at the center of everything FCA does. I would encourage you to give this 4 minutes of your day.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our "Faith in Sports" segment.

Thursday May 18, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3187

perusing

A #DMD staffer sent me a text late yesterday while my Calvert Hall Golf team was practicing.

"Check the comment section."

I didn't have time to do it right then and there. But an hour or so later I logged in and reviewed it.

Some of it, as usual, was silly. I have no idea why people do what they do or write what they write. Boredom, maybe? Nothing more elaborate or intelligent to contribute, perhaps. I don't know. I really don't.

Some of it, thankfully, was cogent and well constructed. Thoughtful. Insightful, even. I enjoy that sort of discourse.

I took the liberty of eliminating a few of the really stupid comments and that was that. No harm, no foul, really. Other than the person with the off-color remark about Ja Morant -- he/she won't be back anytime soon -- everything else was just a quick trip to the penalty box and that's it.

That said, some of the comments might even deserve a response. Nothing elaborate. But a response nonetheless.

So, as I perused the Comments section, I came up with these replies.

Steve in Pimlico noted he would head to Old Hilltop today and, on the way, might listen to the Beatles. "Best pop/rock band of all time," he claimed.

I think Steve is trying to make a valid point about the Beatles and I have to agree. "Pop band" is a pretty accurate description of them. And I'll admit this: If you made me pick between Hanson, One Direction, Bay City Rollers, Fall Out Boy and the Beatles -- I might actually take the Beatles out of those five pop bands.

LM and B.P. brought up a recent controversy in the MIAA Individual golf tournament. A player (in the lead) was accused of a rules violation on the 34th hole of the 36-hole tournament. A decision was made initially that awarded the tournament to another competitor. The next day, the MIAA ruled that the initial decision was, in fact, incorrectly applied and the once-penalized player was deemed to be the co-champion of the tournament.

I think the right decision was ultimately made. As the great Forrest Gump once said, "And that's all I have to say about that."

George wrote these words: Fowler wins the PGA.

Huh? What planet is this? The most public, notorious Rickie Fowler-hater ever is actually picking him to win? That would be like me saying next October, "I think the Flyers are going to win the Stanley Cup." I'd never, ever, ever say that. Never. No, no, no.

Hank (the fake one) can't even use a real fake name, which is one of the more bizarre things ever. If you don't have the guts to use your real name, at least have the guts to use your own fake name and not someone else's. This place, sometimes...I swear. Anyway, Hank rambled on about horse racing and the Preakness and...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Here's the deal: Horse racing in the U.S. is pretty much dead. The Triple Crown series? Not dead at all. But horse racing, in general? Pretty dead. If not for OTB and on-line sports wagering on your mobile device, horse racing wouldn't even exist. The Triple Crown series is a different story. It still has life, even if this Saturday's race won't reach double digits in terms of horses running in the Preakness.

Let's be honest: People around here go to the race track once a year. And that's this Saturday. A handful of folks might go twice a year...Friday and Saturday of this week. Other than that...no one goes. Ever.

MFC brought up a rabbit ears umpire who tossed a kid out of a high school game this week because, according to the umpire, the young man told him he was "terrible".

Well, for starters, did it ever occur to the umpire that perhaps he wasn't having his best day? Maybe some of his calls were suspect. These umps -- at every level -- act as if every call they make is spot-on and correct. If the umpire had any ability to navigate the situation "fairly", he would have pulled off his mask and said to the pitcher, "Speaking of terrible, you haven't thrown back to back strikes in 3 innings. Try throwing the ball over the plate!"

That's the way Charley Eckman would have handled things circa 1978. Don't throw the kid out. Embarrass him the same way he tried to embarrass you. Man up, stop throwing people out of the game, and figure out a better way to do it.

Chief pot-stirrer JeffWell said something about a-ha having a #1 hit ("Take On Me", one of my top 20 favorite songs of all time, by the way) and Bruce Springsteen never having a #1 hit. I guess that's supposed to mean a-ha is "better" than Bruce.

There's a big difference between hits (which I referenced in my Blue Oyster Cult/A-ha comparison) and "number one hits", which Jeff interjected into the debate. Born To Run is one of the most iconic songs of my lifetime, along with Stairway to Heaven, Dream On and Bohemian Rhapsody. That Born To Run never reached #1 is neither here nor there. Same for Dream On. It was a huge song for Aerosmith but never even broke into the Top 20. Stairway to Heaven, probably the biggest song of my life, wasn't even released as a single.

Springsteen had more "hits" on the Born To Run album than a-ha has songs you've ever actually heard. Here are the songs from Born To Run every person reading this has heard: Born To Run, Thunder Road, Jungleland and Tenth Avenue Freeze Out. Here are the a-ha songs every person reading this has heard: Take On Me. That's from their entire catalog. Ever. That's the only song you've heard of.

I actually really like a-ha. I'm one of the 154 people in the world who know more than "Take On Me". So it's hard for me to hammer away at their mediocrity like this. But they are The New Radicals and Len combined. You know "You Only Get What You Give" and "Steal My Sunshine" from those two and that's the end of it. All you know from a-ha is "Take On Me".

That said, "Take On Me" is a helluva song, man.

I know the MTV video is memorable, but this version of "Take On Me" is simply fantastic.

And that's about it from the Comments section.

I'll have my official Preakness rundown tomorrow here at #DMD. I have my mind pretty much made up but I need one more day to chisel away at it and make my final call.

I will say this, though: If you're getting your hopes up that we're going to see a Triple Crown winner in 2023, you can stash those dreams next to your discarded Beatles albums. It's not happening.

A Florida judge ruled yesterday that Erica Herman, the ex-girlfriend of Tiger Woods, must legally abide by the NDA agreement she signed when she was involved in a romantic relationship with the 15-time major champion.

Herman was seeking to have the NDA ruled non-enforceable, presumably so she could cash in and write a book about her 5+ years with Woods, who first met the woman when he was the manager of a restaurant he owned.

Florida circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger called Herman's allegations of sexual harassment (which would have made the NDA agreement null and void) "baseless and vague", further adding, "Herman has had the opportunity to provide factual specificity for any claim relating to sexual assault or sexual harassment, however, she has not done so."

Herman was looking for $30 million as part of a settlement with Woods, who ended the relationship with the woman in late 2022.

While the rest of the golfing world tees it up at Oak Hill this week, Tiger's back in the winner's circle after yesterday's verdict in Florida.

And now, because I believe in providing ample and reasonable "substance" behind any of my contrarian opinions, let me say this about the Beatles. They never could have created something like the song you'll watch and hear below. In my lifetime, there are a bunch of musicians and bands who were popular, but never really got their due for their true greatness.

I would say Little Feat was one of those. They were really on the verge of greatness and then Lowell George died and that was kind of it for them, unfortunately. The Cars were definitely vastly underappreciated. They were a remarkable band, with great music. I would say Depeche Mode fits that profile. Very, very underappreciated. The same for people like David Gray, Van Morrison and Bryan Adams. Everyone knows who they are, but I never felt like they truly got what they deserved.

But this band...is the best of them all, in terms of music quality juxtaposed against the lack of praise they've received over the last 25 years. These guys are freakin' great. If the Beatles could have put out music like The Cure did, I might be singing a different tune about them.

Wednesday May 17, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3186

lay the money on cantlay

OK, so one quick confession as it relates to my pick to win the PGA Championship.

I'm adding an extra horse to the field that I really like. For two reasons, mainly. One, I just have a weird feeling about this guy. And, two, I'm sorta-kinda substituting him for Jason Day, who won last week (like I told you he might here at #DMD).

Wagers for Day are still smart. I tend to shy away from guys who won "last week" when making a wager simply because it's so, so hard to win in consecutive weeks on the PGA Tour. But I still fancy Day's chances to cash a Top 20 or Top 10 ticket.

That said, I'm adding Viktor Hovland to my stable of players for this week at Oak Hill CC. The golf course is going to require a guy who hits it a long way and hits it relatively straight. Hovland does both of those things just about as well as anyone in golf.

In horse racing in some states, they have coupling, which means the (example) 1 and 1A horses can win a wager (if you bet on them, of course) if either of those horses finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

Look at Hovland as if I've entered him as "coupling" with the eventual winner below. Hovland is 1A.

There are young players on TOUR with impressive resumes who are bound to win major championships in their career(s). Davis Riley, Cameron Young, Beau Hossler, Justin Suh, Brandon Wu, Chris Gotterup and, yes, Viktor Hovland. Hovland and Young are the best of that lot, at least for now.

His biggest weakness -- chipping -- is definitely a major concern (no pun intended) this week but we're banking on his sublime driving talents to overcome his occasionally-shaky chipping action.

Once Jason Day won last Sunday I started going through the data to come up with a "coupling entry" and I suspected all along it would be either Hovland or Adam Scott.

I think Scott has quietly started to emerge over the last 12 months as someone who could have a "second career" if you will and win a major sometime in the next year or so.

But Hovland is a far better driver of the ball than is Scott. And when it's your time, it's your time.

Here's what our PGA Championship Top 10 (plus Hovland at 1A) looks like: Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7. Cameron Young was our #6 pick. Jason Day sits at #5. Scottie Scheffler was #4. Si Woo Kim is #3. Jon Rahm is #2.

And with that...

We're taking Patrick Cantlay to win the PGA Championship this week at Oak Hill CC.

All of the data points to a "ball striker" coming out on top. The length of the rough, coupled with the size of the greens, suggests you have to identify someone who is going to hit the fairway a lot and then have the precise iron game to get his ball on the putting surface with his next shot.

Cantlay is as solid as anyone in the world when it comes to that facet of the game.

Over the past 24 rounds, Cantlay ranks first in the entire PGA Championship field in Strokes Gained Off The Tee, fourth in Ballstriking, and second in Strokes Gained Tee to Green. His putting is certainly not a weakness. Like anyone, he can go hot-and-cold with the flat stick, but we're thinking this is going to be a solid all-around week for Cantlay.

The 8-time TOUR winner has six top 15's in major championships since 2019, including a T3 at the 2019 PGA Championship. He's always in the discussion of "who is the next guy to break through and win a couple of majors within a year or two?"

But this week's secret sauce for Cantlay doesn't have anything to do with his golf game.

We're putting some additional stock in the man on his bag this week, caddie Joe LaCava, who recently joined up with Cantlay after a six year run with Tiger Woods.

If there's anyone who can impact a round of golf while not actually hitting one shot, it's LaCava. The bet here is he'll be a guiding force for Cantlay as he captures his first-ever major championship. And at 22-1, he promises a nice payout, too.

---

Despite a wonky lineup that had to be part of a water cooler bet with someone, the O's managed to break a modest 2-game losing streak with a 7-3 win over the Angels before 13,000 at Camden Yards.

After terrorizing the O's on Monday night, Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-4 at the plate for Los Angeles.

The Birds managed just 9 hits on the night, but one of them came from an unlikely source. Designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn, batting 9th (when's the last time the DH hit 9th?), hit a second inning homer for Brandon Hyde's team. When I saw the lineup published late Tuesday afternoon I suspected there had to be an inside joke of sorts.

Ryan O'Hearn and Terrin Vavra in the same lineup? And it's not a practical joke?

Once everyone got a couple of at-bats, Hyde replaced O'Hearn with Ryan Mountcastle (who hit a 2-run homer) and Vavra with Ryan McKenna (not much of an upgrade there). It was a weird lineup, for sure, but in the end, a 7-3 win is a 7-3 win.

It was such a weird night that even Gunnar Henderson (.184) managed a hit to go along with his two strikeouts.

Oh, and thanks a lot Cedric Mullins. All I needed was one hit from him to complete a nice "Build A Parlay" wager, where I picked 6 players to record a base hit on Tuesday night. I had Rutschman and Hays from the Orioles, Aaron Judge from the Yankees, Gio Urshela from the Angels and Gavin Sheets from the White Sox. Oh.....and Cedric Mullins.

Those five all connected. Mullins failing to record a hit cost me $135.17 American dollars. Thanks a bunch, Ced.

On a good note, Dean Kremer turned in a decent start, working into the 6th inning and allowing 3 earned runs while striking out 4 Los Angeles batters.

It won't get him any Cy Young votes or anything like that, but Kremer's start was a massive upgrade over what Grayson Rodriguez provided on Monday evening on "Lauch-A-Ball" night at Camden Yards.

A brief tip of the cap goes out to the Calvert Hall Rugby team, who recently completed a perfect season by beating Spalding in the MIAA A-Conference championship game, 26-7.

My knowledge of rugby can fit in a thimble. I know how to spell it properly. And that's about it.

But I know a perfect season is worth mentioning, as is a championship.

So congrats to the Cardinals Rugby team!

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

England --

After this weekend the Premier League title may be all but decided. After getting a road draw against Real Madrid in the Champions League, Manchester City went on the road for a 3-0 league win over Everton on Sunday.

City produced another comfortable win thanks largely to a star turn from midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. With Kevin De Bruyne resting ahead of the Champions League second leg, Gundogan stepped up as the main attacking threat from midfield, scoring two goals and assisting one. Erling Haaland was on the end of the Gundogan assist, heading home a cross to add another to his record breaking tally.

The good news continued for Man City following their win when Arsenal took the field and were thoroughly outplayed by Brighton for a 3-0 loss that put their title chances on life support.

Brighton controlled the match from start to finish, with their superiority rewarded in the second half when Julio Enciso nodded in the first goal in the 51st minute. They secured their victory in the 86th minute when substitute Deniz Undav lofted the ball into the net after an Arsenal turnover, and left back Pervis Estupinán tacked on an injury time goal to complete the victory. The loss leaves Arsenal four points behind City with Arsenal having two games left and City three.

Below the top two, Manchester United got a 2-0 win over Wolves to secure their hold on the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot, four points ahead of Liverpool with three games to go.

Third place Newcastle tied 2-2 against relegation threatened Leeds. The latter jumped out to the lead in the game before allowing two goals to Newcastle then pulling out the draw with a late goal from defender Rasmus Kristensen.

While the draw is a decent result against one of the top teams in the league, it still leaves Leeds with work to do in their final two games, as they sit below the relegation line, one point behind Everton.

Weston McKennie played the full 90 for Leeds and put in a lot of hard work in midfield. His offensive contributions and touch on the ball were somewhat lacking in quality however.

Germany --

The top of the Bundesliga remained the same with just two games remaining. Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund both dominated their games, leaving Bayern one point ahead.

On Saturday morning Bayern dismantled relegation-threatened Schalke in a 6-0 win to maintain their slight edge at the top of the table. Serge Gnabry led the way for the Bavarians with two goals.

Later in the day, Dortmund followed suit with an impressive win of their own, downing Borussia Monchengladbach 5-2 to keep the pressure on Bayern. Striker Sebastian Haller had a banner day for Dortmund, scoring two outstanding goals. Gio Reyna came on for the last 20 minutes with Dortmund in command of the match and managed to score another late goal, fighting off a defender to poke in a rebound late in injury time. Joe Scally did not get off the bench for Gladbach in this one.

There was some separation in the race for the other two Champions League qualification spots this week, with RB Leipzig holding firm in third place with a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen and Union Berlin moving into sole possession of fourth place with a 4-2 win over fifth place Freiburg.

Spain --

On Sunday Barcelona secured their first La Liga title under head coach Xavi with a dominant 4-2 win over local rivals Espanyol. Robert Lewandowski led the way with two goals, extending his league leading tally to 21. Fullbacks Alex Balde and Jule Kounde each added a goal as well to help seal the title-clinching game.

Real Madrid rested most of their starters ahead of their crucial second leg with Manchester City but managed a 1-0 win over Getafe.

In the relegation scrum at the bottom of the table, Yunus Musah and Valencia got an important 2-1 win over Luca de la Torre’s Celta Vigo. The win puts Valencia three points above the relegation line. De la Torre started the game for Celta and Musah was a second half sub for Valencia, both players made decent contributions.

Italy --

In Serie A, Inter Milan rested a few players ahead of their pivotal second leg with AC Milan but still managed a 4-2 win over Sassuolo thanks to two goals from Romelu Lukaku. The win helped extend the gap in the race for the top four Champions League qualification spots, pushing Inter five points ahead of their rivals, fifth place AC Milan, who lost 2-0 to Spezia. In between them Lazio drew 2-2 with Lecce to remain fourth place, four points clear of AC Milan.

France --

Leo Messi returned to the lineup for PSG amid speculation about his future, but Kylian Mbappe stole the show with two goals in a 5-0 win over Ajaccio. The second of which was an unbelievable volley in full stride from the top of the box. The win put PSG one step closer to clinching the title with a six point lead and three games remaining.

Team of the Week --

G: Ederson - Man City

D: Walker - Man City; Rudiger - Real Madrid; Bastoni - Inter Milan; Camavinga - Real Madrid

M: Gundogan - Man City; Mkhitaryan - Inter Milan; De Bruyne - Man City

F: Dzeko - Inter MIlan; Haller - Dortmund; Vinicius Jr - Real Madrid

Player of the Week --

Gundogan - Manchester City

This week it was the relatively unheralded German midfielder who stood out above the other City stars. While Kevin De Bruyne netted the crucial goal in the Champions League game in Madrid, Gundogan set him up with a layoff pass at the edge of the box. It was Gundogan who then stepped up to move City to within a whisper of the Premier League title, playing a hand in all three goals of their 3-0 win over Everton. He opened the scoring in that game with a spectacular goal, settling a hard cross in the box and flicking an over the shoulder kick past Jordan Pickford.

Gundogan played a key role in midfield in both games, connecting on over 90% of his passes in the two games and providing stellar defensive contributions as well.

	The Stats Nerd And His Numbers
Contributed by #DMD's data and numbers analyst The Stats Nerd

I read the comments each Monday after the end of the week’s PGA tournament and chuckle at the comments on the success or failure of Drew’s pick for the just finished Tour event. One side thanks him for his picks and the other implies he makes the easy picks so who cares anyway?

It’s all quite humorous to me. If you are putting a few bucks down based on Drew’s (or anyone’s) picks and losing it won’t hurt you…who cares. And if readers are angry that Drew picks the favorites, well I have news for you, there is a reason those players are the favorites. More often than not those are the guys that will be in contention.

The goal isn’t to make the best longshot pick or to prove how good of a prognosticator you are by picking some off the radar selection. No. The goal is to pick the eventual winner or in gambling parlance to yield the best return on your selection.

It’s perfectly reasonable to say “Jon Rahm is the best player in the world” while simultaneously saying “but I don’t like betting on him at 5-1!” (just a random example). The goal is to find prices on players that are misaligned with your perceived likelihood of that player winning (or top 10 or whatever you are wagering on).

When I played poker, we called this “getting it in good”. Was the price being offered by the pot better or worse than the likelihood of me actually winning the hand? Good players consistently are on the right side of this while bad players generally are not.

The thing about playing poker is that you can play a ton of hands over a session, a week, month, year, etc. such that expectations and reality merge. Good players will realize their equity over the long term, as long as they can stay in the game (which isn’t a given of course).

But without a sizable bankroll that is harder to do with sports betting. Add in to that the vig or juice charged by the book and it’s a tough road to hoe. In my opinion, it’s virtually unbeatable over a large sample unless there are inefficiencies in the market.

I don’t sports bet much at all. The fact that I feel confident I can’t beat the vig makes it disinteresting to me in any volume. I’ll play low stakes fantasy sports and such but betting on games or other results doesn’t do much for me.

Note: I did plunk down a few quid on Erling Haaland (and Harry Kane) to win the Premier League Golden Boot at ~3:1 while in London last summer. Probably wasn’t a great price but it will win and I was going to be rooting for him and his team anyway.

Not sure where all of this rambling is headed but I decided to look at this week’s PGA Championship through a statistical lens to determine who I think should be the favorites and then look at what player prices make sense to me in that context.

The PGA Championship

Oak Hill is a big golf course. For this year’s version of the PGA the course will measure nearly 7,400 and includes 6 par 4’s of 460 yards or longer. We shall see how the course is setup, however, given that cooler temperatures are expected.

But with that length and the expected rough, I will focus on ball striking to sift through the field. Actually, I would have focused on the best ball strikers regardless if I’m being honest.

Tee to green ball striking is the best predictor of long term success. Certainly over any weekend a non-premium ball striker could win but that happens far less than the opposite player composite.

Anyway, the first thing I sorted was players that were both Top 25 in PGA Strokes Gained off the Tee AND Strokes Gained Approach. The names that sort yielded will be unsurprising:

Rahm, Scheffler, Hovland, McIlroy, Woodland, Hatton, Conners, Steele, Morikawa, Finau and Day

Brendan Steele left for the LIV tour in the winter so all of his results are from prior to the departure. LIV does not provide strokes gained data as best I can tell so Steele’s data is a bit stale.

Of the remaining 10 players, I looked at recent form. McIlroy has been fairly poor since finishing 3rd at the Match Play. Morikawa has missed 4 cuts in his last 9 starts. Hovland was in the mix on Sunday at The Masters but otherwise hasn’t been very competitive since The Players over 2 months ago.

So if we eliminate those with poor form coming in that leaves 7 players that would be my favorites based on ball striking metrics alone:

Jon Rahm, Scott Scheffler, Gary Woodland, Tyrrell Hatton, Corey Conners, Tony Finau and Jason Day.

Of those players, the odds on them winning range from +700 for Scheffler and Rahm to +9000 for Woodland. If I had to make a bet without odds I would, of course, guess that the winner would be one of Scheffler or Rahm. They are the two best players in the world for a reason.

But +700 implies a win rate for those two of 12.5%. Do I think if they played this event 100 times that those two players would cumulatively win the event 25 of those 100 times? That’s really hard to imagine. So I wouldn’t be thrilled to plunk my wager down on those guys at that price.

The one that piques my interest is Tony Finau at +2200. I think that man is going to win a major (or perhaps multiple majors). He does all the things a major champion needs to do quite well. Even his weakness, putting, sees him ranked 44th this season in Strokes Gained. He is super solid across almost all statistics and with an implied win rate of just over 4%, I like that price.

If you believe that ball striking means something than the player whose price is really out of whack with his Tee to Green performance is Gary Woodland. The former US Open champion is listed at +9000 as of this writing. That is largely because he has been EXTREMELY poor on the greens this season. Can he find a hot putter for a week?

Others

Of course there is no guarantee that my filtering of players will identify the winner. I have not included the LIV players because Strokes Gained Data is not available for them. If I had to guess, only Dustin Johnson, Cam Smith or Brooks Koepka would be a real threat to win this weekend. Maybe Patrick Reed I suppose.

But a few other players that missed my filtering but that do almost everything well would be Patrick Cantlay (+1800), Max Homa (+4000) and Sungjae Im (+3500).

One last player that seems to be trending upward is Adam Scott. His iron play has been surprisingly poor this season but he has finished Top 10 each of the last 2 starts and his approach play has been better in each of those events.

Conclusion

I simply wouldn’t complicate these things. The best players are far more likely to win then some middle of the pack player. We all get that.

I also get that it’s exciting to find that middle of the pack player that is going to find his form and deliver this week. But really there is no way of knowing who that is going to be. I would focus on players that are particularly strong from tee to green. Amongst that group the player that chips and putts the best this week will almost assuredly be in the hunt come Sunday afternoon.

My pick: Jon Rahm

Best price: Tony Finau

Tuesday May 16, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3185

a night to remember

In August of 2021, I ventured out to the ballpark to see Shohei Ohtani pitch -- and hit -- for the L.A. Angels. It was pretty much a disaster.

Cedric Mullins homered off of him on Ohtani's first pitch of the night and the Japanese sensation was listless at the plate. And the Orioles even won that game to snap a gazillion-game losing streak, if my memory is correct.

Last night, though, was much, much different.

More than 20,000 made their way into Camden Yards to see Ohtani in person and this time he didn't disappoint.

If the nickname "The Boss" wasn't already in use by someone with far more longevity and success than Ohtani has secured in his baseball career, you could most certainly give the Japanese star that moniker. He is, without question, The Boss.

Ohtani went 7 innings, allowing more runs (5) than hits (4), and became the first pitcher since 1964 to reach five times in one game, as the Angels downed the Birds, 9-5 on Monday night.

In fact, I spent exactly $106 on parking, tickets and food for my son and I. And I felt like I got the better end of the bargain, honestly.

In the fourth inning, Ohtani launched a massive 456 foot home run that drew a loud, audible "ahhhhh" from the home crowd as it rode out of the stadium.

He then tripled in the 6th inning, lumbering into third base like.......a boss. It was very apparent to anyone paying attention that Ohtani was a double away from the cycle. There are special things in baseball that you don't often get to see in person; a triple play, no hitter, perfect game and, a cycle.

O's fans were treated to one of those last week when Cedric Mullins pulled off the feat against the Pirates.

Last night, though, felt different. It was as if Ohtani was supposed to hit for the cycle, on a night when the O's couldn't do anything against him on the mound except hit three home runs. And on a night where he did whatever he wanted with the bat in his hands.

Alas, while he reached base in both of his final two at-bats, Shohei didn't complete the cycle. When Austin Hays casually fielded Ohtani's slow liner into left field for a single, I said to the guy sitting next to me: "Hays should have let on like he lost it in the lights or something...the hometown scorer would never give him an error and Ohtani could have that double."

The man laughed and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the ball was going to land in front of him...just let it get past you 3 or 4 feet."

I've been blessed in my lifetime to see a lot of the greats perform their craft in person. I've seen Brady, Peyton, Michael Jordan, Gretzky, Ovi, Magic, Bird and Tiger.

Heck, I even once got to play with Bernhard Langer to watch his mastery up close and personal.

Baseball wise, I've seen Clemens, Maddux, Griffey Jr., Rose, and almost everyone else of historical note from the 1970's on. I even "saw" Mickey Mantle once, when I was five years old, but I don't remember it. The baseball ticket stub says I was there and my Dad always proudly would say, "You got to see Mickey Mantle play", but I recall nothing about the event.

I've seen a lot.

But I've never seen anything like Shohei Ohtani.

Last night, according to the scoreboard data clock, Ohtani threw a pitch 99 MPH (at least once) and hit a baseball 456 feet. I know I've never seen anyone else do that in my lifetime. I wouldn't go as far as saying he "toyed" with the O's last night on the mound. He was prone to the long ball, but after each home run he allowed, Ohtani settled back in and the Angels went on to the easy win.

While it was a grand night for one of baseball's biggest stars, it wasn't so grand for two of the Orioles' biggest prospects.

Gunnar Henderson did manage a single off of Ohtani, which drew a bit of a Bronx cheer from the crowd. But he was 1-4 on the night and now sits at .180 on the season.

Hotshot pitching phenom Grayson Rodriguez was battered by the Angels, giving up 8 earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.

Here's an incredibly telling -- and staggering -- statistic on Gray-Rod.

He's made 8 starts this season. In two of those starts, both against the lowly Detroit Tigers, he's given up no earned runs.

In the other 6 starts, over a total of 27 innings pitched, guess how many earned runs he's allowed?

27 innings...

27 earned runs.

Something's "off" with him. It might just be the simple fact that going from the minors to the majors is a big step. And, unlike a field player who gets five or six games per-week to get things on track, Rodriguez only gets one opportunity every five days to make progress.

Whatever the case, Rodriguez is definitely laboring now. It might be confidence, it might be lack of pitch efficiency or it might just be he's run into the wrong opponent at the wrong time. No matter the reason, it's not helping him to get rocked nearly every time he takes the mound.

Ohtani hit a ball so far off of Gray-Rod last night that both players got double frequent flyer miles. I haven't heard a home crowd gasp like that when an opposing player does something special in --- well --- forever. It was a prodigious shot, one that you'll remember for a long time if you were there in the ballpark.

It was only one game, of course. The best thing about baseball is there's another one tonight. And Ohtani will now turn his full-time attention to hitting this evening.

That should be fun for the O's.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7. Cameron Young was our #6 pick. Jason Day is at #5. Scottie Scheffler was #4. Si Woo Kim is #3.

#2 Jon Rahm -- Early reports from Oak Hill CC say the following: The course favors a big hitter. And it favors someone with a deft touch around the greens.

There are a number of players in this week's event who fit that profile, of course.

But probably none of them are a match for the course like Jon Rahm is a match for the course.

And there's no reason at all to think he won't be right in the thick of things come Sunday afternoon.

All the 2023 Masters champion has done this year is.....win.

He won in Hawaii, California (twice) and Georgia. Why not New York, now?

The best players are almost always in the hunt at major championships. Why? Because they're the best players. And the more difficult the course, the harder it is for "good" players to overcome it.

Rahm is the best golfer in the world right now. We expect him to be right there on Sunday. Even at +750, he's still a wager worth making.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

With each passing week the stakes are rising as the European season barrels down the stretch run. This week brought the first legs of the Champions League semifinals, with the second legs to follow today and tomorrow.

Over the weekend a title was clinched in Spain and the title in England was all but decided.

Meanwhile the German race remained a near dead heat. There was also jostling for the final Champions League qualification spots in both Germany and Italy.

Americans were mostly quiet once again this weekend, with many sidelined for various reasons. The main American action came from the handful battling to avoid relegation in both England and Spain.

Champions League Semifinals

Manchester City began a critical week in their two front battle to win both the Premier League and the Champions League by traveling to Madrid to take on Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.

On Tuesday, Real Madrid and Manchester City played out a thrilling 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu. Vinicius Jr.’s stunning first-half strike was canceled out by a long-range effort from Kevin De Bruyne, leaving the matchup finely poised ahead of the return leg in Manchester this Wednesday.

In a match where City controlled 56% of the possession, both teams showcased their attacking prowess. Real Madrid registered 13 total shots, while Manchester City recorded 10, though neither team created many clear cut chances.

Real Madrid opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a move that started deep in their own end. Edouard Camavinga and Luka Modric played a beautiful passing combo to break the City press and set Camavinga on a marauding run down the left wing. After pushing into the City end, he slid a pass to Vinicius Jr. with space in the middle of the field and the Brazilian unleashed a thunderous strike into the top right corner.

It was fitting that Camavinga and Vinicius Jr. combined for the goal, as the pair were the standouts all game for Madrid, the former looking like he has fully embraced his new hybrid fullback-midfielder role.

Despite conceding the opening goal, City continued to press forward and was rewarded in the 67th minute when Kevin De Bruyne leveled the scoreline with a superb strike from the edge of the box after a pass from Ilkay Gundogan. Real Madrid managed to keep Erling Haaland largely under wraps, thanks in large part to a standout performance from veteran center back Antonio Rudiger.

Both Thibaut Courtois and Ederson made crucial saves throughout the game to keep the score level and the teams head to the second leg all square at 1-1.

It is a scoreline that both teams can take solace from, with City poised to progress with a win at home and Madrid still alive in the matchup with a chance to work their magic in Manchester. The result sets up a tantalizing second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, where these European heavyweights will battle it out for a place in the Champions League final.

On the other side of the bracket, AC Milan “hosted” Inter Milan in a Champions League edition of the “Derby Della Madonnina.” On this day it was Inter Milan who took a commanding lead in the semifinal matchup with a 2-0 victory. Inter got off to a flying start, with goals from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the opening 11 minutes of the match.

Dzeko broke the deadlock in the 8th minute, connecting with Hakan Calhanoglu's corner to volley the ball into the top-right corner of the goal. Just three minutes later, Mkhitaryan doubled Inter's lead, taking an excellent first touch on a brilliant pass from Federico Dimarco to push past Sandro Tonali and into the box before blasting a close-range shot past Mike Maignan.

AC Milan struggled to create clear-cut chances throughout the match, with their best opportunity coming from Tonali in the 64th minute, when his shot from the edge of the box struck the woodwork. Milan had a couple other chances in the second half but Inter keeper Andre Onana wasn’t seriously troubled and the blue side of city celebrated a 2-0 win.

With the result, Inter Milan carries a significant advantage into its “home” leg of the semifinal. AC Milan will need to make a remarkable comeback if they wish to progress to their first Champions League final since 2007. They sorely missed star winger Rafael Leao and will hope his return can help spur them on in the second leg.

Tomorrow at #DMD, we'll look at the weekend in England, German, Spain, Italy and France.

Monday May 15, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3184

monday things

You know things are poppin' along nicely when you win 2 out of 3 over the weekend and you're definitely disappointed. Such is the case with 'dem O's, who dropped a 4-0 snoozer to the Pirates on Sunday afternoon.

That loss puts the O's at 26-14 at (basically) the quarter pole of the season. It's a big ask, but 26-14 in quarter two, three and four would put the Birds over 100 wins for the campaign.

Hey, you gotta dream a little, right?

Meanwhile, the unsettling situation involving Gunnar Henderson continued over the weekend, with two hits in 10 at bats, which actually helped increase his batting average to .178 on the season. It's not good.

I opined here in mid-April that Henderson's slow start was nothing to fret over, "unless it continues well into May and we reach Memorial Day and he's still struggling at the plate." Well, we're two weekends away from Memorial Day.

I still don't think it's time to panic with Henderson, but I also don't think he can keep hitting .178 and remain in the lineup, either.

It would be totally different if this version of the Birds was, say, the 2021 edition. You know, rebuild just starting, lots of losing still on the horizon, and so on. You could tolerate a hot-shot-rookie having a tough go of it.

"Growing pains" and stuff.

But this team isn't "rebuilding", it's now "rebuilt". And winning matters this year. There's no sense in starting off 26-14 and then spitting the bit in mid-season.

So the Henderson situation has to be watched.

His defense is fine. He's even getting on base at a decent clip (.338) for a guy hitting just a buck-seventy-eight. But it seems reasonable to expect more from a guy that nearly every MLB national writer had sharpied-in as the league's Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Henderson played 34 games in 2022 and has now played 35 games in 2023. Heading into tonight, here's what those comparitive stats look like.

2022 -- 34 GP, 116 AB, 30 hits, 7 doubles, 4 HR, 18 RBI, .259/.348/.440

2023 -- 35 GP, 107 AB, 21 hits, 4 doubles, 4 HR, 8 RBI, .178/.338/.346

69 games does not a career make, of course. What I'm about to say in no way should indicate that I've made a formal declaration on Henderson's career based on 223 official at-bats.

But I expected more from a varsity letterman.

Yes, even in his first two seasons. I figured he'd be much better than "this".

Maybe I bought into the hype a little too much. If so, I'm guilty as charged. But I didn't see Henderson scuffling the way he's scuffled so far in his big league career.

I also know how baseball works. As I mentioned back in mid-April when Anthony Santander had as many hits (6) as Blue Oyster Cult and A-Ha combined, it only takes one series at the plate where you go 6 for 14 in three games and suddenly you're the next coming of Pete Rose.

To wit, Santander is now hitting a robust .255, which isn't great, of course, but it's way better than .155.

I'm not ready to do anything with Henderson just yet. He needs to keep getting at-bats. But the next two weeks are key for him. If he's not out of this funk by Memorial Day weekend, a trip to Norfolk might be needed.

Here's hoping he rights himself in this series against the Angels and we can instead resume our occasional nitpicking of "Sleepy" Brandon Hyde.

So, Ja Morant has to be excused from the NBA, right? Not just told to get himself some help and come back next season. But, like, "Ja, we don't need you in the league any longer."

Am I right?

If I'm not, tell me.

I'm all for second chances. The world is built on that concept, where your transgressions are forgiven.

But this latest gun-waving episode is nearly impossible to forgive, isn't it? It was just two months ago that a video surfaced of Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies star, waving a gun around in a Denver nightclub.

Then, over the weekend, yet another video clip was published showing Morant again carrying on like a goof and waving a pistol in the air.

The Grizzlies announced on Sunday he's been suspended indefinitely.

Morant was originally suspended for eight games during the season for the gun-waving incident in Denver.

At the time of the suspension, Morant told ESPN in an interview that he realizes "what I have to lose" and said he would try to be "more responsible, more smarter and staying away from all the bad decisions."

That effort to "stay away from all the bad decisions" lasted roughly two months.

Morant is a terrific player. The Grizzlies finished as the #2 seed in the Western Conference this past season in large part because of his stellar play.

But the NBA -- like every other league -- should be treated as a privilege to play in, not a "right". Morant has now exhausted that privilege with this latest gun-waving episode.

We'll have to see if Adam Silver agrees and mans-up or if he lets the Grizzlies bully him into letting Morant back on the team because, you know, he's a really good basketball player and all.

I brought up the idea of a coach's feature here in yesterday's #DMD and we're already into the "controversy stage" and the thing hasn't even launched yet.

Some people listed high school coaches when I said, specifically, we'd only feature college and professional coaches.

Someone listed Gary Williams even though I wrote, specifically, we'd only feature "Baltimore" coaches and Gary never coached a Baltimore team.

I understand that some of those entries might have been trolling efforts. I know a good troll when I see one.

Come to think of it: This feature might wind up being more trouble than it's worth when it's all said and done.

I'd include Washington DC in the debate just to increase the amount of candidates, but we'd spend too much time arguing over George Allen and Joe Gibbs. And if Joe Gibbs wound up winning the thing, hell hath no fury like a Baltimore sports fan scorned.

Oddly enough, Washington DC has nearly as many stellar coaches as does Baltimore, if you really think about it. Their football lineage is decent, they can claim both Lefty and Gary as "DC coaches" if they want, and Barry Trotz won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018.

Heck, they've won a World Series more recently than the Orioles, although only about 10% of the sports fans in Baltimore can name the manager of that team.

Quick, who was it?

You're one of the 90%, huh?

Hint: It wasn't Davey Johnson.

Here's one other note you can prattle on about in the comments section if you like. The top coach/manager in Baltimore sports history isn't Earl Weaver. Opine and whine as you wish.

But, please. Wait until the list comes out before you start fanning the flames.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7. Cameron Young was our #6 pick. Jason Day is at #5. Scottie Scheffler was #4.

#3 Si Woo Kim -- I was nervous Kim was going to win yesterday and ruin one of my surprise favorites for this week's PGA. Alas, he fell short to the winning effort of Jason Day.

I think it's very difficult to win in successive weeks on TOUR, which is now something Day faces at Oak Hill after his victory at TPC Craig Ranch yesterday.

As for Kim, he's finally got the putting figured out, which means he's a threat to win in any given week. He has a "big" win in his career -- at The Players -- and has been working super hard on getting his putting back on track. Now using the long putter -- one of the rare guys on the regular PGA Tour who does that -- Kim has developed the confidence he needs to put up low numbers.

His play at the AT&T Byron Nelson was spectacular. He nearly won there. He's ready.

This week could be a big week for him, we think.

	NOTES & COMMENT George McDowell
George McDowell is #DMD's foreign correspondent. His international reports are filed from a hardened outpost just across the U.S. / North Carolina https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=branford+marsalisborder. He writes on sports topics that interest him that he feels might also interest some segment of the wildly esoteric #DMD readership. George has been a big fan of DF and his various enterprises since the last century, and for several seasons appeared as a weekly guest on his Monday evening radio show, Maryland Golf Live, delivering commentary as The Eccentric Starter. George also donates his time and talents to the less fortunate, and currently volunteers as secretary of the Rickie Fowler Fan Club.

edward hugh (ned) hanlon

Commenter Lou @ Palo Alto nominates Ned Hanlon in #DMD's upcoming feature to identify the best coach – ever – in Baltimore sports. Mr. Lou has a fine sense of The Monumental City's sports history, and we are proud to second his nomination.

The following piece is re-created from a web page of a site detailing the history of Baltimore's Mount Pleasant Park Golf Course.

a remarkable partnership:
ned hanlon and gus hook

Edward Hugh (Ned) Hanlon (1857–1937) weighed 170 pounds. He batted left-handed and threw with his right. He played 13 seasons as an outfielder in the major leagues, most with the Detroit Wolverines, and hit .260 over those years. He finished his playing career with the Baltimore Orioles in 1892, and the next year became the team’s manager.

Ned Hanlon is buried in the New Cathedral Cemetery on Frederick Road in West Baltimore. Brennan Jensen, in his article "Diamonds in the Sky" (Baltimore Citypaper, April 30, 2003), reports an interesting fact. The cemetery is the resting place of at least four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. No other cemetery holds that many baseball greats. Joining Hanlon there are Joe Kelley, John McGraw, and Wilbert Robinson.

The owner of the 1893 Baltimore Orioles was Harry von der Horst, who was also a minority shareholder in the Eagle Brewery, one of 60-some breweries located in Baltimore at the time. The majority stockholder in the Eagle Brewery was its founder, and Harry's father, John von der Horst. The brewery was located on Belair Avenue (now the 900 block of Gay Street). Harry had purchased a baseball franchise in the American Association in 1881 for $50 and named the new team the Orioles.

The younger von der Horst had a good idea. His main business was selling beer. If he owned a baseball team, he could sell beer to fans attending the games. By 1892 he had learned that the better his baseball team, the more fans that attended the games, and the more beer he sold. His teams in previous years had not performed well, and he was a little short on capital. He struck a deal with Ned Hanlon: Hanlon would invest some of his savings in the club in return for minority ownership and the right to run it as he saw fit.

Hanlon’s accomplishments as a manager far exceeded his exploits as a player. He had a fiery and raucous temperament, and this attitude rubbed off on his players. His ball clubs were aggressive, and made up in spirit what they lacked in talent. Hanlon used what tools he had to win games. He is credited with being the first to have his teams practice the skills used in playing the game, at the time an unheard-of exercise.

The Orioles were a weak-hitting club. To aid his offense in scoring runs, Hanlon devised or perfected the techniques of the suicide-squeeze bunt, the hit-and-run play, and the Baltimore Chop. He instructed his groundskeeper to insure that the infield foul-lines sloped towards fair territory, so that bunts wouldn’t roll foul. The groundskeeper was also forbidden to water the ground and grass around home plate, resulting in the area becoming packed hard, the better to bounce bunts and Baltimore Chops higher in the air, giving Hanlon’s runners advantages over opposing fielders. Hanlon even went so far as to slope the basepath from home to first downhill so that his runners had a split-second advantage over infielders fielding grounders and throwing to first. Under Hanlon, the Baltimore Orioles won pennants in three successive years, 1894 through 1896.

The 1893 ballyard was called Oriole Park, located at what is today the intersection of Greenmount Avenue and 25th Street. The history of the original Baltimore Orioles is told in a fascinating book by Burt Solomon: Where They Ain't (Doubleday: New York; 1999)

Hanlon had an autocratic nature. He felt that, if given a job to do to, he should be free to do it without interference, and without having to explain what he was doing. His majority partner in the Orioles, Henry von der Horst soon learned this facet of Hanlon’s disposition. When he faced the press to answer questions about his ball club, von der Horst took to wearing a lapel button that read, “Ask Hanlon.” Hanlon’s knowledge of baseball and how the game should be played were acknowledged and respected by the team owners. After he retired as a manager, he was hired to head major league baseball’s Rules Committee.

Ned Hanlon was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. Six men who played for Hanlon are also enshrined in the Hall. They are Miller Huggins, John McGraw, Joe Kelley, Dan Brouthers, Hughie Jennings, and Wilbert Robinson. A seventh who played for Hanlon, William J. “Kid” Gleason, might have joined them in the Hall of Fame. Gleason won a pennant in his first year as a major-league manager, but unfortunately, the team he managed was the 1919 Chicago White Sox.

In 1916, Hanlon was appointed to the Baltimore Park Board by Mayor James H. Preston. At age 73, he became its president in June, 1931. When it became apparent that the Mount Pleasant Park project was to be a failure, Hanlon began his search for a superintendent capable of finishing the job.

Charles Augustin (Gus) Hook was born in 1898. In 1913, he went to work with the Forestry Division of Baltimore City. Part of the time he was a high-tree climber, clambering up tall trees in the parks in order to cut off dead limbs. In World War I, Hook enlisted in the Army. He was shot in battle in the Argonne Forest in France, and was awarded the Purple Heart. The bullet that wounded him could not be surgically removed, and remained in Hook’s arm for the rest of his life. After his discharge, Hook returned to Baltimore and took a job with the city's Bureau of Water Supply, where he worked for 10 years. About 1930, he earned the highest mark on the City Service Commission exam, and was therefore promoted to superintendent of the Patterson Park District. He would move up to become superintendent of the Clifton District in 1932, and then chief superintendent of all the city parks.

Lieutenant Joseph Hanlon, one of two sons (and five daughters) of Ned Hanlon, served in the U. S. Army in W. W. I. He was killed in battle in France. Hanlon Park, near Lake Ashburton in Baltimore, was named in his memory.

Gus Hook was an accomplished amateur golfer. Three times between 1922 and 1933 he played on teams representing Baltimore City in the U.S. Amateur Public Links Team Championship. He eventually joined Hillendale Country Club.

Gus Hook and Ned Hanlon met on the grounds of Mount Pleasant Park soon after work was halted in June, 1931. Ned Hanlon was the 73-year-old, newly-installed president of the Park Board, the father of a soldier who had been shot and killed in France in W.W.I. Gus Hook, age 33, still carrying a bullet in his body from the same war (maybe even the same campaign—the Battle of the Argonne Forest was the deadliest in American history), almost certainly had been installed in the position of superintendent of the Patterson Park District. Hanlon outlined his requirements: an 18-hole, state-of-the-art, championship golf course that would provide a stern test for the best golfers.

“Can it be done?” he asked.

Hook asked for a few days before giving his answer. During those days he walked the property many times; sometimes hitting real golf shots and other times visualizing shots in his mind. He studied the model Thomas Winton had constructed. He measured distances, angles, and elevations, and calculated the number of trees that would have to be cut down. He noted the location of the several streams that traversed the lot, and realized that they would have to be rerouted. The parcel of land that had been acquired by the city consisted of 260 acres. However, Hillen Road cut through the property, effectively slicing off 80 acres from use, leaving only 180 acres on which to put 18 holes and the required buildings. Gus Hook determined that a course could be built to the required standard. He informed Hanlon that it could be done, and that he could do it.

Ned Hanlon shook his hand and said, “You’re my boy!”

NOTE: Much of the information in this piece was kindly provided by Dr. John R. Hook and Mr. Charles Augustin (Gus) Hook, Jr. [the sons of Gus Hook], and Lieutenant General Edward Hanlon, USMC [Edward Hugh (Ned) Hanlon’s great-grandson].

Sunday May 14, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3183

100 wins?

Before we talk any sports, we'd like to wish all the Moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day.

No one can come into this world without a Mother. The Father plays a role, too, we all know. But without your Mom, you're nothing. As she might have reminded you several times along your journey to adulthood, your mom brought you into this world...and she can take you out of it, too!

Mother's Day is always incredibly special to me because my Mom passed away in July of 1987 at 56 years old. I was 24 when she died of cancer.

Back in those days, a cancer diagnosis was almost a death sentence. My Mom battled cancer for two years, trying some new and different treatments along the way that her doctor hoped might help her survive. None of them worked.

But along the way, like most of you, I'm guessing, I shared some incredible, memorable moments with my Mother. With my Dad working in the automobile sales business, his hours were largely afternoon-to-night, and unless my sports events took place on a Sunday or Monday, it was mainly my Mom who got me to where I needed to be, whether that was baseball, football or, later, ice hockey.

My Mom loved sports and was crazy-mad about the Baltimore Colts. She could name every player, what his position was, what number he wore and could also point out which ones were "handsome", including her favorite, Rick Volk.

Like it was yesterday, I can remember both of my parents crying as we watched TV at our home in Glen Burnie and saw the news about the Colts leaving for Indianapolis.

My Mom was probably more crushed about that event than my Dad. She freakin' loved the Colts.

I've often wondered what she would have thought about the Ravens, and whether she would have "bought in" or, like my Dad, would have thought it was hypocritical that we stole a team from another city. My Father passed away in 2004 but from the moment the Ravens showed up in Baltimore, he didn't bite the hook.

"No chance in hell I'm rooting for a team we stole from another city," he would say.

To him, it didn't matter that the Browns got their team back a few years later. I gave up arguing with him about it by around 2000 or so. He was set in his ways. And, honestly, I admired him for taking a stand and not backing down from it, even if I didn't quite accept the same moral view.

What would my Mom have done with regard to the Ravens? I think about that a lot.

So, if your Mom is alive today, please be sure and wish her well on this special day and remind her -- even if you haven't said it a lot over the years -- that you love her and appreciate her.

Moms are the best. I'm blessed to have a great wife who is an awesome Mom to my two children and we'll make sure she knows that today. In typical "Mom fashion", my wife said to me last night: "Please, don't you and the kids get me a card. Just bring home some ice cream and I'll be happy with that."

Ice cream and Mother's Day...now that's a great combination.

---

Some quick hits from the world of sports:

I got a little crazy yesterday and started looking for odds on the Orioles winning 100 games in 2023. I stumbled upon one obscure website that listed them at 125-1 to win 100 games but they didn't offer wagering on it. Honestly, I thought it might be more like 250-1. Alas, I'll keep looking.

The Birds turned back the Pirates last night, 2-0, behind yet another sterling effort by Tyler Wells. The internet was filled with a bunch of "what about" commentary regarding Pittsburgh's awful offense. Who cares? You pitch against and play the team they put in front of you that night.

The win improved the O's record to 26-13. 26 wins before Mother's Day. There were years where it took the O's well into mid-June before they reached 26 wins. Now? We're living high on the hog here in The Land of Pleasant Living.

Someone's life could change today on the PGA Tour, as several young players have a career-altering 18 holes in front of them at the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch.

Former Oklahoma State All-American Austin Eckroat is tied with Zecheng (Marty) Dou at 16-under through 54 holes. They share the lead with TOUR veteran Ryan Palmer, who always seems to play well in his home state of Texas.

Scottie Scheffler, one of our pre-tournament picks here at #DMD, is two shots behind at 14-under after a pedestrian even par round of 71 on Saturday.

Si Woo Kim, Jason Day and Vincent Norman are also at 14-under par.

If you're a fan of "great stories", you might just get one today if Eckroat or Duo (pronounced: dough) finds their way into the winner's circle. They get a trip to all four majors, including The Masters, and a 2-year exemption on the PGA Tour. It truly is a "life-changing" event when you win on the PGA Tour.

Speaking of golf, I'll be on the radio today from 12-1 pm for "Fairways and Greens" on 105.7 The Fan.

I have two special guests joining me, both of the local variety. Will Koras, who played his high school golf at Loyola and is graduating from the University of Maryland next week, and Bennett Espenshade, a current Gilmah high school student, will both join me to talk about their successful advancement past the first stage of U.S. Open qualifying this past week.

If you're a golf fan, you'll love these two stories. I know both young men very well and not only are they outstanding players, they're also enjoyable to be around. I'm excited to showcase their recent play on today's show.

Starting later this week here at #DMD, we'll be running a feature designed to identify the best coach, ever, in Baltimore sports.

We're going to narrow it down to just college and professional sports and, for the purposes of clarity, we will not include the University of Maryland simply because it's not in Baltimore.

Start putting your thinking caps on and we'll discuss this topic a lot over the next couple of weeks here at #DMD.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7. Cameron Young was our #6 pick. Jason Day is at #5.

#4 Scottie Scheffler -- Admittedly, I think a Scheffler win today at the Byron Nelson would make me a tad hesitant to wager on him next week, simply because it's REALLY hard to win back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour.

But I'm of the mindset that if anyone on TOUR can go on a heater and win twice in seven days, it's Scheffler.

Everything about Oak Hill CC sets up well for Scheffler. It's a "big ballpark" as the players like to say and it rewards good iron play, which also benefits the 2022 Masters champion. Scheffler is also having another outstanding season thus far, with wins at Phoenix and The Players Championship. He's done nothing in 2023 to suggest that his all-world campaign in 2022 was a fluke.

He's currently one of the co-favorites (with Jon Rahm) at +750. I know those odds aren't great, but there's a reason why he's one of the co-favorites. He's playing better golf than just about anyone in the world these days. So, you can either bet the favorite and hope he wins or keep your money and then don't collect anything when he wins. Your call...

We think Scheffler has a great chance next week. Today's result in Texas might alter our thinking just a bit, but either way, you can do a lot worse than a wager on Scottie Scheffler heading into next week's PGA Championship.

Saturday May 13, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3182

saturday mailbag

I'm not sure there's much a Baltimore team can do in 2023 to make up for "We Are Family" in 1979 or some of those playoff heartbreaks when the Steelers ousted John Harbaugh's Ravens.

And even though Polamalu swatting the ball out of Flacco's hands in Baltimore in the 4th quarter of a win wasn't a playoff game, it felt like one.

Roethlisberger lumbering down the field and rag-arming his way to a couple of late-game drives that helped the Steelers upset the Ravens in the season finale in 2021 was also tough to take.

So, yes, we have a lot of "making up" to do when it comes to Pittsburgh teams turning the tables on Baltimore teams.

And in baseball, we don't get that opportunity very often. Sure, in football the Ravens see the Steelers (at least) twice per-season. But in baseball, the Birds and Pirates just don't meet much.

That makes last night's 6-3 win in Baltimore even more special. Yes, yes, I know: It's a mid-May regular season game. And Adley, Gunnar, Cedric and the rest of those guys weren't even a twinkle in their parent's eyes in 1979. Heck, their parents were probably pre-schoolers themselves in 1979.

But last night, at least, the Baltimore baseball team got the better of the Pittsburgh baseball team.

It might have been mid-May, but it was better than losing to those creeps.

We have a long way to go, still. But any win over a Pittsburgh team helps make up the deficit.

On to the mailbag we go. Lots of really good questions this weekend.

Tom Jensen asks -- "I get in a football pool every year where you have to make your season predictions on June 1st, so I don't have much time left. You have to pick three different Super Bowl outcomes and you get points for each team you correctly pick and triple points if you get the exact game match-up. And you can't include last year's winning team (Chiefs). Here's what I'm leaning towards and was wondering what you think: Miami vs. San Fran, Baltimore vs. Philly and Cincinnati vs. Dallas."

DF says -- "Sure, any of those three could be the one. No Buffalo? No Chargers? I'm just throwing those two out there. The NFC is the big question mark. San Francisco and Philadelphia are both good. Other than that, who? Without Rodgers in Green Bay, we know they're cooked. I guess Dallas could be an outsider, but we all know what happens to them in the playoffs. Are the Rams capable of getting back into the mix? I think you have three good ones, but I have a lot more faith in Buffalo than Miami, particularly with the question mark at QB with the Dolphins.

Don't be at all surprised if sometime in mid-July, a guy named Tom Brady surfaces in Miami. Maybe he doesn't play until week #4 or something, but don't be surprised if he winds up there. I don't think they can get a full season out of Tua."

Martin C. asks -- "Hey Drew, have a water cooler topic for your next Drew's Dish Q & A. We'll use football as an example but you can apply this to any sport. Would you rather lose 38-10 where nothing goes right or 24-21 where you have a chance at the end but you lose by a field goal in a very tight game?"

DF says -- "This one is tough, because in the 38-10 game you just put it away at the end and say, "on to the next one" where in the 24-21 loss you probably lament all of the little things that went against you (or you created for yourself) and say, "if only...", as a way of coping with the loss.

I've always thought one of the best sports axioms is this: "Never a failure, always a lesson." And, so, when you lose, it's best to adopt that sort of philosophy and don't worry much about "how" you lost. Try to figure out what went right and what wrong and just go on from there.

Me? I'd much rather lose 24-21. I know there's heartbreak there and you definitely look back and say "if we would have done this right or that right" and sometimes that creates even more pain. But evaluating your performance in any sport should be about focusing on what you did right and not about what you did wrong. When you lose 38-10, you probably didn't do much right. When you lose 24-21, there's more meat there to chew on and more positives to take it from it."

Rich asks -- "I know it doesn't matter now, but if Lamar wouldn't have signed on draft day, what do you think would have happened with him contract wise and what would the Ravens have done with their first round pick without Lamar in the fold?"

DF says -- "Good question. First, I think they would have continued to try to sign him throughout the summer and eventually something would have been ironed out. Failing that, Lamar would have been expected to camp via the franchise tag and it would have been an ugly, unsettling situation because there's no way Jackson was going to play for "only" $32.4 million in 2023. The Ravens would have been forced to pay him $50 million in 2023 despite the franchise number only calling for $32.4M.

That said, I also think the draft week rumors that the Ravens were going to draft Will Levis at #22 were probably leaked out there to help flush Lamar out a little bit. Whether he believed them or not is another story. Personally? I don't think the Ravens were drafting Will Levis. But I see the logic in floating that rumor out there just to see if Lamar would bite the hook.

As I've written here previously, from what I heard, the Ravens wanted to take Emmanuel Forbes at #22 and were even willing to trade up with Seattle (#20) or the Chargers (#21) to get him. But once he went to D.C. at #19, they settled in on the next guy(s) on their board, and they had Flowers over Njigba and Johnson, so DeCosta was quite happy to see those two go at #20 and #21 so he could take Flowers."

Ed K. asks -- "I know golf has a term "best player without a major" and there are guys like Montgomerie and Westwood who fit that bill but who is "the worst player to ever have won a major" in your opinion?"

DF says -- "There are a lot of those, but let's be sure we use the right word. There's nothing "worst" about Larry Mize or Steve Jones winning a major championship. I think you should substitute the word "surprising" for "worst", because anyone who wins a major championship is definitely not a "worst" at anything golf-related.

The obvious names are...well...very obvious. Mize winning the Masters was a complete shock. He was a fair PGA Tour player, but nothing more than that, really. He did seem to find his form at Augusta National every April though (after he won) and was in contention a couple of other times after the '87 win. Steve Jones was a (very) unlikely winner at the '96 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. Davis Love III three-putted #18 and Tom Lehman couldn't make par from a fairway bunker at the 18th hole to help gift-wrap the event for Jones, who was pretty much never heard from again.

There are others: Rich Beem (PGA), Shaun Micheel (PGA) and Y.E. Yang (PGA). See a theme there?

But in the last 50 years, the most surprising ("worst") player to win a major was Ben Curtis in the 2003 British Open. He wasn't heard from BEFORE or AFTER he won the Claret Jug. I think he wound up with four TOUR wins in total, but that British Open victory was definitely his zenith."

J.C. asks -- "Big Jets fan here and was wondering what you think Aaron Rodgers does for us in 2023?"

DF says -- "Unlike a lot of people who have been down on the trade, I think Rodgers is just what the Jets need: a real quarterback.

This is not about the value they had to give up to get him. That's a discussion for another time. But in terms of doing something to really help their team in 2023, the Jets did that by getting one of the five best QB's of the last 25 years. I know he isn't Aaron Rodgers of 2017 or anything like that, but he gives the Jets immediate potential to reach the playoffs."

Parker asks -- "Hey Drew, I know when Bruce Springsteen's soul/blues cover album came out that you weren't impressed but now that a few months have passed I'm wondering if your opinion has changed? Thanks! Maybe I'll see you at the Camden Yards show."

DF says -- "No, I haven't changed my thoughts on it. As I've said here before, I think he sounded great vocally on "Only The Strong Survive" but I just don't care for remakes and covers, especially from someone like Springsteen who probably only has a couple of studio albums left in his career. That said, I realize it's increasingly difficult to write music when you've put out 20-some albums.

And I'm not necessarily a hater of "alternative sounds" from bands or artists. I really, really liked Bruce's "Western Stars" album and I'm not a country music fan in the least. I thought the writing and music on that album was extraordinary, even though not many of the songs "sounded" like traditional Bruce stuff.

But an album full of cover songs doesn't do it for me. I don't "hate" the new album by any means but I didn't buy it. And won't buy it. And I barely tolerate it when one of the songs comes on Sirius/XM.

And speaking of "Western Stars", here's my favorite song from that album."

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7. Cameron Young was our #6 pick.

#5, Jason Day -- All the former PGA Champion has done in 2023 is play outstanding golf. And we're really thinking next week could be his week at Oak Hill.

After battling a bad back for two years -- which led to swing changes and poor results -- Day has returned to form over much of the last year and has really been on top of his game in 2023.

He has five Top-10 finishes since the end of January and is currently at 9-under par and in 6th place at the AT&T. There's reason to think he could top off his resurgence next week in Rochester.

Right now he's at +2200, which is just about right for him. We like those odds. Snag him up at that number if you can.

Friday May 12, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3181

thanks steve phillips

Last year, it was the Orioles own general manager who provided the club with mid-season bulletin board material.

You remember, right?

Mike Elias basically poo-poo'd the idea of making the playoffs last July and the team got so bent out of shape about their own boss predicting doom and gloom that Elias had to fly down to Texas and issue an in-person mea culpa just to settle things down.

The O's went on to stay in the playoff race throughout the month of September in the '22 campaign. And while they didn't necessarily prove Elias wrong, there's almost no doubt that his mid-season slap in the face was one of the reasons why the Birds stayed in the hunt well past their expected expiration date.

This season, it won't be necessary for Elias to stir the pot and give the club a little something extra to play for. No, no, no.

Steve Phillips, the former Mets GM, has taken over the role of chief motivator of the Baltimore Orioles.

Speaking on MLB Network Radio yesterday, Phillips says this edition of the Birds is a paper tiger.

"Right now, the Baltimore Orioles are 24-13," he said. "They're playing some really good baseball. They have the second best record in all of baseball. But they're not the second best team. They're not the second best team because their starting pitching ERA is 5.08, and, they've won games they don't deserve to win."

Phillips rolled on. "What I'm telling you is...they're going to slide down. They're going to slide down and they're not going to be the second best team in the American League East. They're not going to be the second best team in all of baseball and they're going to be fortunate to be the 3rd wild card team in the American League. So there you have it. A 5.08 team ERA. Tell me the last time a team made the playoffs with a starting pitching ERA over five."

Wow.

That's a pretty hot take for May 11.

Phillips is right, of course. About the pitching ERA. It's 5.08 and that's not good.

But the good news for the Orioles is it's May 11 and they're 24-13 with a 5.08 starting pitching ERA. The season doesn't end until Sunday, October 1. If the Orioles starting pitching ERA is 5.08 or higher on October 1, that probably means there won't be post-season baseball in Charm City.

It doesn't take a former Mets GM to spell that out for us. We get it. But why make an assessment on what will happen ("The Orioles are going to slide down") by connecting something that's happening now and just presupposing the Birds will get the same type of pitching performance over the next 125 games?

I mean, I'm sure the O's appreciate the bulletin board material and all.

But I find it almost impossible to get worked up about because it's such a dumb observation.

"They won some games they didn't deserve to win..."

What on earth?

Did you see Ryan McKenna drop the game-ending fly ball in left field in Boston back in late March? Did the Red Sox "deserve" to win that game?

Did you see Brandon Hyde fall asleep in the dugout last week in Atlanta and gift wrap the Saturday game? Did the Braves "deserve" to win that one?

There are no style points in sports.

It doesn't matter at all "how" you win.

It's "how many" you win.

"Deserve" to win? What on earth does that even mean?

Every team will win five or six or seven they probably "shouldn't" have won during a 162-game season and, likewise, they'll probably lose five or six or seven they probably shouldn't have lost. You might get a season where you win 10 "weird" ones and only lose 3 or 4 of those kind and, in that, case, you definitely get the better end of the bargain.

But for the most part, they all even out over six months of baseball.

Phillips knows this, too. Or at least you think he should. He knows the oldest baseball axiom of them all. Every team wins 50 and they lose 50. It's the other 62 games that separate everyone. If you go 40-22 in those games you finish with 90 wins and you (likely) make the playoffs.

If you go 35-27 in those other 62, you're an 85-win team and suddenly the playoffs are iffy.

The season sorta-kinda comes down to 62 games. Everyone's going to effectively be 50-50 no matter what happens.

And so, all of this who-struck-John about "deserving" to win games is silly talk. You're trying to win the game, period. You don't care, at all, "how" you won it or if you deserved to win it.

As for the 5.08 starting pitching ERA, let's see if Phillips is right about that in October. Not now. But in October.

If he is, so be it.

But essentially calling the Orioles frauds right now because they have a 5.08 ERA is #clownshoes stuff. They're 24-13 with a 5.08 starting pitching ERA. They're actually doing the very thing -- winning -- that you're insisting they can't do.

So, Mike Elias can rest easy.

He won't need to fire up the troops this year, either accidentally or intentionally.

Steve Phillips took care of that yesterday.

---

The Ravens 2023 schedule was released yesterday and it included, of course, a rare trip to London (October 15) to take on the Tennessee Titans.

The schedule contained one other quirky development; the Ravens will play three straight road games, followed later by three straight home games.

And gone is the seemingly annual season finale at Cincinnati, replaced with another scheduling regularity. The Ravens will conclude the regular season on either January 6th or 7th at home vs. Pittsburgh.

If you're a believer that these things might matter, the Ravens get two warm-weather teams to fly into Baltimore for (hopeful) cold-weather games. The Rams come to town on December 10 and the Dolphins are in Baltimore on December 31.

Last September, the Dolphins rolled into Charm City on a balmy, Florida-like 85 degree day and lit up the Baltimore defense in the fourth quarter en-route to a surprising win. It won't be balmy and Florida-like on New Year's Eve 2023, that's for sure.

The schedule makers gifted the Ravens with a 1-0 start thanks to a home game with the Texans on September 10. Things get serious the next week, though, when John Harbaugh's team heads to Cincinnati for a showdown with Joe Burrow.

One other scheduling oddity that I'm guessing has John Harbaugh agitated this morning: Four of the Ravens final seven games are NOT played at 1 pm. I know how much he detests non-1 pm games. And, well, his team plays four of them between November 16 and December 25.

Here's the schedule:

September 10 vs. Houston (1 pm)

September 17 at Cincinnati (1 pm)

September 24 vs. Indianapolis (1 pm)

October 1 at Cleveland (1 pm)

October 8 at Pittsburgh (1 pm)

October 15 at Tennessee (London, 9:30 am)

October 22 vs. Detroit (1 pm)

October 29 at Arizona (4:25 pm)

November 5 vs. Seattle (1 pm)

November 12 vs. Cleveland (1 pm)

November 16 vs. Cincinnati (Thursday, 8:15 pm)

November 26 at L.A. Chargers (8:20 pm)

December 10 vs. L.A. Rams (1 pm)

December 17 at Jacksonville (8:20 pm)

December 25 at San Francisco (8:15 pm)

December 31 vs. Miami (1:00 pm)

January 6/7 vs. Pittsburgh (1:00 pm)

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8. Sungjae Im was #7.

#6, Cameron Young -- At some point, Cameron Young is winning a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. I think he might wind up fitting the same profile as guys like Max Homa and Tony Finau. Once he wins once or two, he's going to win a bunch of events. He's one of the TOUR's more complete players from tee-to-green. Like virtually every other top player in the world, when he putts "OK" he finishes in the Top 10. When he putts "well", he's a threat to win.

Young is firmly in that category; a guy who always putts decently enough to be in the hunt but he hasn't yet had one of those scorching hot Sunday rounds with the putter that puts him into the winner's circle.

That could change at Oak Hill CC next week, where his ability to bomb the ball off the tee will come in very handy. As long as he gets it into play, which he generally does, Young should find the golf course very suitable for his game. And at 33-1 (right now), his odds are very, very good.

You can do a lot worse than putting down a few bucks on Young to win (and finish Top 10 or better). His time is coming. It's odd for a player's first win to be a major, but that could definitely happen next week. We love his chances.

faith in sports

With the PGA Championship approaching, we thought we'd showcase a top player in the world who is also a devout Christian. Webb Simpson is one of the TOUR's mainstays at Tuesday's Bible study and has publicly discussed his faith for the last 15 years as a professional golfer.

I hope you'll give this 9 minute video your time today. It's well worth it.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of Faith in Sports.

Thursday May 11, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3180

it's called "voluntary", so......

A quick trip through Twitter on Wednesday provided the expected results as it related to the big name Ravens who weren't in attendance yesterday at the team's voluntary off-season workout program.

Some people were upset but understand how it works.

Some were furious and didn't understand.

And some couldn't have cared less.

Me?

I'm in the couldn't have cared less camp, but not because I actually don't care that guys like Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr. aren't there.

I couldn't care less because there's really no reason to care in the first place. Those guys simply aren't attending a voluntary workout. They're just not.

And it wasn't just those two, either. Ronnie Stanley, Rashod Bateman and J.K. Dobbins were among the offensive players who were absent yesterday. Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen -- two of the team's defensive leaders -- have also been no-shows at this portion of the voluntary workout camp, which started back on April 17.

The days of the team "owning" the football players they employ over a 12-month period are long gone. You probably know that, but you might occasionally forget it. But it's the truth. The NFL Players Association tells the teams what they can and can't do with the players based on what has been successfully negotiated into the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In this case, it's called "voluntary off-season workout program" because the union wants their players to have the flexibility to say, "No thanks, I'm not going...", which is exactly what Lamar and the rest of the guys are saying this week.

I don't like it.

But I've long since stopped worrying about it. I mean, if the teams and the owners didn't care enough to fight for their workouts to be "mandatory", why should I worry about?

When you tell someone that something is optional, you've lost your ability to get upset with them if they don't show up.

Optional means you can attend or not attend and there's no punishment associated with not attending. Hence the word: optional.

Should the starting quarterback who just got a hundred gazillion dollars show some professional integrity and make an appearance at the workout program? I think so, yes.

The same goes for a newcomer like Odell Beckham Jr. And I'll even throw Roquan Smith in there as well. He's still sorta-kinda a "new guy".

They should be there. But I understand why they aren't. Because.....they don't have to be there.

Will it matter to Lamar Jackson on 3rd and 11 next season? I doubt it.

Will Odell Beckham Jr. catch one less pass because he was off on a boat somewhere in the Florida Keys on May 10 instead of running around in gym shorts and a "Nobody Cares - Work Harder" tee shirt in Owings Mills? I don't think so.

Will Patrick Queen or Roquan Smith flub an interception or whiff on a QB sack because they weren't in Baltimore on May 10? I don't see that happening.

If I thought those moments could potentially be traced back to missing workouts in May, I think it would be worth barking about. But I just don't see how anything done this week spills over into next September.

Oh, and that's exactly what the players think, too, which is why they're not there this week. Not one player believes, in his heart, that what he's doing now will matter one iota when the season kicks off in September.

Most players who attend these workouts are doing so to either get into good graces with the coaching staff or stay in good graces with the coaching staff.

"Team players" show up at the voluntary workouts and such. Guys on the bubble who might or might not make it are in attendance this week because they want to be remembered as a guy who posted back in May when the veteran players took the week off.

Not all veteran players are like that, mind you. There are some with integrity who show up and go through the exercises during the "voluntary" portion of the off-season.

But the big names aren't going to go out of their way to break up their off-season and fly into Baltimore for something that by and large doesn't impact anything they do next season.

And, yes, I'm well aware the club has a new offensive coordinator and that the club is installing bits and pieces of a brand new offensive scheme.

That's why, in theory, all of the offensive players should be there trying to get more familiar with what Todd Monken wants them to do this season. The easy target is Jackson because he's the one who just got $72 million wired into his bank account last week, but the reality is Stanley, Dobbins, Beckham and Bateman are just as guilty.

Sure, in the old days, I doubt John Unitas or Rick Volk or Lenny Moore would have passed on anything team related. I also know those were different times back then, when football players "played" football". They didn't "work" football.

These days, things are much, much different in the business of football. The players are now doing far less work than they've ever done before and getting far, far more money for it.

That said, the owners are also making far, far more money than they've ever made before, largely off of the players.

But as far as doing anything in the off-season to help make the "team" better? A significant number of players simply aren't going to do that.

When something is optional, you find out how much someone cares. And...well...some guys...they don't care.

And if they don't care, why should we worry about it? Right? Right.

---

They're teeing it up at TPC Craig Ranch this week for the AT&T Byron Nelson and we have four picks and a couple of darkhorse wagers for your consideration.

Jordan Spieth would have been a natural for us but he's out with a wrist injury. So we've revamped our lineup to look like this.

We've been touting Tom Kim all year and he's yet to get into the winner's circle, but this might be the week for him. He finished inside the Top 25 last week in Charlotte and has only missed one cut all year. Craig Ranch is a wide open ballpark and that could benefit him greatly. At 17-1, he's great value.

Jason Day has been having an outstanding 2023 and it could definitely blossom this week in suburban Dallas. Like Kim, he's also 17-1. He's top three on TOUR in tee-to-green and putting stats over his last 10 tournaments. Could definitely win or Top 5 this week.

In what is a fairly light field this week, pre-PGA Championship, Tyrrell Hatton is one of the top attractions and a decent betting value at 13-1. He has actually been very solid this year, including a T3 last week in Charlotte where his ball striking numbers were off the charts good. The Englishman seems poised to do something special this week.

It's really hard to pass on Scottie Scheffler this week, so we won't. It's a home game for him, which is reflected in the odds (8-1) and the overall wagering interest. When something is as obvious as Scheffler is this week, don't out-think yourself. Just place the bet and collect on Sunday night.

But if you're looking for a winning pick that pays well this week, we think we have it. We love the chances of little known Michael Kim to win at TPC Craig Ranch. He's officially our "win selection" for the event and, at 55-1, we'd certainly love to see that happen.

We're also bullish on another 55-1 player; Brandon Wu. He just keeps getting better and better every week.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry. Rickie Fowler was #8.

#7, Sungjae Im -- The PGA Championship, for a long time now, has been the one major where guys we "thought" were going to win at least one wound up winning one. You can go all the way back to someone like Hal Sutton. Wayne Grady. Paul Azinger. Davis Love III. Steve Elkington. David Toms. Jason Day.

The PGA was played back in August when those guys won it, but that's neither here nor there. This major championship seems to be the one where guys we always thought would win one wind up winning one.

Enter Sungjae Im.

He's simply too good at golf to not win a major championship someday.

He has the game to win multiple majors, honestly. He's one of the best drivers and iron players in the world. His putting is very hot and cold, which is all that holds him back. But when it comes to actually striking the golf ball, whether on the tee or in the fairway, he's one of the top 5 on TOUr.

This is a bit of a "hunch" pick, if you will, but those 40-1 odds are just too lucrative to bypass.

His recent form has been solid, plus he's made 16 of 17 cuts this season. His point total is good enough for 19th place in the FedEx Cup standings.

In his last five individual events, he's finished T8, 6, T7, T16, T17, and T6. That's good golf. What he needs next, though, is a win.

And the PGA Championship sets up perfectly for a guy who finds the fairway a lot and hits a ton of greens.

It sets up very well, we think, for Sungjae Im.

Wednesday May 10, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3179

how much grayson is "too much"?

It's probably not too early to start talking about the season that lies ahead for O's rookie pitcher Grayson Rodriguez.

What should they do with him over the next five months?

Rodriguez made his 7th start of the season last night in the 4-2 win over Tampa Bay and it was, for sure, the longest and deepest appearance he's made in 2023.

He went over the 100 pitch mark for the first time ever (101) and also worked into the 6th inning for the first time as a Major League pitcher. While his four strikeout total was the second lowest of his 7 starts, it was still a more than acceptable start from baseball's top 2023 pitching prospect.

But after allowing just 2 home runs in his first 5 starts of the season, G-Rod has given up five round trippers in his last two outings. That he picked up the win last night vs. the Rays was more about the successful stints from Cano and Bautista than anything else.

So we can now start asking the question, "How much Grayson is too much Grayson?"

He has pitched 24.1 innings thus far in 2023. Last season he only threw 4 innings in Norfolk due to injury. In 2022 he pitched 75.1 innings. And in 2021, he threw 103 innings, the most of his career to date.

What's the expected total for Rodriguez this season? Can the O's get 100 innings out of him? If that's the number, he likely has about 15 starts remaining before bumping into the neighborhood of that total.

15 starts would take him into mid-July or thereabouts.

And then what?

Miss the last two months of the season?

That hardly seems like a good plan for the Orioles, who appear like a team that will be in the playoff hunt in September if they continue to play like they've played through the first 36 games of the season.

It might be the right plan for Grayson.

But do the O's really want to go into August and September without his services?

And even if they stretch him out to 125 innings or so, that still means he won't be around in September.

One train of thought being thrown around by national writers is for the Orioles to cap him at 60 pitches per-start from now until the All-Star break. Most nights, that will take him into the 4th inning. On a good night, he might reach the 5th.

By doing that the O's can extend his season to the point where he might not reach 100-125 innings until well into September.

There's also a possibility that Rodriguez could go on a "skip a start" plan for a month or two, a tactic the Braves and Rays have used with their young pitchers in the past.

One thing for sure: If the Orioles want Rodriguez to be available to pitch in September and later, they have to something about his innings and pitches thrown.

It's fair to point out that pitches, not innings, are what taxes a pitcher's arm. But the two generally go hand in hand. If the O's want Rodriguez to be available to them in September, they have to start preparing for that moment now.

And letting him throw 101 pitches last night would seem to indicate they're not all that worried about when, exactly, G-Rod hits whatever the limit is that's been prescribed for him.

It might be the mindset of Mike Elias to just allow Rodriguez to reach whatever their limit is for him naturally and then that's it. They'll replace him at that point in July or August and move on with their campaign.

Is that the right thing to do? Orioles fans are starting to hit the internet and the message boards and their opinion on the matter seems split. Some want Rodriguez to pitch now and help the team win and some want his innings to be minimized now so he's around for the stretch run in September.

It will ultimately come down to what Mike Elias and his staff decides to do.

Pitch him now? Pitch him later?

Which is more important to the 2023 Orioles?

And which is more important to the 2024 and 2025 Orioles?

And of course which is more important to Grayson Rodriguez?

Hard questions loom for Mike Elias this season.

Editor's note: This article was written by Brad Obrecht and edited by #DMD.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry.

#8, Rickie Fowler -- OK, you're thinking the obvious, right? Rickie-friggin'-Fowler? A contender at the PGA Championship? There's no way.

News flash: There is a way, actually.

Fowler has actually played very good golf this season, dating all the way back to last November when the '22-23 campaign began.

Make no mistake about it: This is a bit of a wild card selection. No doubt.

But hear me out.

Fowler has made 13 of 14 cuts this season. 8 of his last 9 tournaments in 2023 have resulted in a finish of T20 or better.

You can snicker at Fowler's career all you want. Let's face it, a lot of us have done that. But it is very difficult to finish T20 or better in 8 of 9 PGA Tour events. He hasn't won in that stretch, granted, but there aren't many other players who have competed in those same 9 events and finished T20 or better in 8 of them.

In other words -- even though you might not know it -- Rickie Fowler is actually playing really nice golf in 2023.

And there's a hunch, particularly given his driving statistics this year, that Oak Hill CC might set up decently for him. Will he win? I don't know, maybe. But more than that, I can see him hanging around for a few days and giving his legion of fans some real, legitimate hope.

I've always said this about Rickie Fowler: Someday, who knows when, he's going to win a significant golf tournament.

Some folks would even say he sorta-kinda did that already, once, by capturing The Players.

But I still think there's more "big golf" left in his tank. Sure, he could be Colin Montgomerie or Matt Kuchar and be a great player who never wins a major. That could definitely happen to Fowler the same way it happened to those two I just referenced. You can even throw Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in there as well. Not every great player wins a major title.

But I've always had the thought that Fowler would do it. Maybe not as quickly as everyone thought he would. Including himself, of course. But it's been my contention for a decade now that Fowler would get his chakras in line one week and figure out a way to win a major championship.

Next week might be his week.

Remember this: Fowler is playing solid golf right now. This isn't a "charity pick". His form is really solid. And, yes, it would be great for golf if he somehow won at Oak Hill.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

Manchester City remained on top of the Premier League standings this week, getting a 3-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday including another Erling Haaland goal and then a 2-1 win over Leeds on Saturday that was a little too close for comfort. Ilkay Gundogan led the way on Saturday, scoring both goals with similar shots from the top of the box. Leeds pulled one back late through Rodrigo, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

Weston McKennie started for Leeds and Brenden Aaronson came on as a late sub, but neither had a huge impact. The loss leaves Leeds in a perilous position in the relegation zone, two points from safety after Everton and Nottingham Forest both won on Monday to jump ahead of them.

Arsenal kept the title race alive with a 3-1 win over Chelsea on Tuesday and then a hard fought 2-0 win over third place Newcastle on Sunday. Martin Odegaard led the way for Arsenal, scoring twice against Chelsea and once against Newcastle. Newcastle remains in third place despite the loss with Manchester United falling 1-0 to West Ham over the weekend.

Liverpool moved themselves into contention for the last Champions League qualification spot with a 1-0 win over Brentford to put them within a point of fourth place Manchester United.

Germany --

On Saturday, Bayern maintained their spot at the top of the Bundesliga table with a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen with goals from Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane. Meanwhile Borussia Dortmund held serve and kept hot on Bayern’s heels with an emphatic 6-0 win over Wolfsburg, led by two goals each from Karim Adeyemi and Jude Bellingham.

Kevin Paredes and Gio Reyna both subbed into this game in the second half and had decent outings, though neither had a huge impact in the blowout game.

In the battle for Champions League qualification, RB Leipzig took down Freiburg 1-0 to move ahead of them into third place. Union Berlin also fell 1-0 to Augsburg, but remain in fourth, ahead of Freiburg on goal difference.

Spain --

Barcelona got one step closer to hoisting the La Liga trophy with a 1-0 win over Osasuna on Tuesday on a late goal from Jordi Alba. The win extended their lead to 13 points with just five games remaining. Real Madrid fell further back with a 2-0 loss to Real Sociedad, who solidified their spot in fourth place, the last Champions League qualification spot.

La Liga was off over the weekend so the Copa del Rey final between Real Madrid and Osasuna could take center stage. Real Madrid secured their first trophy of the season with a 2-1 win thanks to two goals from Rodrygo. Madrid went up early, with Vinicius Jr. setting up Rodrygo in just the second minute. Osasuna evened it up early in the second half with a long range volley from Lucas Torro. However it was Madrid who found the winner through Rodrygo in the 70th minute then held out for the victory.

Italy --

Napoli secured their first title in 33 years with a 1-1 draw against Udinese on Thursday. The draw put the cap on their dominant run through Serie A this year, wrapping up the title with five games remaining. Despite coming up short in the Champions League, this team will be forever remembered by the fanbase as the one to bring them their first title since Maradona led them to victory in 1990.

There was more shuffling below Napoli in the competition for Champions League qualification. Juventus jumped into second place with wins over Lecce and Atalanta, while Lazio dropped to third with a loss to AC Milan on Saturday. Meanwhile Inter Milan jumped ahead of AC Milan into fourth with wins over Hellas Verona and Roma, putting them two points clear in the final Champions League spot.

France --

Paris St. Germain inched closer to securing the Ligue 1 title with a 3-1 win over Troyes that extended their lead to six points with five games remaining. They managed to do so without Messi, who has been suspended for taking an unauthorized trip last week and may have played his last game for the Parisian club. Kylian Mbappe scored his league leading 24th goal of the season to open the scoring in the win for PSG.

Team of the Week --

G: Ramsdale - Arsenal

D: Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool; Van Dijk - Liverpool; Romero - Tottenham; Theo - AC Milan

M: Gundogan - Man City; Bellingham - Dortmund; Odegaard - Arsenal

F: Rodrygo - Real Madrid; Griezmann - Atletico Madrid; Olmo - RB Leipzig

Player of the Week --

Martin Odegaard - Arsenal

Norwegian midfielder Martin Odegaard had a spectacular week for Arsenal, leading them to two wins to keep pace with Manchester City and within reach of the Premier League title. Odegaard scored the first two goals in the 3-1 win over Chelsea on Tuesday. In addition he created a couple other chances and was 41 of 49 passing.

On Sunday he once again opened the scoring in the 2-0 win over Newcastle with a well struck shot from just outside the box. He had two chances created in this game as well and was 22 of 29 passing. Odegaard has been the lynchpin of the Arsenal midfield this season and if it weren’t for the incredible seasons from Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, he could be in line for the Premier League Player of the Year.

Tuesday May 9, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3178

tuesday quick hits

I hope Brooks Koepka was paying attention to what happened yesterday in Illinois.

University of Illinois 5th year senior Tommy Kuhl posted a course record 62 to earn medalist (low score) honors in the U.S. Open local qualifier in Springfield.

One of Kuhl's teammates mentioned to him afterwards how impressive the score of 62 was considering the greens were aerated. An "aerated" green is one that has been treated with a "puncturing machine" that makes small holes (about 75% the size of a penny) in the putting surface to give it air. This procedure is typically done in the spring and fall at most U.S. courses.

When Kuhl's teammate mentioned the aerated greens, something struck Kuhl. He had putted well, indeed, but needed to give some degree of credit to the fact that he was able to fix aeration holes on the line of his putt that helped him make several key putts throughout the round.

There's only one problem.

It's against the rules to fix aeration holes.

You can repair/fix spike marks or other "imperfections" in the greens. That's a fairly new rule in the game of golf.

But you can't "fix" aeration holes.

If your ball is situated on top of one, you can take relief to the right or left of that hole in the green and play from there. But it's against the rules to fix or repair an aeration hole.

Tommy Kuhl said he knew the rule. He just had a brain freeze on several occasions during the round.

Like Koepka, who fibbed his way through a rules inquiry at the Masters, Kuhl could have simply acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened when his friend complimented him on advancing past the first stage of U.S. Open local qualifying.

After all, no one knew but Kuhl.

Instead, unlike Koepka, Kuhl did the right thing. He approached a tournament official and asked about the rules involving repairing aerated greens.

After hearing the rule and acknowledging he had broken it, albeit unintentionally, he says, Kuhl disqualified himself and gave up his spot in the U.S. Open Final Qualifying stage early next month.

There are a lot of great things about golf and one, for certain, is players policing the game and keeping the integrity of the tournament intact by penalizing themselves, if necessary.

Someday down the road, the golf gods will reward Kuhl for what he did on Monday. They have a long memory.

Brooks Koepka will probably find that out himself at some point in the future.

Former Fox-45 sportscaster Bruce Cunningham caused a bit of a stir on Twitter last night when he took a swipe at the attendance numbers for Monday's Orioles-Rays series opener at Camden Yards.

An hour after publishing the tweet, Cunningham took it down.

Essentially, though, he poked fun at the crowd (12,669) and even casually threw in a "Nashville" reference just to really get the neighbors riled up.

A few people agreed with him.

A couple of others bashed him.

Several folks zipped in with America's #1 reply to anything they don't like these days -- "But what about..."

A number of people asked if Cunningham, in fact, was in attendance himself. He was, he shot back. In Section 67.

I still don't understand why it's necessary for you to be at the game in order to have an opinion on the attendance. But it seems to be that way.

Anyway, things got so heated for Cunningham that by the time I checked back in around 10:00 pm to copy and paste a few of his tweets and some of the replies, the entire thread had been removed.

For all I know, there was bad language or a personal attack and Cunningham didn't want to be part of it any longer. I understand that, for sure.

Last week, someone here posted a comment about a recent rules issue involving a Loyola golfer and St. Paul's golfer and in that comment the contributor used a term for the Loyola player that I thought was way over the top and, in short, entirely unacceptable.

I didn't want Drew's Morning Dish to be associated with that comment and I didn't want -- as the coach of a team in the same conference as Loyola and St. Paul's -- to personally be associated with that comment, either.

So I removed it.

It's worth mentioning, though, that Bruce didn't say anything "wrong" last night.

He commented about the paltry crowd (I think he called it "puny", actually) and wrote that he thought more people would be at the game given it featured the top two teams in the American League.

Then came a bunch of "what about?" questions and comments and everything blew up from there, I'm assuming.

12,669 people on a beautiful early May night isn't very good. But I totally get it. 12,669 is what the Orioles draw on a weeknight in 2023. It's where they are. Win or lose, they're going to draw those kind of numbers.

I'm not sure it's worthy of embarrassment or anything like that. They're a franchise that draws 12,669 to games that don't feature a weekend date, a tee shirt giveaway or a free bobblehead to the first 25,000 fans.

We all know what will happen in July and August if the Birds are still playing well at that point. Weeknight crowds will routinely creep up in the 16,000 range and weekend crowds might be double that number. If the Birds are playoff bound in September, the crowds will be good then, as well.

For now, though, weeknight crowds are lousy, despite the Orioles blazing hot start.

We shouldn't be afraid to mention that and wonder why more people don't want to go to the games.

And we shouldn't be so quick to bash the person who asks the question, either.

Everyone gets offended by nothing-burgers these days. I just don't get it.

And......that's the end of Bob Huggins' coaching career at West Virginia. It could also be the end of his career, period.

What on earth was Huggins thinking on Monday when he referenced Xavier basketball fans as "Catholic f--s" during a radio interview?

News flash: The word wasn't "fans". Instead, it was an ant-gay slur that also contains four letters and starts with "f".

The answer, of course: He wasn't thinking. At least not clearly.

To his (slim) credit, Huggins issued an apology on Monday night and all but said, "I know I'm getting fired for this and I realize I totally deserve it."

Some coaches would try and slime their way around it, but at the very least Huggins seems poised to accept his punishment. Maybe he's trying the reverse-common-sense trick on the powers-that-be at West Virginia University.

"If I tell them right from the start they should fire me, maybe they'll somehow go another way with my punishment..."

I can't see that happening.

Huggins has to be relieved of his duties after saying "Catholic f--s" on live radio. There's no other way around it.

That said, these colleges do like to win at sports. And despite the obvious resolution being to terminate Huggins, there's always a chance West Virginia sends him to a 12-hour sensitivity class and makes him donate a bunch of money to Catholic Charities or something like that.

The times have changed in our country.

Archie Bunker would probably have gotten away with "Catholic f--s" back in 1976. Sure, "Meathead" would have admonished him for it but there would have been plenty of laughs, too.

In 2023, the head basketball coach at West Virginia University can't go on the radio and use that term. He can't really say it in private, either, but this wasn't private in the least. It was during a live interview on a Cincinnati radio station. There's no turning back from it.

And the worst case of all for Huggins? It likely makes him unemployable. For good.

It's one thing to go 11-21 in the regular season a couple of years in a row and get canned. A popular, career-successful coach like Huggins could always take a step down a notch or two and coach at Hofstra or Western Michigan or Bucknell if he needed a reboot of sorts.

But yesterday's episode wouldn't fly at any of those three schools or anywhere else for that matter.

"You want us to hire Bob Huggins for the basketball job here at Robert Morris? Didn't he get fired last year for saying "f--s" on the radio? I think we'll pass on that, but thanks for calling on his behalf."

That's a tough way to end a very good career.

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

Our #10 was Keegan Bradley. #9 was Shane Lowry.

#8, Rickie Fowler -- OK, you're thinking the obvious, right? Rickie-friggin'-Fowler? A contender at the PGA Championship? There's no way.

News flash: There is a way, actually.

Fowler has actually played very good golf this season, dating all the way back to last November when the '22-23 campaign began.

Make no mistake about it: This is a bit of a wild card selection. No doubt.

But hear me out.

Fowler has made 13 of 14 cuts this season. 8 of his last 9 tournaments in 2023 have resulted in a finish of T20 or better.

In other words -- even though you might not know it -- Rickie Fowler is actually playing really nice golf in 2023.

And there's a hunch, particularly given his driving statistics this year, that Oak Hill CC might set up decently for him. Will he win? I don't know, maybe. But more than that, I can see him hanging around for a few days and giving his legion of fans some real, legitimate hope.

I've always said this about Rickie Fowler: Someday, who knows when, he's going to win a significant golf tournament.

Some folks would even say he sorta-kinda did that already, once, by capturing The Players.

But I still think there's more "big golf" left in his tank. Sure, he could be Colin Montgomerie or Matt Kuchar and be a great player who never wins a major. That could definitely happen to Fowler the same way it happened to those two I just referenced. You can even throw Lee Westwood and Luke Donald in there as well. Not every great player wins a major title.

But I've always had the thought that Fowler would do it. Maybe not as quickly as everyone thought he would. Including himself, of course. But it's been my contention for a decade now that Fowler would get his chakras in line one week and figure out a way to win a major championship.

Next week might be his week.

Remember this: Fowler is playing solid golf right now. This isn't a "charity pick". His form is really solid. And, yes, it would be great for golf if he somehow won at Oak Hill.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

This was another multi-game week for many leagues around Europe with the focus on domestic league fixtures. The title races remained tight in England and Germany and appear to be heading down to the wire.

In Italy the Serie A champion was crowned this weekend as Napoli clinched their first title since Maradona. Meanwhile in Spain they crowned a champion for their premier cup competition, the Copa del Rey. Today we also have a preview of the two Champions League semifinal matchups, the first of which kicks off this afternoon.

The trend of quiet weekends for Americans abroad continued this weekend. Ricardo Pepi did score his 12th goal of the season for Groningen, albeit in a 1-1 draw that saw the team officially relegated from the Dutch first division.

He will be an interesting player to watch this offseason. A crucial player for the future of the US team, Pepi has been linked to several top Dutch clubs in rumors and almost surely will find a better landing spot than either relegated Groningen or his parent club, Augsburg.

Champions League Semifinal Preview –

The Champions League returns this week with the first legs of the semifinal matchups. On Tuesday it will be Real Madrid hosting Manchester City in a rematch from last year’s semis, which produced two instant classic games and a shocking late comeback from Real Madrid to steal a spot in the finals.

This year, Manchester City enters the game in the best form of any team in Europe. They have seemed to find their top gear since the start of the new year, grabbing the pole position in the Premier League title race while going unbeaten in their last twenty games.

Pep Guardiola’s team has been the favorite to win the Champions League trophy since the start of the season and nothing is different as the field has narrowed to four teams.

After some initial struggles integrating Erling Haaland into their fine tuned machine, City has found the right chemistry and turned Haaland into a one man wrecking crew, helping him to shatter the Premier League single season goal scoring record and produce one of the greatest goal outputs of this century for anyone not named Messi.

During this outstanding run for City, Guardiola has tweaked their setup multiple times, but has largely settled on starting essentially four centerbacks across the back line, with John Stones often moving into midfield to form a double pivot with Rodri.

This change has helped solidify the middle defensively and freed Kevin De Bruyne to do more damage in the attack. Pep has tended to keep his wingers out near the touchline to provide width in the attack, with Haaland as a target in the box and on fast breaks and De Bruyne as the central creator behind him.

Real Madrid does not enter this game on quite the same run that City does, though they are unbeaten in their last four games and secured their first trophy of the season over the weekend, winning the Copa del Rey. This hasn’t been a banner year for this Madrid team, as they trail rivals Barcelona by thirteen points in the La Liga title race. However, they always seem to have an extra gear when it comes to the Champions League.

Last year Real Madrid produced a run that was nothing short of magical, with comeback victories in each of the knockout rounds, first against PSG, then Chelsea and then Manchester City, before downing an outstanding Liverpool team 1-0 in the final to secure their fifth Champions League trophy in the last decade.

Although Manchester City comes in as the heavy favorites to advance to the final (-310), it would be foolish to count out Real Madrid. With their dynamic attacking trio of Vinicius Jr., Karim Benzema, and Rodrygo in spectacular form of late and one of the most experienced and talented midfields in Europe, Madrid can’t be taken lightly.

They will surely give City a real test and it remains to be seen if they can find even more Champions League magic to carry them to another final.

Wednesday features a matchup for the ages for Italy, with storied crosstown rivals Inter Milan and AC Milan set to face off for a spot in the finals. Both legs of this showdown will be in the same city and the same stadium, with only the colors and the balance of the supporters changing. Imagine if the Jets and the Giants faced off for a trip to the Super Bowl.

The teams have met three times already this season, with AC Milan taking the first game 3-2 and Inter winning the last two, 3-0 and 1-0. In Serie A, the rivals are separated by just two points in the standings, with Inter sitting in fourth place, just ahead of AC Milan in fifth, part of a tense scramble for the final spot in Italy that qualifies for next season’s Champions League.

Inter has had one of the best attacks in Serie A this season, leading the league in expected goals (xG) with 63.9, while Milan comes in at 4th with 52 xG. Defensively, Inter has been better as well, with a 30.6 xG conceded compared to 36.5 for Milan. However, AC Milan has been slightly better in both metrics in the Champions League this season.

These teams both seem to be peaking at the right time this season, with Inter entering this game off five straight wins and AC Milan undefeated in their last nine games. AC Milan has also kept a clean sheet in five of their last six Champions League games. So this opening leg could be a cagey, defensive affair.

There was a significant wrench thrown into AC Milan’s plans this weekend, when Rafael Leao was forced off during their win over Lazio with a muscle injury. Leao has been the key man in attack for Milan this season, after winning the Serie A MVP last year.

It appears he will not be available for at least the first leg of this matchup, dealing a sharp blow to Milan’s front line. The loss will force them to rely even more heavily on playmakers Brahim Diaz in midfield and Theo Hernandez on the left wing, to generate chances for the ageless Olivier Giroud up top.

On the Inter side, the attacking duo of Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku seem to be clicking into gear down the stretch of the season. Lautaro has led the way with 19 goals in Serie A this season, and has scored six goals in Inter’s last six games.

With these two in top form, the Inter attack will pose a strong test to the clean sheet streak AC Milan is looking to extend. Inter Milan are the slight favorites to advance (-155), but in this city rivalry anything can happen and it will surely be one to remember for all of Italy.

Tomorrow here at #DMD, we'll look at last weekend's play in England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France.

Monday May 8, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3177

some good and weird weekend stuff

I almost retired from the real world on Saturday night.

No, not because of the Kentucky Derby. All of my tickets were trashed once Tapit Trice quit running at the first turn. He now joins the Philadelphia Flyers and jockey Mike Smith on my lifetime (you know what) list.

But I didn't invest enough to retire on even if Tapit Trice decided to actually be a race horse and, you know, "race" on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

However -- I might have retired if Rafael Devers would have hit a home run on Saturday night.

That's all I needed.

Just one, lousy, stinkin' home run from Devers. He'll hit upwards of 45 of them this season if he stays healthy. I just needed one of them to come on Saturday night in Philadelphia.

Editor's note: I wouldn't have actually "retired" on Saturday night, but I would have made enough money to call up to Oakmont Country Club this morning and inquire about an out-of-town membership. And when they said, "How would you like to pay the $45,000 initiation fee?", I would have said, "Cash is easiest for me." Retiring? That's for old people.

For kicks -- and because the payouts are massively larger than, say, just a normal 3-team "win" parlay -- I enjoy playing the occasional home run parlay in Major League Baseball. You don't care who wins or loses. You don't care how many runs are scored. You don't even care if the guys you pick go 1-for-5. You just need a home run from them.

So, on Saturday morning, I perused the options for Saturday night and picked five sluggers: Bobby Witt Jr., Nolan Arenado, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and.....Rafael Devers. I laid down a modest sum -- more than my usual $10 wager since it was a Saturday night and you do crazy stuff on Saturday night -- and waited.

Arenado homered early in the Cardinals loss to the Tigers. "There's one," I said.

Witt Jr. homered in the Royals 5-4 loss to the A's. "Two down, three to go."

Harper homered in the 5th inning in Philadelphia. I was starting to sweat a little bit at this point.

And Trea Turner homered in the 7th in Philly. Now, I was in panic mode.

All I needed was a home run from Rafael Devers and my life would sorta-kinda change. At least for the next decade.

And wouldn't you know it, but guess who led off the top of the 9th inning?

Just one flick of the wrists. One fastball over the middle of the plate. "Be the ball", I said as I watched the proceedings on line.

A Devers home run and we're all going to Sea World.

Instead...he struck out.

It didn't matter that he struck out, of course. Anything other than a home run was a dud for me. He could have hit the ball 399 feet but if it didn't travel 400 feet, I still lost.

But a strike out it was. And Oakmont will have to wait. So, too, will Sea World.

It sure was a lot of fun for 30 or 40 minutes, though. I will say that.

I wrote here a few weeks back that the O's would be wise to monitor the batting health of Gunnar Henderson into mid-May. I opined that if Henderson continued to scuffle throughout the month that a trip to Norfolk might be in order.

Well, we're at May 8th and Henderson is really having a tough time at the plate.

The rest of his game is Major League-worthy. He's a nice defensive player, both at third base and shortstop, where he played yesterday and made a couple of really solid contributions with the glove (and arm).

But at the plate, Henderson looks like Willie Mays Hayes from the movie Major League.

He went 0-for-5 in yesterday's series finale against the Braves and is now hitting a paltry .176 on the season. His on-base percentage of .342 is even more impressive when you factor in his batting average. It's also roughly 70 points higher than Ryan Mountcastle's OBP, but that's another story for another day.

Henderson is a wonderfully gifted player who will turn out to be a star in the Majors. He's as close to a sure thing as you'll find.

But something's missing at the plate.

Is it confidence?

A swing flaw?

Bad luck?

All three of those things?

Whatever it is, Henderson hitting .176 is a surprise. It might be part of the natural evolution of a rookie player and all, but it's still a surprise to see him looking overmatched like he has through the first month-plus of the season.

And the O's have to be careful that his confidence doesn't get wrecked.

I tell junior golfers (and their parents) this all the time. When an athlete loses confidence, it's just like an injury. It takes time to heal. And the slighest "nick" to that confidence during the reboot can send him/her right back to square one. Confidence is the number one "injury" among all athletes, no matter the sport.

The good thing about baseball is there's a game tonight, tomorrow, the next day and almost every day after that. If you stink today, you might be productive tomorrow. If you're terrible for two days, you might go on a 5-game heater later that week.

But that also means there's never any down time, either. You go 0-for-5 today and you're right back in the lineup tomorrow. You go 0-for-4 in that game and you're back at it the next night. There's no rest for the weary.

And, so, the Orioles have to be careful with the way they manage Henderson this month.

It stands to reason he'll be fine. All he needs is one stretch where he goes 8-for-18 and his average rises dramatically and all's well with the world. Anthony Santander was struggling just two weeks ago with an average near .190 and now he's at a respectable .264 after heating up on the recent road trip.

But Henderson is different than Santander. Henderson is a guy the O's are building this franchise around.

Let's hope Gunnar gets out of this funk soon. If he's still under the Mendoza line by the end of May, it might be time for a bus ride or two.

We don't cover the NBA much in these parts, but that's not because we don't like it. It's because no one else in town cares about the NBA. At least it "feels" that way.

That said, there was an interesting moment in last night's Phoenix/Denver playoff game that will no doubt be an even bigger story today once the NBA powers-that-be go on their power trip and decide how to handle it.

In the second quarter of Phoenix's home win, which evened the series at 2-2, Denver star Nikola Jokic was assessed with a technical foul for shoving Suns' owner Mat Isbhia, who was seated courtside and collected a loose ball that Jokic attemped to grab from him.

The sequence that took place happens nearly every night in the NBA. A ball deflects into the crowd, a fan grabs it, and a player or official asks for the ball back.

In last night's game, a Phoenix player was temporarily "down" after falling in an attempt to grab the loose ball and Jokic wanted the ball back immediately in an efforto to create an "odd man" situation after quickly inbounding the ball.

When the Suns owner held the ball instead of giving it back, Jokic went to grab the ball and it shot out of his hands and away from the Denver star. At that point, Jokic gave Ishbia a (very) light shove and the owner fell backwards like he was Denzel Washington being gunned down in the final scene of Training Day.

The officials then consulted and assessed Jokic with a technical foul.

It was really not a big deal at all, except Ishbia sold the whole episode with an acting job that would have made any Duke basketball player smile with envy.

Jokic spoke after the game about the league "protecting the players" at all costs. And he wondered why the fans -- at least in last night's case -- get treated more carefully than the players.

There's almost no question Jokic will get fined today. The amount will be significant, too, since he made contact with an owner, who is far from "just a fan".

But when you sit courtside and involve yourself in the game action, aren't you signing up to get involved in some kind of play or incident, intended or otherwise?

pga championship top 10

The second major of the 2023 golf calendar is upon us, as the golfing world heads to upstate New York for the PGA Championsip at Oak Hill CC, May 18-21.

The East Course at Oak Hill, which will host all four days of the tournament, is ranked the 22nd best course in the entire world by a panel of Golf Digest course raters.

Oak Hill has hosted 12 significant events 1949. Two U.S. Amateurs (Coe, Kuehne were the winners), three U.S. Opens (Middlecoff, Trevino and Strange), three PGA Championships (Nicklaus, Micheel and Dufner), two senior majors and one Ryder Cup.

It's right there with Winged Foot, Oakmont and Shinnecock in the battle for top course on the East coast.

The last time the PGA was played there, Jason Dufner won his only major championship. The tournament was played in August back then, by the way.

This year, the course will tip out at nearly 7,400 yards for the PGA. Given that the weather could be cool and damp, that 7,400 might play more like 7,600 when it's all said and done.

Who wins and who contends? We're glad you asked. Because we think we know.

Don't forget, we're going for the personal grand slam in 2023, having picked the correct winner of the Masters back in April. Can we make it two straight at the PGA? We'll soon find out.

#10, Keegan Bradley -- If you flew in from Pluto and just looked at TOUR ball striking data from the last year, you would be stunned that Keegan Bradley isn't a top 5 player in the world. He has definitely "found something" with his irons. And he's a decent enough driver of the golf ball that his iron play puts him into some great scoring positions throughout the round(s).

Bradley leads the entire TOUR in Driving Efficiency and Putting from 4 feet and in, and he's second in approaches from 125-150 yards (averaging 19.0 feet).

He ranks in the Top 50 in Shots gained Total, Off the Tee and Approach to Green.

Bradley has made 11 of 14 cuts with 4 top 10 finishes and he's currently 6th in the Fed Ex Cup standings with about a third of the season remaining.

It would not be unwise of you to get in on Bradley right now at 66-1. Not unwise at all.

He played well at Oak Hill back in 2013. He was born and raised in Vermont. He has played a lot of golf in that area of the country.

We'll be factoring Bradley into our wagering for this year's PGA for sure. We think you should as well.

Sunday May 7, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3177

keep that weekend in september open

The way I see it, you should probably make plans now to be at Camden Yards the weekend of September 15-16-17.

The Birds play the Tampa Bay Rays in a 4-game series that starts that Thursday, September 14.

I'm figuring at one of those weekend home games vs. Tampa Bay, the Orioles will clinch an American League playoff spot. The division might be still be up for grabs when the Rays leave town early Sunday evening, but I'm guessing a post-season appearance gets clinched sometime that weekend.

So you should plan accordingly, in other words.

Editor's note: The O's are in Boston on Sunday, September 10, so it's reasonable to assume the Ravens will open the 2023 campaign in Baltimore that day, followed by an away game the following Sunday when the O's host Tampa Bay.

Last night's 5-4 loss in Atlanta dropped the Birds to 22-11 on the young season. I'm not sure why the manager didn't go to either Cano or Bautista at some point in the 8th inning when the O's were clinging to a 4-3 lead, but what do I know?

Kevin Pillar -- that rat fink ex-Blue Jay -- belted a two run homer off of Danny Couloumbe in that 8th inning to send the Birds into the loss column. Coulombe is starting to operate on a short leash, I think. Last night's loss left a bruise.

But the O's are still flying high in the A.L. East and will get a crack at the aforementioned Rays this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Bawlmer.

This thing is just getting started and it's already loads of fun. The starting pitching is holding its own, the bullpen is piecing together consistent shut-down efforts and the hitting is both timely and, at times, overpowering.

Last night's loss notwithstanding, the Birds are buzzing along quite nicely as we roll into May.

If this team has an obvious, ugly flaw, I don't know what it is.

I'm not saying they're going to be the '96 Yankees or anything like that, but these O's are bussin', as the kids are apt to say these days.

And to think the farm system is stocked with enough quality prospects that Mike Elias can wheel and deal at the deadline and patch up a rough spot or two. Won't that be a nice change of pace, huh?

I realize football is king in Baltimore and all that jazz, but nothing -- and I mean nothing -- in sports beats playoff baseball in October when your team scratched and clawed through a 162-game season and survived to play another day.

This O's team is going to plow through the American League en route to win total of at least 92 games, if not more. There's a lot of baseball left, of course, but I don't see anything but blue skies ahead for Brandon Hyde's club.

September and October are going to be a lot of fun here in the Land of Pleasant Living.

A weird week at Churchill Downs ended on an even stranger note early Saturday evening when a lightly raced horse named Mage claimed the 149th Kentucky Derby.

The winner made his racing debut back on January 28 of this year. He then raced twice after that, in the Fountain of Youth (Grade 2) and the Florida Derby (Grade 1).

It's very rare to see a horse win a Triple Crown race with limited experience.

To wit, Mage became just the 3rd horse ever to win the Derby without racing as a 2-year old. Apollo, in 1882, and Justify, in 2018, were the others to accomplish the feat.

It was a fairly speedy affair. Mage, ridden by veteran Javier Castellano, surged through a group of horses in the backstretch and roared past Two Phil's in the final furlong to post the improbable victory. Angel of Empire, who became the favorite following the mid-morning scratch of Forte, finished 3rd.

Verifying and Kingsbarns were early pace setters and Confidence Game got involved as well, but none of them could sustain their energy long enough to stay ahead of Two Phil's, who showed great interest throughout and looked like a winner as the horses entered the final turn and headed for home.

But Castellano moved Mage into striking position with a clean trip through a half dozen competitors who were falling back quickly and then got past Two Phil's to post the biggest victory of his modest career.

Angel of Empire closed rapidly, but needed 75 more yards to sufficiently seal the deal.

Early front-runner Verifying stopped dead in his tracks once other horses started passing him, finishing ahead of just two other entries.

Kingsbarns showed some early promise as well and was in good position into the final turn but had nothing to offer when he was asked to dig in and give it all he had.

Disarm held his own to finish 4th and Hit Show was an impressive 5th place finisher, beating both Derma Sotogake and Tapit Trice.

The win overshadowed a sad two weeks at Churchill Downs, with seven horses dying there recently, including two who raced earlier on the Saturday card at Churchill Downs.

Mage will now take a few days to recover before his owner and trainer make the call about the May 20th Preakness Stakes.

A bizarre story out of Oakland has landed A's broadcaster Glen Kuiper in hot water after he apparently uttered a racial slur during the team's TV broadcast on Friday evening from Kansas City.

The word "apparently" is used above because it's still unclear exactly what Kuiper said. He was referencing a trip to the Negro League Museum earlier in the day on Friday during the team's pre-game show but it didn't sound like he said the word "Negro" when speaking of the Museum.

The A's suspended Kuiper on Saturday, acknowledging that they were investigating the situation in an effort to determine both why Kuiper said what he said and what his ultimate punishment will be.

Kuiper issued an in-game apology on Friday night.

“A little earlier in the show, I said something that didn’t come out quite the way I wanted it to. I just wanted to apologize if it sounded different than I meant it to be said. I just wanted to apologize for that.”

As far as apologies go, that one was about as weak as the A's offensive lineup in 2023.

Look, I have to assume that Glen Kuiper did not, in any way, intend to go on the air and utter the "n-word" for the entire world to hear. I can't for one second think a 20-year broadcasting veteran who makes a great living calling baseball games said to himself, "You know what I think I'll do on Friday night? I think I'll try and slip in the n-word when I talk about the Negro League Museum."

That said, the A's are going to be under immense pressure to relieve Kuiper of his duties because that's the world we live in today. No one is allowed to make a mistake. Second chances are frowned upon. If you say or do something wrong, the Do-No-Wrong-Club is waiting to pounce and bring you down.

Kuiper would be well served to issue a follow-up to his Friday apology and provide a heart-on-his-sleeve summary of the day's events. Sure, it certainly sounded like he used the n-word on live TV, but I'll ask the question, again, in a different way. What benefit is there for Glen Kuiper to say that word during a baseball broadcast?

I can't think of any benefit.

I don't know why or how it happened, but Friday was a bad, bad scene for a distinguished broadcaster like Kuiper.

And I'm not saying what he did should go unpunished, either. Suspending him was a natural way of dealing with the immediate aftermath of the incident. Everyone gets a chance to take a deep breath, reset, and figure out a way to move forward, if that's possible.

I have to wonder if there's any malice in Glen Kuiper's heart? Does he have something against the African American community? I doubt that he does. I think he made a dumb, dumb mistake.

I mentioned once or twice here over the years about my five years working alongside Charley Eckman during Blast radio and TV broadcasts.

St. Louis had a player on their team named Steve Pecher. It was pronounced "Petcher", but Charley insisted on calling him "Pecker". Even after the nerdy P.R. kid next to him would say, "Ummm, it's pronounced Petcher, Charley," he would still say "Pecker" and then he'd wink at me and smile.

Chicago had a player named Charlie Fajkus...pronounced Fy-kus. You can use your imagination and quickly figure out what Charley Eckman called Charley Fajkus, can't you?

Those were two instances where the broadcaster knew exactly what he was doing. But he was trying to add a little (poor) humor to the broadcast.

I can't imagine Glen Kuiper was trying to add humor to the game broadcast on Friday night when he mentioned his trip to the Negro League Museum.

I think he made a mistake. I don't think he intended to say the n-word. I'm not even sure that's exactly what he said, either. I think he was trying to say "Negro" and the "e" sounded more like an "i", but that's just me.

And, so, it seems reasonable to me have Mr. Kuiper return to his duties sometime soon, offering a more thorough apology than the one he whiffed on last Friday night during the game. That's the way I see it, anyway.

Local golf enthusiasts will want to tune into 105.7 The Fan today from 12-1 pm, as I will be joined for a long form interview with Will Wears, the grandson of the great Arnold Palmer.

Wears lives in Baltimore and recently advanced past the local qualifying stage of the U.S. Open. He's a former college player at Loyola University and is in the beginning stages of "seeing where my golf takes me" as he told me during a conversation last week.

We'll discuss the recent U.S. Open qualifier, his career to date and, of course, his memories of "The King". I hope you can tune in today.

Saturday May 6, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3176

"and down the stretch they come..."

They'll run the 149th Kentucky Derby today (tonight?) at Churchill Downs. Post time is 6:57 pm. The race is shaping up to be a potential doozy.

And for the next six weeks, horse racing in our country matters.

OK, it sorta-kinda matters. I feel like the Triple Crown series has really lost its national appeal over the last 15 years or so, but for people like me, who thoroughly enjoy the Derby, Preakness and Belmont, these next six weeks are always a lot of fun.

So what happens tonight? I'm glad you asked.

Here's the field:

1. Hit Show - Jockey: Manny Franco

Didn't get a great draw with the #1 post position. Won the Withers back in February and was in it until the end at the Wood Memorial before losing by a nose. Probably won't hit the board in this race.

2. Verifying -- Tyler Gaffalione

Brad Cox trained horse could be one to watch. Son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Gaffalione owns nine Churchill Downs riding titles. He's no slouch. This horse could surprise today if he gets a safe trip.

3. Two Phil's -- Jareth Loveberry

Well traveled and a previous winner at Churchill. Quietly lurking as a horse that could surprise.

4. Confidence Game -- James Graham

Gained some steam this week with impressive workouts. Favors the slop, so wait until closer to post time to see what the track is like.

5. Tapit Trice -- Luis Saez

Todd Pletcher has himself a real contender here. Has won four straight races and has even finished in the winner's circle when he didn't get the best trip or have his best stuff. Fun fact: The #5 post position has produced the most Derby winners.

6. Kingsbarns -- Jose Ortiz

Didn't race as a 2-year old and only two other horses have won the Derby without a race as a 2-year old. Factor that in, I suppose, if you think this is your horse. Ortiz is very adept, though. He can make things happen.

7. Reincarnate -- John Velazquez

Has finished no worse than third in all of his 7 career starts. Will want to fly to the front out of the gate and Velazquez knows how to win from that spot.

8. Mage -- Javier Castellano

Almost beat Forte in the Florida Derby. Has been drawing some interest this week during morning workouts, but Castellano has a huge hill to climb to get this horse on the board.

11. Disarm -- Joel Rosario

One of the last horses to make it via qualifying. Looks out of his element here, but Rosario wouldn't be on him if he was a complete bum.

12. Jace's Road -- Florent Giroux

Will probably challenge Reincarnate for the early lead, but won't be near the front when they turn for home.

13. Sun Thunder -- Brian Hernandez Jr.

Don't see much hope here. Owners just probably want to be part of the festivities. Horse appears outclassed.

14. Angel of Empire -- Flavien Prat

Will get a lot of wagering action and might go off as the second favorite, but he'll need a massive trip to win this one. Won the Arkansas Derby, but that field wasn't anywhere as good as the one he'll see today.

15. Forte -- Irad Ortiz Jr.

Has won 6 of 7 races and 5 in a row overall. Will go off as the favorite and should be right there as they head for home with a big chance to win. Needs to knock this first one down because he could win all three.

16. Raise Cain -- Gerardo Corrales

Another horse that hopes for a wet, "off" track. Otherwise, he's just a bystander.

17. Derma Sotogake -- Christopher Lemaire

Arrives with a decent pedigree but a horse coming in from having raced in the U.A.E. Derby has a career record of 0-18 at the Derby. Make it 0 for 19.

18. Rocket Can -- Junior Alvarado

They've added blinkers for this race which means either the horse runs like a champion or never gets settled and looks out of place. Will go with the latter.

21. Cyclone Mischief -- Corey Lanerie

Can't see this horse doing much of anything. Third at the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby. I assume his owners would be thrilled with a similar finish today.

22. Mandarin Hero -- Kazushi Kimura

Not much is known about this Japanese horse except it would be a huge story if he won today.

23. King Russell -- Rafael Bejerano

Flew past horses late in the Arkansas Derby and finished a surprising second, but that was then and this is now. He won't be running past anyone in today's race.

#DMD's summary:

So much to consider in this race. Will the predicted morning rain stick around into the afternoon or will track conditions not be a factor by close to 7 pm?

Pletcher and Cox are the two trainers to watch today. They have the horses. Will they get clean trips and run the way they want to run? That's the big question.

There are so many talented jockeys in this race...any of them could win. Giroux, Prat, Ortiz Jr., Vazquez, Castellano, Rosario. All of them are extremely capable.

We're going with a little bit of history and a red hot horse, as we see Tapit Trice winning the 149th Kentucky Derby.

We're also going to play Angel of Empire, Forte, Reincarnate and Verifying on our tickets.

The one semi-longshot we'll also factor in along the way is Mage.

Official predicted order:

1. #5 Tapit Trice

2. #15 Forte

3. #2 Verifying

4. #7 Reincarnate

Happy wagering everyone!!

---

And then there were two. As in, there are now just two players remaining in the antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour by a group of players on the LIV golf circuit.

Editor's note: Back in 1978, Genesis put out a brilliant album called "And Then There Were Three", which was their first album after guitarist Steve Hackett left the band. His departure left Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks as the three remaining members of the band. Hence, "And Then There Were Three".

On Friday, LIV golfer Peter Uihlein withdrew his name from the lawsuit that LIV players filed when the PGA Tour suspended them for jumping ship and violating their "competing entity" clause in their player agreement.

That leaves only two players remaining in the lawsuit: Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones.

Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak all previously removed their names from the lawsuit prior to Uihlein following suit on Friday.

The sense from most global golf media members is that LIV has likely "capped" what they're willing to spend on attorney's fees and such in an effort to win the case for their players. In the meantime, they've told the players who filed the suit that each of them would be responsible for any additional fees above and beyond what LIV is willing to pay.

Once the players realized they themselves might be on the hook for millions of dollars in legal fees, they decided the fight was no longer worth their time or energy.

It's one thing to sue someone and not have to worry about who is paying the legal bill, win or lose.

It's another thing entirely when you might be held accountable for the expenses you help ring up.

Now, the only two left to pay the bill are DeChambeau and Jones. Everyone else has thrown in the towel.

It's starting to look like the LIV players are on the verge of giving up. And who can blame them? They were never going to win the lawsuit anyway. All they're doing by keeping the legal proceedings alive is making more money for the lawyers.

Oh, and speaking of LIV golf, everyone's favorite national columnist, Eamon Lynch, once again gutted the LIV players and their constant whining in a column published yesterday morning.

Lynch wrote -- The crybaby routine is destined to grow louder in hopes that some spineless industry executive will act as a pacifier and see to it that LIV demands are met. It could work. Golf’s upper echelon doesn’t lack men who would cheerfully peel off Saudi riyals for their beleaguered organizations under the guise of making peace among warring factions. But for all the noise, the arguments mounted by LIV players are little more than whimpering by those who made a clear-eyed choice, the consequences of which they are increasingly unprepared to live with.

You can read Lynch's entire column by clicking here.

It's impressive to see how much Lynch "gets it" with regard to LIV and the players who continue to whine about the way they've been treated by the PGA Tour when they, in fact, wanted to jump ship to LIV in an effort to secure "better" treatment.

So which is it?

If you're getting treated better on LIV, why worry about missing out on anything related to the PGA Tour? You wanted to be treated better. If you say that's happening, shouldn't you just leave well enough alone?

Or are you miserable at the thought of spending the next XX years with LIV in order to fulfill your contractual obligation? And now you're trying to figure out how to end the deal with LIV and potentially return to the PGA Tour?

It's confusing.

Those players who joined LIV got exactly what they wanted. Less golf. More money. Enjoy it, guys. It's what you wanted, remember?

Friday May 5, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3175

6,000 yards? let's see it!

Lamar Jackson apparently knows a lot about football history.

"I want to throw for 6,000 yards with the weapons we have," Jackson said yesterday at a press conference in Owings Mills.

He did offer a nervous sort of laugh after saying that. Maybe he was trying to make a light moment out of the statement.

"I'm not an individual award type guy or a stat-watcher," Jackson continued. "I just want to do that because no one has ever done it and I think we have the weapons to do it."

So Lamar does know the data, apparently. No one in the NFL has ever thrown for 6,000 yards in a single season.

Peyton Manning holds the record at 5,477 yards (2013). And he did that in 16 games, remember.

Lamar has 17 games in 2023 to throw for 6,000 yards.

Maybe he was joking. I mean, after all, he's never once thrown for more than 3,200 yards in a season. Surely he must realize 6,000 yards is.....well.....probably a tad ambitious.

Me?

I'd just like to see Lamar play in December, like most of you, I'm guessing.

If he gets into the 3,500-4,000 yards passing range, that likely means he's still upright and contributing well into December, which is far more than he was able to do in '21 and '22.

I'll take that, right now, and won't even hold Lamar's feet to the fire with regard to the 6,000 yards passing goal. Just be healthy and play in December and we'll all be happy.

His career record of 45-16 is offset by the Ravens' mark of 8-13 when he hasn't played over the last five seasons. It's pretty clear. The Ravens win roughly 7 of every 10 games they play when Jackson is healthy and on the field.

Passing yards are nice and all. But it seems that having Jackson in the lineup and using his ability to throw and run is almost enough to put the Ravens over the top. He just needs to stay healthy for the entire season in order to maximize his value.

Oh, and speaking of value, Lamar got a $72.5 million signing bonus in exchange for agreeing to stay in Baltimore for the next 5 seasons. Those of you around town who implied that Steve Bisciotti was "cheap"??? You can show yourselves out quietly.

He'll also get a guaranteed sum of $156 million over the first three years of the deal. Teach your son to be a quarterback, folks.

Lamar and the Ravens met somewhere in the middle, apparently, and all is well that ends well. "It was just business," Jackson said yesterday.

Now, the "business" shifts from money to football.

The Ravens did their part, ponying up the largest contract in the NFL for a quarterback who has yet to win two playoff games in a month and didn't play in December over the last two seasons.

They've also gone out of their way to provide him with pass catching options in 2023 and a new offensive coordinator, both of which should greatly enhance the team's ability to score points.

Now, it's up to Lamar to deliver on his end.

And he can't just throw in a 3,500 yards passing season here and there. Or even another MVP award.

Those are nice, of course.

But for the new contract to be deemed a success and for Bisciotti and the Ravens to get their pound of flesh out of the deal, Jackson has to deliver a Super Bowl within the next five seasons.

It's really that simple. Super Bowl. Or bust.

---

OK, the games against the JV are over and now the Orioles start playing some real teams. Let's see what happens this weekend in Atlanta.

The Birds improved to 21-10 with a wild 13-10 win in Kansas City on Thursday afternoon. The O's jumped out to an early 8-1 lead and then eventually fell behind 9-8 before rallying for five runs in the final two innings to escape with the win.

They scored 24 runs in Kansas City over three games; 11 in the series opener, zero on Wednesday, and 13 yesterday.

Grayson Rodriguez got roughed up yesterday, allowing 6 earned runs in just 3.2 innings of work. The O's bullpen wasn't all that great, either, but a win's a win.

With one game left in the second, 16-game segment of the season, the O's are poised to either finish 22-10 or 21-11. A couple of weeks back I proposed that a record of 20-12 (after going 9-7 in the first 16) would be more than acceptable given who the Birds faced in that second 16-game stretch.

So, 21-11 or 22-10 is slightly better than 20-12. In other words, we'll take it either way.

The next 16? Not so easy.

at Atlanta (2)

vs. Tampa Bay (3)

at Pittsburgh (3)

vs. LA Angels (4)

at Toronto (3)

at NY Yankees (1)

Honestly? 8-8 would be fine. 9 of the 16 games are away. You're facing two of the best teams in MLB in Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh seemingly has something going on. And it's always tough in Toronto.

If the O's can go 9-7 in that stretch, that's awesome. 10-6? Print the playoff tickets and block off your October.

---

Lee Westwood was whining this week about being sanctioned by the European Tour, along with 16 others, and subsequently resigned his membership from what is now known as the "DP World Tour".

Westwood has been one of the chief cry babies since jumping ship to LIV last year.

And it's continuing now, even though he has made far more money playing for the Saudi-based golf league than he would have ever come close to making had he actually been forced to play for a living on the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour.

Westwood and 16 other European players were fined 100,000 pounds by the DP World Tour, with all but one of them paying the fine last year. Only Sergio Garcia has yet to pay the fine.

The fine and other punishments came as a result of Westwood and the other 16 leaving for LIV Golf and violating their player agreement with the DP World Tour. Like the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour does not allow its players to just arbitrarily play in whatever events they choose. Once Westwood and the others jumped full time to LIV, they were fined.

The truth of the matter is this: LIV Golf is absolutely perfect for someone like Westwood, a golfing has-been, if you will, who has zero chance of beating any of the game's young guns on the PGA Tour. He can parlay his European career and Ryder Cup excellence into a nice payday with zero pressure to perform, which is exactly what he and guys like Poulter, Garcia and McDowell did last year when they signed on with the Saudis.

There's something about this whole thing I still don't understand.

Guys like Westwood raved about the LIV "business model". They talked openly about being "paid to play, like other sports" and they have continually promoted the fact that they're now playing less and making more money than ever.

So why cry?

Why involve yourself in these public spats with the Tour that helped make you famous in the first place?

You wanted to get paid guaranteed sums of money for playing less golf and you got that.

Oh, and you got that at a time in your career when the bloom was definitely off of your rose. You could barely beat anyone at age 40, let alone now, at age 50.

As the great Steve Miller once said: "Take the money and run."

Westwood, like many others, wants the proverbial "cake and eat it too" scenario. He knew it was wrong to jump ship but the lure of money and not actually having to play good golf any longer were too enticing to pass up.

But now, he's upset the DP World Tour has sanctioned him so he's resigned his membership.

Just do what you always used to do, Lee. Tee it up in a couple of weeks, finish T11, collect a nice paycheck and move on to tne next city.

It's great work if you can get it.

And, thanks to Greg Norman and the Saudis, it's no longer even "work". Stop crying about it and just play golf.

faith in sports

This past Monday night in Baltimore, former NFL Super Bowl winning coach Tony Dungy was the featured guest speaker at the Baltimore City FCA Banquet.

Dungy provided incredible testimony to over 600 people in attendance and shared his vision on faith in sports and how important it is for FCA to reach every coach and athlete.

The video below is Dungy's 20-minute speech from Monday night's event in Baltimore. It's incredibly inspiring.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and "Faith in Sports".

Thursday May 4, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3174

thursday mailbag

I have so many questions in my "saved" file I don't know where to start.

I'm sorry I don't get to more of these for you.

I'll try to do better.

In the meantime, let's just get to your questions.

Ed Cloppinger asks -- "Back in 1998 when McGwire and Sosa were hitting all of those home runs it turned baseball into a household event every night in August and September. Is there anything in baseball in 2023 that would do the same thing? I feel like the sport really needs a "big story" to get back in the mainstream trenches."

DF says -- "Hmmmm, interesting question. We saw Aaron Judge's pursuit of the A.L. home run record get run into the ground last September didn't we? I don't think it had quite the steam of McGwire/Sosa but it was still widely followed for the week or so that he was within a couple of homers of the record.

One thing that would definitely invigorate baseball on a daily/nightly basis would be someone putting together a hitting streak that reached, say, 40 games. Once you get to 40 games, you're on your way. There have been lots of 25 game streaks since Pete Rose hit in 44 consecutive games back in 1978. Even a couple in the 30's. But if we could get a player into the 40's, that would be an awesome story to follow.

I know people always say no one will ever break Cal's consecutive games streak and that's likely very true. DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, though, is the one that would be the biggest of all-time, in my opinion. There's something so difficult about hitting a baseball, for starters, and then to remember you only get four or five chances per game to swing the bat. And there will be some games when your first two at bats, or more, come against the other team's best pitcher.

If I could dream a little, I'd love to see the game's biggest international star, Shohei Ohtani, get into the 40's with a hitting streak. Can you imagine the interest that would generate all over the world? Just getting into the 40's would mean all of his at bats would be "popped in on" by the various sports networks. Heck, if he got to 45 or so, the four major networks might somehow break into their evening programming to show them. I know, it's a big dream. But that would really be cool."

Doug from Alexandria VA asks -- "Hey Drew, can you give some insight into what makes a caddy a "good caddy" instead of someone who just carries the bag around? I'm intrigued by Joe LaCava's move to Patrick Cantlay and keep reading and hearing about how he's such a good caddy. What's the deal with him?"

DF says -- "I can't speak specifically for Fred Couples or Tiger as it relates to why LaCava was so valued but there is definitely a difference between someone who just lugs the bag around and someone who qualifies as a "good" (or great, caddie).

Think of a caddie as a jockey and the golfer as the horse. A good jockey has a "feel" for the horse. Knows when to pat him on the head, knows when to hit him with the whip, knows how he/she likes to run, knows when they're tired, knows when they're "on", etc.

A caddie has the same basic sense with his/her player. Knows when to say, "Come on man, you're better than this, get your s**t together" and knows when to say, "Man, you're swinging great. You've got this shot."

A caddie has studied and understands what the wind does to his/her player's golf ball based on their swing, ball flight, etc. That's probably one of the most underrated elements of being a good caddie. Your player has 185 to the hole. The player says "winds behind us, right?". The really good caddie says, "No, it's more off of our left cheek. It feels like it's behind us but I don't think it's helping. Let's play this 190 instead of 185." Those 5 yards could be huge in where the ball ends up on the putting surface. Those 5 yards could be the difference between a 30 foot putt and a 15 foot putt. The difference between a birdie and a 3-putt, even.

A good caddie knows how to read greens. Some players -- even TOUR players -- might be OK at reading greens and nothing more. If you have a caddie alongside you who is a great reader of the greens, he/she could be worth several shots a round.

The caddie I took to the U.S. Senior Open with me was far superior at reading greens than was I. I allowed him (Serge Hogg, a Baltimore guy) to read every putt for me. It made things easier for me and I knew he was better at it than I was.

And then you simply have the personal relationship between caddie and player. Do they get along well? Have the same interests? Can they joke around when the situation calls for it and get right back to business once they're standing over the ball?

LaCava has worked for two of the game's greatest players (three if you count his brief employment with Dustin Johnson) and is spoken of very highly. That says more than anything."

Greg P. asks -- "Do Ravens fans owe Eric DeCosta an apology?"

DF says -- "Yes. And no. Did people overreact throughout the Lamar contract squabble? Of course they did. Fans think that DeCosta just sat around over at Owings Mills and played video games on his phone during the work day. More than that, though, I saw a lot of fans who thought they deserved to know what was going on throughout the negotiations.

DeCosta did what he did based on the best interests of the team. His goal was to get Lamar signed to a deal that the Ravens thought was fair for both parties. To him, it didn't really matter how long it took to get that deal done. And so, 18 months later, he got what he wanted. I think he's to be commended for how it all turned out, personally. It was the most complicated contract in the history of the organization.

So, sure, do some fans who gave up on DeCosta owe him an apology? Yes, they do.

But on the flip side, you have to remember that no one on the outside actually has a clue as to what's really going on. They're just reading stuff on the internet and believing what they want to believe based mostly on their own agenda. If they think Lamar deserves a fully guaranteed contract, they'll blame DeCosta for not getting it done.

They won't blame Lamar for wanting something that's (probably) unreasonable. They'll blame the GM for not giving in and handing over $260M of guaranteed money.

Fans are "invested" in the team in two ways; with their money and their sweat equity. And, so, they have to be given a certain amount of leeway when it comes to apologies and such. Fans aren't supposed to be rational and understanding, because they don't have all the facts in front of them. Fans are supposed to be goofy and knee-jerk and outspoken. That's why they're called "fans" -- it's short for "fanatical".

So, yes, did a lot of people go overboard in their criticism of DeCosta? They absolutely did.

Was part of that just "the cost of doing business" as a professional sports GM? It certainly was. And I think Eric definitely understands that."

John Lutz asks -- "Question for your Q & A segment you occasionally run. If the Ravens win another Super Bowl, is that enough to get John Harbaugh a statue at the stadium? My son and I disagree on this topic and we decided to let you arbitrate. Thanks, Drew."

DF says -- "This one's tricky because now you're saying, "Hey, any coach that wins two Super Bowls in Baltimore gets a station someday down the road. I mean, you're not actually saying it, but you're definitely implying it. That said, John's well into his second decade coaching the team and could wind up as a decorated, 20-year coach if he makes it to 2028 in Baltimore.

Two Super Bowls and 20 years at the same team? That gets him into the NFL Hall of Fame, so why not a statue at the stadium?

I would think the question isn't about the winning, but more about the longevity. Is 20 years long enough? Would it need to be 25? Or 30, even? That would be the big question, statue-wise.

If you want me to be the deciding judge on this, I'll go with 2 Super Bowls and 25 years in Baltimore. I think the whole "statue thing" is overblown, anyway. What's most important is that he makes the NFL Hall of Fame (which, he will). A statue at the stadium is definitely special, though. I'm a Harbaugh fan, through and through, as I've made known here for a long time.

2 championships and 25 years is statue-worthy, to me."

Wednesday May 3, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3173

who cares who "won" or "lost"??

I guess this was inevitable, right?

After Lamar finally signed, the discourse would move from "will he or won't he?" to "who won and who lost?"

It can't just be that the Ravens got their guy signed and life is great.

No, no, no.

Now that Lamar is signed, we have to move on to America's new number one hobby: "I was right."

We can't just be happy for Jackson and the Ravens at the same time. One of them has to be dubbed the "winner" and one has to be known as the "loser". And those labels get applied based on what you thought was going to happen.

"I told you Lamar would cave in!"

As if a guy becoming the highest-paid player in the league is "caving in", right?

"All the Ravens had to do was give Lamar $45 million two years ago and this all could have been avoided. I was saying that back then, remember!"

Instead they saved themselves a bunch of money over the last two years by waiting to see if Jackson actually turned out to be a $45-$50 million quarterback, which he quite possibly might be.

Jackson is now the Ravens quarterback for the next 5 years. If you ask me, the Ravens won.

They have a star quarterback. A "franchise" quarterback, as they call him in Owings Mills.

Oh, and Lamar knows, no matter what happens, he's going to pull in $185 million at a minimum in exchange for his services.

If you ask me, that certainly means Lamar won, too.

And so, that's exactly how I'm going to look at it.

I don't really care to name the Ravens or Lamar the "winner". Because, in my mind, they both won.

That take probably isn't "hot" enough for these days, but that's the way I see it. We're indebted to the soap box, especially when it comes to the internet, so we can't just have a passive reaction to something. WE HAVE TO SHOUT ABOUT IT!!

But in this case, there's no shouting required. The Ravens and Lamar engaged in a business negotiation. It probably took longer than both parties wanted it to take. It might have been somewhat unconventional in the way they talked shop with one another. In the end, though, the deal got done.

No one needs to be chided for the way they did things.

The Ravens got a quarterback.

And their quarterback got rich.

September can't get here soon enough.

---

There has been a lot of chatter lately about "fixing Baltimore" and how the city's condition -- if that's the right word -- potentially impacts attendance at baseball games throughout the 6-month season.

Well, here's a novel thought.

You know what might go a long way in "fixing" Baltimore? The Orioles.

Seems weird, right? But it's very possible that what Baltimore needs -- in part -- is for the Orioles to once again be a hot ticket item and a contender in the American League East. And not just this year, either. Next year. And the year after, too.

The Orioles returning to glory won't be Baltimore's magic elixir. There will still be problems. Crime isn't going away completely because the baseball team suddenly goes 95-67.

But there's no doubt that a couple of years of successful baseball can help get things back on track in Baltimore, particularly in the areas within a couple of miles of Camden Yards.

Those of you old enough to remember the early 1980's in Charm City will recall that the Baltimore Blast were a significant part of the downtown area's rebirth. The Inner Harbor was just starting to gain steam as both a tourist and residential destination and the Blast's explosion (no pun intended) was critical to the increase in revenue for local bars and restaurants during the winter months.

Unlike the early 1980's, the two outdoor sports facilities are now downtown, which only serves to help the cause.

Football and baseball "seasons" are totally different. It certainly helps to have the Ravens be good, no two ways about it. But they play a 4-month regular season and by the time November and the cold weather rolls around, folks are generally thinking more about staying inside and keeping warm rather than venturing out somewhere downtown.

Baseball is six months. Once you to Memorial Day, you have four months of glorious "Land of Pleasant Living" weather and a game to follow almost every day.

Football is a Netflix TV show that comes out once a week. It's awesome and all, but the wait is painful.

Baseball is Family Feud on The Game Show Network. You like Steve Harvey? He's on every single night, 3 hours at a time.

And when it comes to downtown Baltimore, baseball simply does more because of the number of games (81) and the time of year the majority of the season is played in.

Baltimore does need a lot of work. No two ways about it. The Orioles, though, can help get the process moving by continuing their climb through the American League standings.

---

Ex-Michigan basketball star Hunter Dickinson is set to announce his new school sometime in the next day or two. Rumors are swirling that Kentucky is going to be his landing spot.

Dickinson flirted with Kansas, Villanova and Maryland in recent weeks. Kansas and Villanova make sense. They're national basketball powers. Maryland was probably just a convenient add-on to help drive up the price at Kansas or 'Nova. And by driving up their price, he got more out of John Calipari and Kentucky.

There's no telling how much Dickinson is going to rake in from the fine folks in Lexington, but you can bet it's going to be a lot of money.

The NCAA has a fancy term for it, "N.I.L.", which means Dickinson -- and other athletes -- get paid by outside agencies in exchange for the use of their name, image and likeness.

The schools, of course, are not allowed to use those potential payments as "recruiting inducements". Those deals are supposed to happen after a player has officially registered for classes at his (her) school of choice.

We all know that's a joke.

Dickinson is going to the highest bidder.

And the dirty little secret? Dickinson's cash haul will have virtually nothing at all to do with his name, image or likeness.

He'll get handed a million bucks by some dude in Lexington who owns a tech company that flourished during Covid and is overflowing with an endless supply of clients and, thankfully for Dickinson and Calipari, revenue.

Dickinson will never make "appearances" at a car dealership or be seen on a local TV commercial bragging about a mortgage company that "all Kentucky basketball fans can trust".

He's just going to get a bunch of money for playing basketball.

The NCAA should just abolish the whole "N.I.L." thing and just call it like it is. Everyone's for sale. Coaches are available for purchase. So, too, are players. It's a lot easier to put everything out in the open.

Hunter Dickinson is going to Kentucky because they have the money it takes to buy him.

End of story.

---

This week's PGA Tour event is in Charlotte, North Carolina at Quail Hollow GC, the site of last year's Presidents Cup and the venue where Justin Thomas won the first of his two PGA Championships.

It's a big ballpark, for starters, and with this week serving as one of the TOUR's "designated events", everyone except Jon Rahm is in the field and vying for the trophy and the $3-plus million first place check.

So the names you'll see below as our favorites are very much "household" players. But you can either bet on household names to win and collect -- like you did last week when we handed you Tony Finau and he won -- or you can not wager on the household names and then lose all of your wagers.

It's your call.

The last two times Rory McIlroy missed the cut at Augusta National, guess what he did a few weeks later at the Wells Fargo Championship? He won.

We think that's precisely what could happen this week in Charlotte. So, even at +800, we're comfortable playing McIlroy to win.

Viktor Hovland is at +2100 and his ball striking numbers are through-the-roof-good this season. We think this could be his week and the +2100 is just too inviting to pass up.

Cameron Young is also at +2100 and, like Hovland, is a ball-striking machine. He's due to win soon. And the bet here is he's going to win against a big field, too. This would be that kind of week for Young, who lost to Sam Burns in the Match Play final two months ago. We love Cameron Young's chances this week.

This also feels like a week where we might see Sam Burns come through with a win that all but guarantees him a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team this fall. And at +3600, no less. He's a big hitter with a great short game. And, as he showed in Austin back in March, when he makes birdies, he makes 'em in bunches.

Looking for a couple of longer long-shots?

Sahith Theegala (+4500) is someone to watch. So, too, is Keith Mitchell (+6000). Theegala, in particular, is a wise play. He's going to win something big this season. It's inevitable. And the Wells Fargo is potentially the place where it happens.

---

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #1, 2001 Masters -- Of all the things Tiger has ever done in golf, winning the 2001 Masters was the king of 'em all.

Why?

Because by winning the '01 Masters and owning all four major titles at the same time, Woods did something that Jack Nicklaus never did.

Tiger won the 2000 U.S. Open, the 2000 British Open and the 2000 PGA Championship.

Eight months later, he won the 2001 Masters. And there, in his trophy case in South Florida, sat all four major championship trophies.

Jack never held all four majors at the same time.

Arnie didn't.

Ben Hogan didn't.

Sam Snead didn't.

But Tiger did.

And one of the reasons why the 2001 Masters win was his #1 Top Moment was because he went the better part of eight months knowing what was on the table at Augusta National in April of 2001.

Eight months, every day, thinking about winning the Masters and doing something that no professional golfer had ever done: winning four major championships in succession.

Woods fired rounds of 70-66-68-68 to beat David Duval by two shots. As Woods rolled in his final, tournament clinching putt, Jim Nantz provided the phrase that summed it all up perfectly:

As grand...as it gets!

And it was grand indeed. No one did it before Woods and no one has done it since Woods. He's the only one.

	The Stats Nerd And His Numbers
Contributed by #DMD's data and numbers analyst The Stats Nerd

draft takeaways

Grades --

I generally agree that the grading of draft classes is kind of pointless and isn’t predictive of much of anything. There are still too many unknowns in player development to know who will pan out and who will flame out.

But at the same time I get that the media have to stretch out the story as long as possible and grading drafts fills a few columns. I have no problem with that.

The main problem with the grading such as it is, however, is that the grades tend to overvalue teams with a lot of draft capital (picks and position). These teams are generally not very good and thus are drafting early or they have been involved in a trade where they have traded away a key roster piece (often a QB).

It generally takes more than one or two draft picks to turn around a franchise with the exception, at times, of a franchise QB (see Colts drafting Andrew Luck and going from 2-14 to 11-5 and a playoff berth).

A bad team is not an Edge rusher away from contending for playoff success, for example. They need a lot of help for the most part over multiple drafts. Not always. But generally.

I am surprised there aren’t more draft rehash columns 3+ years later to “re-grade” those drafts. So much changes over 3, 4 or even 5 years. There is an analytic metric that assesses the success of draft classes based on players signing 2nd contracts after years 4 and 5.

That seems to me to be a better assessment of the quality of a draft class. Seems like easy material to fill the virtual pages of various sports themed websites. There are some of these articles but nowhere near the number we are barraged with in the immediate aftermath of a draft.

Draft Capital Over Expectation --

A fun talking point all weekend was that the Lions absolutely botched the draft. In R1 they selected a RB 12th (Jahmyr Gibbs) and a LB 18th (Jack Campbell). From a positional value perspective these selections are too valuable to be used on RB and LB where value can often be had throughout the draft.

But perhaps more importantly neither of these players were projected to be drafted anywhere near this high. Depending on who you listen to these players were expected to be drafted 15, 20, perhaps even 40 picks later.

And if one believes that a draft pick has a value that is akin to overpaying for that player in terms of the value of the pick. Even Gibbs admitted in an interview that he did not expect to be drafted until the mid to late 20’s.

Saying the selection was a rich price to pay is not the same thing as saying the players won’t be good players or fit well in a certain team’s system. It just means that the same player could have likely been selected later in the draft for less draft capital.

One of the big NFL analytic types has even created a metric to measure how far Over or Under Expectation a team’s picks are taken. For 20223, the Lions, 49ers and Chiefs are all effectively tied for poorest draft in this metric.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Eagles, Steelers and Giants had the best draft utilizing this metric. Time will tell if this actually means anything.

Quarterbacks –

Once Will Levis got past the Seahawks at 20, his only legitimate shot to get drafted in R1 was at 23 by the Vikings. When they went with WR Jordan Addison, the handwriting was on the wall and unless a team jumped up in to the 1st round, Levis wasn’t hearing his name called on Thursday night.

Oddly, the Titans grabbed Levis with the second pick of the 2nd round. I say oddly because had they made a deal to jump up to the bottom of R1 the Titans would have controlled Levis’s rights for 5 years rather than just the 4 that conveys with a selection after R1.

You will recall that the Ravens traded up in to the 1st round in 2018 when they selected Lamar Jackson 32nd. In the end, the contract fiasco makes this seem a distant memory but the Ravens had his service via the 5th year option in 2022 that they would not have had selecting him in R2.

That extra year of service control is often a huge point of emphasis particularly for a high dollar position like QB.

We will see how this year’s draft class develops over time. It’s important to recall that some groups develop differently than others. Some players have immediate impact on their teams but most don’t.

The draft is a vehicle to add stars but perhaps just as importantly, depth. Deshon Elliott, Bradley Bozeman, Broderick Washington and Geno Stone are all 6th or 7th round draft picks that have played significant snaps for the Ravens recently.

We will look back in a few years and see if this year’s and last year’s draft picks step up and fill out the Raven’s roster.

For fun, I looked at a “Way Too Early 2024 Mock Draft” and the writer has the Ravens selecting Alabama CB Kool-Aid McKinstry. I hope he is the selection simply because that is one of the great nicknames I’ve heard in recent years. But we will table 2024 draft projections for a while.

Tuesday May 2, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3172

water cooler discussion

There are many things going on in the sports world that are worthy of good old fashioned "water cooler talk".

Some are even local stories.

A few are probably of the "dead horse" variety, but still worthy of discussion because of who is involved in the topic.

Like, for instance, the one below.

"What would it mean for LeBron's legacy if he takes this raggy, scruffy Lakers team to this year's NBA Finals?"

It's one thing to take a really good team all the way to the Finals. That's hard enough. But this misfit group James has in L.A. has no business at all winning anything in the post-season. And they've already disposed of Memphis in six games.

The Lakers play Golden State next. The winner gets to face either Denver or Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals. There's no telling what L.A. will do against Golden State, but "what if"???

What if they somehow beat Golden State and then get past either Denver or Phoenix?

I realize LeBron-legacy-talk has been beaten into the ground, but this is a NBA topic worth discussing. I'm not sure he needs anything else in his career, but if James can take this highly mediocre Lakers team to the NBA Finals, isn't that, can we say, Jordan-esque?

The Orioles haven't had many home-grown "franchise players" over the last 20 years. The two most obvious ones are Manny Machado and Adley Rutschman. And Machado, of course, wasn't signed to a new contract once his rookie deal expired.

So.....the water cooler question.

"At what point do you, if you're the Orioles, have a serious discussion with Rutschman about a long-term contract extension?"

Is it after this season?

Or do you wait and see what he does next season and give yourself a 3-year window to evaluate him on? That could, of course, cost you more money if he has a bang-up year in 2024.

And if you do decide you want to sign him, what's the freight? $300 million for 8 years? I know you're going to stumble around the room like Fred Sanford when I write this ----- but ----- $300 million for 8 years might not be enough.

It might take $400 million for 10 years.

Whatever it takes, it's going to be a lot of money.

Do it now? Wait a year? And all that said, would Adley even take the money now? Or would he wait it out to see how much he can get from the Yankees or Dodgers?

Or are you of the mindset that the Birds would be best suited just to let Adley play 4 or 5 seasons and see if there's even a sliver of hope that he'll sign in Baltimore long term? We saw how that strategy worked with Machado. Or, as it were, "didn't work".

The talk in the golf world this week is about Jon Rahm's 2023 season to date, where he's already made $14 million and set the single-season earnings record despite half the season still remaining.

Rahm has 4 wins already, including the Masters, and coulda-shoulda-woulda won 3 other events (Torrey, Phoenix, Mexico).

The water cooler question is...

"What's a better bet to happen? Rahm doesn't win again this season or he wins another major and 3 other tournaments to finish with 8 wins and 2 majors in 2023?"

There are very few sure things in golf.

Tiger was a sure thing for about 12 years.

In women's golf, Annika was a sure thing for well over a decade.

Bernhard Langer has been a sure thing in senior golf over the last 14 years.

But not much else in golf is a sure thing. The sport and the nature of the golf swing are just too topsy turvy.

That said, Jon Rahm winning again in 2023 is, without a doubt, a sure thing. Will he win another major? I think he might, actually. Will he win three or four more tournaments between now and the end of the season? I think he might do that, too.

One thing I know for sure: Rahm is not going winless between now and the end of August. I don't know much. But I know that.

You might have seen the story from Ohio on Monday where state gambling regulators urged licensed sportsbooks to not take any wagers on the University of Alabama's baseball team "until further notice".

This advice was handed down after an independent gambling "integrity study" showed a suspicious series of wagers made on the Alabama-LSU baseball game last Friday, won by the Tigers, 8-6. LSU was a minus-245 favorite in the game.

Water cooler discussion...

Sometime between now and the end of calendar year 2024, will there be a college or professional game that clearly and unquestionably gets exposed as "fixed"?

There's an extraordinary amount of gambling money floating around these days. And while the high profile NFL and college games might be hard to orchestrate, it wouldn't be all that difficult to, shall we say, "influence" a mid-major basketball game in the middle of February on a Wednesday night.

And all it would take is one large wager 15 minutes before tip-off on, for example, Miami of Ohio getting 8.5 points on the road at Bowling Green. A few Bowling Green players get introduced to so-and-so. He mentions he's already talked with some Miami of Ohio players. Both teams are 3-9 in conference play, going nowhere fast. "Why not?" the players ask one another.

"We make sure Miami of Ohio covers and each player gets $10,000 cash?" It's better than going to class, right?

Now that gambling is legal everywhere, these kinds of episodes are increasing in possibility. College sports seem very ripe for chicanery.

Will it happen over the next 18 months? Will a game be "fixed" and discovered as such?

Now that the dust has settled and Lamar is "in", plus the draft is over and a couple of free agents have signed on, what's your Ravens prediction for 2023?

Better yet......how about we answer this: In order for the 2023 season to be successful, the Ravens must............do what?

That's your water cooler question.

"What constitutes a successful 2023 season for the Ravens in your mind?"

They have their quarterback. They have a veteran (former) star in OBJ and a decent-enough pick up in Nelson Agholor. Oh, and they drafted one of the wide receivers everyone has been raving about (Flowers).

Their defense was good in 2022. It should be good again in 2022.

Don't forget, Greg Roman is gone. That in and of itself makes 90% of the fan base giddy.

So what's a successful 2023 season?

The schedule isn't all that difficult, mind you.

Six games against AFC North teams.

Houston, the Rams, Indianapolis and Seattle at home, along with Miami and Detroit.

Away it's the Chargers, Jaguars, Titans, Cardinals and 49'ers.

Looks like one of three finishes to me: 11-6 if things don't go well. 12-5 if things go about as expected. 13-4 if things go better than we think they will.

I think there's a way better chance the Ravens go 13-4 than 11-6. Then again, Lamar has to play in December. And, well, we all know how that's gone in the last two years.

In the end, I'd say nothing less than a trip to the AFC Championship game is acceptable.

What say you?

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

This was a critical week for the remaining title races in the top domestic European leagues. With the Champions League off for the week, there were multiple games for most of the English Premier League, including the most important matchup of the season. In Germany the title race see-sawed once again over the weekend. There were also several high leverage games in the chase for Champions League spots in Italy.

It was a rough weekend all around for Americans, with more bad results for teams fighting relegation and an unfortunate injury setback for one of the key World Cup performers. One of the few bright spots was Josh Sargent, who played well for Norwich City in a 2-1 loss to West Bromwich, scoring their only goal of the game, his 13th on the season.

England --

This may very well have been the week that ends up deciding the Premier League title race. On Wednesday, Manchester City hosted Arsenal in a clash of the top two and the most important game of the season. Arsenal entered the game with a five point lead, but having played two extra games. By the end of the weekend it was Manchester City back in the driver seat, on course for their third straight league title.

In the crucial clash between the title contenders, it was City who came away with a resounding 4-1 victory. The game was City’s from the start, with a 7th minute goal from Kevin De Bruyne assisted by Erling Haaland. Haaland won the battle for a long ball from John Stones with an amazing two touches to play De Bruyne on the break and the Belgian did the rest, beating several defenders before firing a low shot past keeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Stones added a second goal with a powerful header off a pinpoint free kick delivery from De Bruyne just before halftime. De Bruyne then scored again after the break with another Haaland assist after a horrendous pass from Martin Odegaard sparked a City counter. Arsenal managed to score a consolation goal through Rob Holding, but it was too little too late as Haaland found the net in the final moments of the game, making it 4-1.

For as much as Pep Guardiola is known for inventive tactical tweaks, it was almost back to the basics for this one, as City deployed a fairly standard 4-4-2 shape and exploited Arsenal with direct play to the front two of Haaland and De Bruyne. Pep simply let his absurdly talented duo wreak havoc on the Arsenal back line and stocked his own back line with essentially four center backs to solidify the defense.

It was near total domination for City, who had 14 shots against 8 for Arsenal and created 4 big chances to none for Arsenal. The expected goals numbers match the difference in the score line with City at 2.53 xG and Arsenal just 0.48.

With City's title hopes now firmly in their own hands, they traveled to face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday and continued to march their way to the title. They came away with a 2-1 win that was more lopsided than the score would suggest, putting them one point ahead of Arsenal, with a game still in hand.

In this game it was Julian Alvarez leading the way in place of Kevin De Bruyne, winning an early penalty then scoring the winning goal with a long range wonderstrike. Haaland added another goal to his historic tally as well, converting the penalty for the first City goal.

With the one point lead in the standings and a game in hand, Manchester City now looks well on the way to their third straight title with oddsmakers setting them as heavy favorites and analytics site FiveThirtyEight giving City a 92% chance of wearing the crown.

On the other side of the field it was a tough day for American center back Tim Ream. The Fulham captain was caught in a tough position and gave up the foul for the penalty for City’s first goal. He was then forced to leave midway through the first half with a fractured arm that will likely end his season and put him in question for USMNT duty this summer.

Further down the table, Liverpool hosted Tottenham in a thrilling 4-3 shootout with the hosts taking a three goal first half lead before Tottenham stormed back in the second half. The visitors capped off the comeback with a dramatic injury time equalizer from Richarlison only for Liverpool to find the winner through Diogo Jota immediately off the ensuing kickoff.

At the bottom of the table in the relegation scrap, Leeds had another setback with a 4-1 loss to Bournemouth, leaving them just one point above the relegation line. Weston McKennie started for Leeds and had a decent outing despite the loss. Brenden Aaronson didn’t get off the bench in this one.

Germany --

Just a week after finally pushing ahead of Bayern in the title race, Borussia Dortmund stumbled and left the door open for the perennial champions once again. On Friday Dortmund dropped points with a devastating 1-1 draw against 16th place VFL Bochum.

After each team scored within the first ten minutes, Dortmund was unable to capitalize on the five big chances they created compared to none for Bochum and were forced to settle for a draw. Gio Reyna only came on as a late sub in this one and helped set up a chance almost immediately after entering, but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

On Saturday morning Bayern Munich took advantage of the opening, getting back on track with a 2-0 win over last place Hertha Berlin to leap back over Dortmund to the top of the table. The Bavarians were led by an outstanding all-around game from Joshua Kimmich, who assisted both goals with perfectly chipped balls over the defense into the box.

Kimmich had a ridiculous 11 chances created, connecting on 111 of 121 passes, including 10 of 11 long balls and recovering the ball 10 times on defense. The win leaves Bayern one point ahead of Dortmund with four games remaining.

In the competition for the other two Champions League qualification spots, Freiburg won 1-0 over Koln to move into a tie for third place with Union Berlin, who took a point from a scoreless draw with Bayer Leverkusen. RB Leipzig won 1-0 over Hoffenheim to stay close on their heels, two points behind in fifth place.

Spain --

The top remained the same in La Liga with Barcelona and Real Madrid each getting comfortable wins. The leaders won 4-0 over Real Betis led by a goal from league leader Robert Lewandowski to maintain their eleven point lead. Real Madrid scored four as well in a 4-2 win over Almeria with a hat-trick from Karim Benzema, who moved just two goals behind Lewandowski in the race for the top goalscorer.

Italy --

Napoli will have to wait another week to officially secure their first Serie A title in 33 years, as they drew 1-1 with Salernitana on Sunday. In the scramble for Champions League qualification, Inter Milan got a pivotal win over second place Lazio with a dramatic late scoring barrage. After going behind in the first half, Inter poured in three goals in the final fifteen minutes to come away with a 3-1 victory that moved them slightly ahead of cross-town rivals AC Milan as well as Roma by the goal differential tiebreaker.

The three clubs are all tied on points for the fourth and final Champions League spot after AC Milan and Roma played to a thrilling 1-1 draw on Saturday, where both goals came minutes apart in injury time. Juventus tied Bologna 1-1 to hold their place in third.

France --

Paris St. Germain left the door open a bit in the title race in Ligue 1, dropping a game to 10th place Lorient in a 3-1 loss. It allowed Marseille to close the gap to five points with five games remaining after their 2-1 win over Auxerre.

Team of the Week --

G: Ter Stegen - Barcelona

D: Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool; Stones - Man City; Christensen - Barcelona; Dimarco - Inter

M: De Bruyne - Man City; Kimmich - Bayern; Barella - Inter

F: Benzema - Real Madrid; Haaland - Man City; Kane - Tottenham

Player of the Week --

Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City

While teammate Erling Haaland will get all the awards and accolades this season with his eye-popping and record setting goal scoring, De Bruyne has been just as important in Manchester City’s successful run. De Bruyne’s spectacular performance in the potentially title-deciding victory over Arsenal on Wednesday gives him the edge over the also spectacular Joshua Kimmich for this award this week.

The Belgian combined with Haaland to put on a show, terrorizing the Arsenal backline to dominate the game. De Bruyne scored the first goal of the game with an outstanding run and even better finish. He then assisted the second goal with a patented free kick delivery curling in from the right wing. Finally he tallied the third goal of the game, stealing a poor pass from Odegaard and shuffling it to Haaland before breaking on goal to receive it back and slot it past the keeper.

A Kevin De Bruyne in peak form along with the golden footed Haaland could just be the dynamic duo to finally lead City past Real Madrid and to the promised land in the Champions League this season.

Monday May 1, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3171

baseball's first month

I know the 2023 baseball season actually started at the end of March, but for context purposes, we're calling April the first month of the campaign.

The Birds completed a 19-9 first month yesterday with a 5-3 win over the Tigers in Detroit. It would have been 20-8 if Ryan McKenna wouldn't have dropped a game-ending fly ball in Boston in the opening series in late March, but that's water under the bridge at this point.

Editor's note: Freakin' McKenna better hope the O's don't miss the playoffs by one win.

I wrote here 10 days ago that the O's were in great position to establish themselves as a legit A.L. contender during the second, 16-game segment of the campaign. I thought the Birds could easily produce a record of 20-12 at the 32-game mark. With 5 games remaining, they could go 24-8. At worst, it would appear they'll be something like 22-10. Wouldn't that be something?

Yes, the "real teams" come calling in May and June, but you play who they put in front of you, right? And wouldn't we much rather see the O's feast on the lousy squads?

So what else happened in the first month of the season? We're glad you asked. We're here to tell you.

Four teams have yet to lose at least 10 games -- Tampa Bay (6), Baltimore (9), Pittsburgh (9) and Atlanta (9) all still have single-digit loss totals. The Rays have the best record in baseball thus far. Pittsburgh, though, is the biggest surprise in the league through the first month. They have 20 wins already. There were some folks who thought they might not reach 20 wins until early June.

Likewise, four teams have yet to win 10 games -- Colorado (9), Chicago (8), Kansas City (7) and Oakland (6) are still looking for win #10. The White Sox have to be the ones kicking themselves the most. They actually have decent pitching and a solid lineup. But something is wrong in the Windy City. It must be tough to play baseball and have your season basically be over by the beginning of May. We're famililar with that theme in Baltimore, of course. It's a bad way to go.

The A.L. Central is horrible. Beyond horrible, really -- Minnesota leads the division at 17-12. They're the only team above .500 in the division. Cleveland is next at 13-15. They will eventually turn it around and win the division, I'm guessing. But the other three (Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City) are all going to be hard pressed to win 70 games. One of them probably finishes with less than 60 wins, actually.

On the flip side, every team in the A.L. East is above .500 -- I assume the Red Sox will eventually finish with 75 wins, but all four other A.L. East clubs could/should hit the 85 win mark, if not 90. Three A.L. East teams will make the playoffs. One "good" team will miss out. I'm starting to think this is the year the Yankees get too much many injuries to key players and bow out gracefully in September, finishing with 83, 84 or 85 wins.

Max Muncy leads the majors with 11 home runs -- I know you might be doing the math and thinking "11 home runs times 6 months equals 66 home runs." Yeah, that's the math. But it's not going to happen. Muncy isn't hitting 66 home runs. He's not even hitting 56. In fact, I doubt he reaches 46. The home run leader in MLB -- if it's not Aaron Judge -- will be Rafael Devers of the Red Sox. He has 10 already. I could see him threatening the 50-homer mark if he stays healthy.

Not that Clayton Kershaw needed to have a great 2023 for any reason -- But the Dodgers lefty is off to a wonderful start in 2023, going 5-1 with a 1.89 ERA thus far. Here's a weird, quirky Kershaw stat: He's won EXACTLY half the games he's started in his MLB career. He's made 404 starts and has a record of 202-88.

Oh, and because I thought this would be fun, I went back and dug up my pre-season predictions from back on March 28 -- As you'll see below, I have Atlanta and Cleveland in the World Series. I'm still feeling very comfortable with that call, even though the Guardians are off to a bit of a slow start.

Here's how I saw things back before the 2023 season started.

A.L. East -- New York (1), Toronto (2), Baltimore (3), Tampa Bay (4), Boston (5)

Notes: Yankees get pitching help in mid-season after Rodon battles injuries in his first year in NYC; Blue Jays lead by 3 games at Labor Day but stumble in September. The Yankees go 95-67 to win the division.

May 1 update and commentary: Rodon is battling injuries. Blue Jays are off to a good start. Not sure the Yankees have enough to get to 95 wins.

A.L. Central -- Cleveland (1), Chicago (2), Minnesota (3), Kansas City (4), Detroit (5)

Notes: This winds up being one of the more competitive races in baseball. Kansas City gets off to a great start before faltering in June. The White Sox make some moves at the deadline to keep pace with the Guardians, but Cleveland goes 92-70 to win the division.

May 1 update and commentary: Kansas City did not get off to a great start. They faltered in April, not June. The White Sox are going to have to do quite a bit to "keep pace" with Cleveland.

A.L. West -- Seattle (1), Houston (2), L.A. Angels (3), Texas (4), Oakland (5)

Notes: The Mariners wrestle away the division crown from Houston with a 94-68 record. Altuve's early season injury gets Houston off to a slow start and they're never able to fully recover from a 10-game deficit at Memorial Day. Ohtani has a massive year in L.A. and the Angels actually have a shot at the wild card before falling short in September.

May 1 update and commentary: I guess all of this could still happen. Seattle is scuffling but they'll be OK. Houston is 15-13 and hanging around. I doubt they'll be 10 games out at Memorial Day. But all in all, this division is still wide open.

N.L. East -- Atlanta, (1), Philadelphia (2), NY Mets (3), Miami (4), Washington (5)

Notes: The top three finishers all enter September with a chance to win the division but it's the Braves who eventually wind up on top after they get several outstanding starts from deadline acquisition Madison Bumgarner in the final three weeks of the season. The Phillies and Mets both make the post-season, while Miami and Washington -- to borrow a horse racing term -- are eased by early July.

May 1 update and commentary: Still feeling warm and fuzzy about this "call", except it won't be Madison Bumgarner the Braves acquire in July. Maybe Chris Sale? Or Zack Greinke?

N.L. Central -- St. Louis (1), Milwaukee (2), Chicago (3), Pittsburgh (4), Cincinnati (5)

Notes: This division goes down to the wire as the Cardinals pull away with an 18-9 record in September to nip Milwaukee by 2 games and the Cubs by 4 games. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati? They're waiting for football season to start by the end of June.

May 1 update and commentary: I could be way off on this one. Pittsburgh might not wind up a playoff threat or anything, but they apparently have the makings of something decent in 2023. Maybe they lead the division at the All-Star break before faltering in August? The Cardinals are having a tough go of it early on. Milwaukee looks solid thus far.

N.L. West -- San Diego (1), Los Angeles (2), Arizona (3), San Francisco (4), Colorado (5)

Notes: The Padres fulfill their expectations with a division title and the Dodgers will finish the year 13-2 to steal a wild card spot from the Brewers. Arizona makes some surprise noise early in the season before finding their place in the middle of the pack.

May 1 update and commentary: I'm still feeling good about this one, too. San Diego will eventually put it all together to win the division. The Dodgers will be there, too, though. Maybe this is the year they finish 2nd and work through the playoffs to the World Series?

A.L. Playoffs --

Wild Card: Mariners (division winner) beat Orioles

Wild Card: Blue Jays beat Houston

ALDS: Guardians beat Mariners

ALDS: Blue Jays beat Yankees

ALCS: Guardians beat Blue Jays

N.L. Playoffs --

Wild Card: Cardinals (division winner) beat Mets

Wild Card: Dodgers beat Philadelphia

NLDS: Braves beat Cardinals

NLDS: Padres beat Dodgers

NLCS: Braves beat Padres

World Series: Braves beat Guardians, 4-games-to-2

---

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #2, 2019 Masters -- This was the one. This was the major championship win where we all said, "It wasn't over after all, was it?"

This was the tournament and the win where the Tiger haters were served a huge dish of humble pie.

Tiger went from 2008 through 2018 failing to win a major title. Other than the 2009 PGA and the 2018 British Open, Tiger didn't really have all that many chances to win a major during that 10 year period. He was injured, injured again, and injured some more.

But in 2019 at Augusta National, it all came together. Yes, he got some back nine help on Sunday from guys like Koepka, Finau and Molinari. None of them could make a par at #12. Tiger did. And with birdies at #15 and #16, he was able to hold a 2-shot lead on the 18th tee. Even a final hole bogey couldn't dampen the victory for Woods, which turned out to be his 81st career win.

"The return to glory!" Jim Nantz said as Woods rolled in the 12 inch putt to win the 2019 Masters.

And indeed that's what it was. After going a decade without a major title, Tiger returned to the winner's circle in improbable -- and glorious -- fashion.

Here's that final hole in 2019 and the celebration that ensued.

Sunday April 30, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3170

draft grades are here

I'll admit to employing a tough grading system when it comes to computing what I think the Ravens deserve for the now-complete 2023 NFL Draft.

I might as well get right to it.

I'm giving the Ravens a C+ for their draft.

And here's why: In every situation, they could have drafted someone different. Take, for instance, Baltimore's first round pick.

Jordan Addison was available. You know, the rock star wide receiver from USC. Why not select him instead of Zay Flowers? If Addison goes to the Vikings and lights it up, we'll be singing the blues about letting Addison get away from us with that 22nd pick.

The same goes for that pick at #86. The Ravens picked Trenton Simpson from Clemson. But they passed on DeMarvion Overshown from Texas. Overshown is really, really good. I dinged them, grade wise, for going with Simpson instead of Overshown.

And then, in the 3rd round...

Hopefully, by now, you've picked up on what I'm trying to do or you're seething mad and ready to blast me in the Comments section.

None of what I wrote above is true.

Well, it is true the Ravens could have picked Addison instead of Flowers or Overshown instead of Simpson. Those are accurate statements.

But I'm not giving the Ravens a C+ for the draft.

I'm not giving them a B+, either. Nor an A+.

The Ravens don't get a grade for their 2023 draft.

Not yet, anyway.

Why not?

Because grading a draft the morning after it happens -- a full five months before any of those drafted players suits up for a NFL game -- is about the dumbest thing "we" do in sports.

Sure, we're all laughing at the Lions for their first two picks in the first round on Thursday night. But we won't be laughing if those two guys help Detroit to a 12-5 record in 2023.

And we certainly won't think it's funny if Detroit strolls in here next season and beats the Ravens, 27-23.

Grading the draft the morning after is so dumb.

College football is great. It's a perfect grooming ground for the NFL. But playing on Saturday is far different than playing on Sunday. Ask Matt Leinart. Or Baker Mayfield. You can even ask more familiar names like Miles Boykin or Tim Williams.

What did you in college doesn't matter one bit once you've been drafted by a NFL team.

So, my grade for this week's Ravens draft?

They get a big............fat.................incomplete.

That's the same grade the Eagles, Texans and Steelers (whom everyone says "won" the draft) get from me as well. They drafted solid college football players. That much is true. Now, they have to get those guys to be solid NFL players. Therein lies the challenge.

So, as far as the Ravens draft goes, check back with me in a couple of years. And keep your eyes open for what Jordan Addison does in Minnesota. Right?

But, we do have some grades to give out today. Let's grade the 2017, 2018 and 2019 drafts, shall we? I mean, everyone thought those drafts were awesome for the Ravens when they happened. There were A's all around. Now, though, looking back? Maybe not so much.

2017 Ravens Draft

1. Marlon Humphrey

2. Tyus Bowser

3. Chris Wormley

3. Tim Williams

4. Nico Siragusa

5. Jermaine Eluemunor

6. Chuck Clark

Analysis: Ravens got a potential HOF cornerback in Humphrey and a competent pass rush specialist in Bowser. And a steal in the 6th round with Chuck Clark. Other than that, it was a whiff.

Grade: B-

2018 Ravens Draft

1. Hayden Hurst

1. Lamar Jackson

3. Orlando Brown Jr.

3. Mark Andrews

4. Anthony Averett

4. Kenny Young

5. Jaleel Scott

5. Jordan Lasley

6. DeShon Elliott

6. Greg Senat

6. Bradley Bozeman

7. Zach Sieler

Analysis: This was a weird draft. You either turned into a starting NFL player or you were a complete bust. Obviously the Jackson and Andrews picks were stellar. Hurst, Brown and Bozeman had nice short-term runs with the Ravens before moving on to continue their careers elsewhere. Fortunately for the Ravens, their "whiffs" in this draft were all near the bottom of the list. Guys like Jackson (A) and Andrews (A) helped the grade for 2018, big time.

Grade: B+

2019 Ravens Draft

1. Marquise Brown

3. Jaylon Ferguson

3. Miles Boykin

4. Justice Hill

4. Ben Powers

4. Iman Marshall

5. Daylon Mack

6. Trace McSorley

Analysis: Yikes. I don't think Mom and Dad are going to be very happy when they see this report card. This was not a good year. The effort might have been there but the results sure weren't. The only guy left on the Ravens roster is Justice Hill and he's been a "decent" player over the last four seasons, but that's about it. Powers emerged in 2022 and parlayed a really nice season into a big contract with Denver. Brown is hanging on in Arizona. Boykin is trying to find himself in Pittsburgh. I have no idea what grade you gave this draft back in 2019, but four years later, it's ugly.

Grade: D

But we do have grades for the 2023 Draft. They are in. They're just not "#DMD grades" because we think it's really silly to grade something that might take 3 or 4 years to pan out.

The folks at Pro Football Focus are known around the country as the top "rating" platform when it comes to the NFL. They rate every play, every player, etc., week in and week out. Their grade for the Ravens 2023 Draft? They gave Baltimore a "B".

NFL.com gave the Ravens an "A". It probably seems weird to you that the NFL itself is grading what one of their teams did in the Draft, but, hey, content is content, right? Gotta have something for the website.

USA Today gave the Ravens a "B+" and ranked their draft 8th best out of the 32 teams.

The Sporting News gave the Ravens an "A". It should also be mentioned they gave 11 other teams an "A" as well. When almost half the teams get an "A", you know the grading system is fairly soft.

So there you have it.

The Ravens wound up picking six players in 2023. They were able to make a late deal for a 2024 pick and snagged Andrew Voorhees of USC, who will likely miss most of the upcoming season while recovering from a torn ACL in his knee.

1st round - Zay Flowers (WR) -- Eric DeCosta says Flowers was "one of the most impressive interviews I've ever done in the drafting process." Let's hope that translates to on the field success as well. It's hard not to be excited about Flowers. Now, let's just hope he doesn't take too long to bloom.

3rd round - Trenton Simpson (LB) -- He will presumably take -- at some point -- the spot currently occupied by Patrick Queen. We're not sure if that says more about Queen or more about Simpson.

4th round - Tavius Robinson (Edge) -- Canadian born, 6'6" pass rusher. This pick likely goes one of two ways. He either turns into a star or becomes Tim Williams.

5th round - Kyu Blue Kelly (CB) -- Ravens were looking for a tough, physical corner and they apparently got one in Kelly, a four-year starter at Stanford.

6th round - Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu (OL) -- Will probably be moved around from tackle to guard in Baltimore but the Ravens were searching for a Ben Powers replacement and they potentially found one in the kid from Oregon.

7th round - Andrew Vorhees (OL) -- It could take a year for this pick to come to fruition, but Voorhees might turn out to be a wise pick by DeCosta once all the dust settles.

---

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #3, 2000 U.S. Open -- "Perfection at Pebble Beach." "The Greatest Golf Ever Played." "The Knockout Blow." Those were all headlines after Tiger Woods dusted the field by 15 shots at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

"This will be, in our lifetime, the greatest major championship performance we ever see," said Phil Mickelson after Tiger posted rounds of 65-69-71-67 to finish at 12-under. Second place that year was 3 over par. Only one player in the entire field broke par that week at Pebble Beach.

Here were are in 2023 and Mickelson, at least as of now, was spot on with that statement.

Woods annilihated both the field and the treacherous set-up at Pebble Beach, where USGA officials were beaming early in the week at a course they believed would stand up to par for all 18 holes.

"The set-up at Pebble that week was exactly what we wanted," said the USGA's Mike Davis. "We thought an even par score for 72 holes would be very difficult to attain and we were right. Except for one player."

Woods entered the 2000 U.S. Open with two major wins; the '97 Masters and the '99 PGA. When he left Pebble Beach on that Sunday evening in June, he had his third major and was completing step one of an epic journey that would take 10 more months to complete.

The 7-minute video below takes you through Tiger's historic four days at Pebble Beach.

Saturday April 29, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3169

there's picks and then there's that pick

OK, so I'll readily admit I don't see the sense in the selection of Trenton Simpson last night.

But I'm not the Ravens general manager and I certainly don't have access to the organization's "inner thoughts", either.

On the surface, it doesn't add up.

Yes, Simpson is a highly rated prospect out of Clemson. No two ways about that. But he plays a position -- inside linebacker -- where the Ravens are sorta-kinda already jammed with talent.

In fact, one of those guys seemed a little puzzled last night when the Ravens drafted Simpson with the 86th pick (3rd round).

"Sheesh" was all that Patrick Queen said on Twitter when the pick was announced. It's not always easy to read context on Twitter, but I can't imagine that was "Sheesh, what a great player that guy from Clemson is..."

Queen, like many of us, probably doesn't understand why the Ravens would take an inside linebacker when they already have Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen in that category. Queen probably also realizes the Ravens only have two more days to pick up the 5th year option on his rookie contract.

Hence, the cryptic "sheesh" comment last night when the Simpson pick was announced.

Eric DeCosta said all the right things on Friday evening when discussing the Simpson pick and Queen's situation in Baltimore.

"We love Patrick here." DeCosta said. "I think he's developed into one of the best WILL linebackers in the league."

Maybe that's true.

But the selection of Simpson would seem to indicate that the Ravens are starting to consider what life's going to be like after Patrick Queen, either after this upcoming 2023 season or following the 2024 campaign.

They just gave Roquan Smith $100 million last December. It stands to reason they're not going to pony up that kind of cash for Queen and spend upwards of $35-$40 million annually on two linebackers.

In that regard, if they are planning to part company with Queen after the 2023 season (or, perhaps, even trade him this off-season), the Simpson pick makes great sense. He was highly rated coming out of Clemson, with a technique flaw or two keeping him from going in the top 40.

But if the Ravens do wind up signing Queen to a long-term deal, the Simpson pick takes on a new look. Perhaps it was as simple as he was the next guy on the Baltimore draft board and they made an internal decision to stick with that philosophy no matter the name or position when it was time to pick at 86.

It would appear the team's needs for '23 are more pressing than at the linebacker position. Maybe they feel confident they'll be able to sign Rock Ya-Sin or another free cornberback to pair up with Marlon Humphrey. If that's the case, perhaps cornerback isn't as much of a "must have" as we think it is from the outside-looking-in.

Simpson was a highly decorated player at Clemson. No two ways about it. And he might very well turn out to be a high level NFL player.

This isn't an attempt to say he was a bad pick. There's no way of knowing if any of these players who were selected on Thursday or Friday are "bad pick" or "good picks" until they've played a few seasons in the league.

But it's definitely a strange pick given Queen's current role within the team. That is, unless the organization has already made an internal decision to part ways with him after the upcoming campaign.

And that, it would appear, is exactly what has transpired in Baltimore. The Patrick Queen era will last just four short seasons unless we're reading the tea leaves wrong.

Just because it's fun to do this on the incredibly rare occasion that it's even possible, we thought we'd share with you the top three teams in all of Major League Baseball four weeks into the season.

Tampa Bay -- 23-5 (.815)

Pittsburgh -- 18-8 (.682)

BALTIMORE -- 17-8 (.680)

Yes, that means the Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Braves, Phillies, Mets -- you know, all the "real teams" -- are lagging behind the Rays, Pirates and Orioles one month into the season.

Don't you love it?

Now, it stands to reason that Tampa Bay and Baltimore aren't total surprises. Pittsburgh? Yes. But the Rays and O's were expected to both be decent-if-not-pretty-good in 2023.

Even still, it's fun to see three of the "smaller guys in the room" going toe-to-toe with the bullies of the league and more than holding their own.

The Pirates, at least for now, are the shock of Major League Baseball. They are 9-4 both at home and on the road and they've won 9 of their last 10 games. Sure, nearly every team in MLB goes on a 9-1 tear through 10 games once or twice during every season, but this is the Pirates we're talking about. There have been years in the recent past where they didn't have 18 wins through the end of May, let alone the end of April.

OK, you wanna dream a little?

How about an Orioles-Pirates World Series?

Better yet...

Ravens-Steelers at 1 pm at M&T Bank Stadium on a Sunday afteroon in late October. Orioles and Pirates at Camden Yards at 8:37 pm that night.

The city might blow up if that happened.

One can only dream, right?

Tiger's Top 10 Moments: #4, 2000 PGA Championship -- This is the one, much like the 2008 U.S. Open, where Woods faced a putt that, if he missed, would have given the title to someone else. It took place on the last hole of regulation against Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla. Woods was locked in a fierce dual with junior golf rival Bob May, who grew up in California and competed against Tiger as a kid.

After May rolled in an improbable birdie putt on the 72nd hole, Tiger was left with an incredibly difficult 8-foot birdie putt of his own. Make it, there's a playoff. Miss it and May wins. Oh, and a miss also ends Tiger's chances of winning the calendar year grand slam. He had triumphed at Pebble Beach (U.S. Open) and St. Andrews (British Open) prior to teeing it up at Valhalla for the PGA.

Woods made the birdie at the 18th hole on Sunday and the two players headed off for a 3-hole aggregate playoff. It was on the first playoff hole where Tiger made the birdie putt to go ahead and incorporated the now iconic "finger point" at the ball as it slipped into the hole to take a one-shot lead over May.

Tiger would go on to win that playoff to keep the grand slam dream alive and May, already a relative unknown prior to that event, slipped back into obscurity after the loss.

Here's a short video summarizing the win and the tense finish between Tiger and May.

Friday April 28, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3168

what a zay it was on thursday

Break out all of your best "flower" puns and quips.

They're going to get put to good use for at least the next four years, pending something weird happening.

With their first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft last night, the Ravens selected wide receiver Zay Flowers of Boston College.

Depending on which draft expert you follow and believe in, he was either the 2nd, 3rd or 4th best receiving option in the entire draft. Now we'll just wait and see if he blooms or wilts in Baltimore.

Thursday was a huge day for the Ravens. In fact -- we gotta start 'em some time -- you could say they "rose" to the occasion yesterday by announcing a new 5-year deal for Lamar Jackson and then later snagging Flowers in the draft's first round. The Ravens have now added three receiving weapons for Lamar this off-season; Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor.

It all started late Thursday afternoon when word started to spread that Jackson and the Ravens were on the verge of announcing a completed contract extension.

Late in the day, it was done: Five years, $260M, with $185M of that money "guaranteed" to Jackson. Lamar will make $52 million annually, making him -- for now, at least -- the league's highest paid player.

For 27 months, Lamar and the Ravens tried to hammer out a contract. Reports continued to circulate that Jackson wanted his contract to be fully guaranteed in the same framework of the one Deshaun Watson signed in Cleveland last year.

In the end, Jackson's deal was worth more money than Watson's, and even more than the one signed by Jalen Hurts last week. Lamar sorta-kinda got what he wanted, minus the guaranteed money part, and the Ravens got what they wanted, too. They held firm on the "not fully guaranteed" element of the contract and were still able to snag their franchise QB in time for him to participate in off-season activities.

And then last night, the Ravens got Lamar some more help when they drafted Flowers, the speedy receiver from Boston College who has drawn comparisons to Miami's Tyreek Hill over the last three months.

Give Eric DeCosta credit. He didn't let his organization's puzzling history of drafting wide receivers stop him from grabbing one of the top pass catchers last night. It remains to be seen if Flowers turns into an All-Pro caliber player, but there's no doubting his talents and abilities. It's now up to Todd Monken and the Ravens to get the best out of him.

The player the Ravens were hoping would be available to them at #22 -- according to my sources in Owings Mills -- went to the Washington Commanders at #16 when they selected cornerback Emmanuel Forbes out of Mississippi State. The other two wide receivers ahead of Flowers on Baltimore's board -- Smith-Njigba (Seattle) and Johnson (Chargers) -- were also gone by the time the Ravens picked at #22.

Armed with only five total picks in 2023, DeCosta couldn't really afford to move up in the draft to outfox either the Seahawks or Chargers, so they stayed put and had several options at #22. Flowers, Nolan Smith (edge), Jordan Addison (WR), Deonte Banks (CB) and Mazi Smith (DT) were all there for the taking once the Chargers opted to take Quentin Johnson of TCU at #21.

DeCosta ignored the skeptics and went with Flowers.

A thank you to Lamar for his diligence over the last 27 months?

A promise kept that the Ravens would continue to upgrade the receiving corps if Jackson, in fact, signed a long-term deal?

Or simply their highest ranked guy on the board once Smith-Njigba (#20) and Johnson (#21) went just ahead of the Ravens pick at 22?

No matter the reason, the Ravens went back to the drawing board last night with yet another first-round wide receiver pick, the third time DeCosta has gone that route (Hollywood Brown and Rashod Bateman).

And Lamar has to be thrilled at the developments of Thursday, April 27.

He got his deal. And a new receiving option.

The Ravens are beyond overjoyed, I'm sure.

You can't win in the NFL without a "star" quarterback. The Packers will find that out this season, as will a number of other teams who don't have a rock star in that position.

The Ravens are a legitimate Super Bowl contender heading into 2023 thanks to a memorable Thursday. If Lamar can stay healthy next season, there's no telling where John Harbaugh's team might finish.

Here's the first round from last night and a "quick hit" comment:

#1 Carolina, Bryce Young (QB) -- No shock. It was always him.

#2 Houston, C.J. Stroud (QB) -- The Texans don't care about tests. Good for them.

#3 Houston, Will Anderson (LB) -- Gutsy move to trade up for perhaps the best player in the draft.

#4 Indianapolis, Anthony Richardson (QB) -- Another Peyton? Or Mike Pagel?

#5 Seattle, Devon Witherspoon (CB) -- A shut down corner for Seattle's defense?

#6 Arizona, Paris Johnson Jr. (OT) -- Time to start really protecting Kyler.

#7 Las Vegas, Tyree Wilson (DT) -- Knowing the Raiders, probably a bad pick.

#8 Atlanta, Bijan Robinson (RB) -- Consensus best RB in the draft, by a lot.

#9 Philadelphia, Jalen Carter (DT) -- Already solid defense getting better.

#10 Chicago, Darnell Wright (OT) -- Nice pick from the Bears.

#11 Tennessee, Peter Skoronski OT) -- Not sure who he will protect, but a good pick for sure.

#12 Detroit, Jahmyr Gibbs (RB) -- Don't worry, no one else understands it either.

#13 Green Bay, Lukas Van Ness (DT) -- With no Rodgers, better learn to stop the other teams.

#14 Pittsburgh, Broderick Jones (OT) -- Steelers get help for Pickett.

#15 NY Jets, Will McDonald IV (OLB) -- Might be a risk at #15 but a good player.

#16 Washington, Emmanuel Forbes (CB) -- Did D.C. actually get something right for once?

#17 New England, Christian Gonzalez (CB) -- Amazing this guy fell to Belichick.

#18 Detroit, Jack Campbell (LB) -- Everyone else giggled too. Not just you.

#19 Tampa Bay, Calijah Kancey (DT) -- Were the Bucs paying attention to picks 1-18?

#20 Seattle, Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR) -- Best receiver in the draft.

#21 L.A. Chargers, Quentin Johnson (WR) -- As if Herbert actually needs more help?

#22 BALTIMORE, ZAY FLOWERS (WR) -- Bloom or bust?

#23 Minnesota, Jordan Addison (WR) -- Jefferson and Addison could be a nice duo.

#24 NY Giants, Deonte Banks (CB) -- One of the top CB's in the draft.

#25 Buffalo, Dalton Kincaid (TE) -- Bills' offense just got better. Oh joy.

#26 Dallas, Mazi Smith (DT) -- Cowboys always need defensive help, it seems.

#27 Jacksonville, Anton Harrison (OT) -- Help for Trevor Lawrence is a good idea.

#28 Cincinnati, Myles Murphy (EDGE) -- Hate to say it, but this looks like a solid pick.

#29 New Orleans, Brian Bresee (DT) -- Saints need help everywhere.

#30 Philadelphia, Nolan Smith (EDGE) -- Should be a good one.

#31 Kansas City, Felix Anudike-Uzomah (EDGE) -- Any defensive help the Chiefs get is a good thing.

---

Tiger's Top 10 Moments, #5 2008 U.S. Open -- This is the major title Tiger won on one leg. Well, one healthy leg, anyway. He captured his 3rd (and final) U.S. Open title at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California by beating Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff.

This was the tournament that sparked the great Dan Hicks line on the 18th green on Sunday: "Expect anything different?". Tiger, trailing Mediate by one, had to lay-up on the par 5 18th hole and hit an indifferent second shot into the right round, some 105 yards away from the green.

From there, he muscled a wedge to 12 feet, then made the bouncy, nervy putt for birdie to force the Monday playoff. They were still tied after 18 holes (people forget Woods had to make a 4-foot putt at 18 on Monday to keep the playoff going) and Tiger then won his 14th major title on the first hole of sudden death.

Woods wasn't even supposed to play in the event. Two weeks before, his doctor warned him not to play due to a stress fracture in his leg. But Tiger forged ahead nonetheless and limped around Torrey Pines for four days before finally finishing off Mediate in one of the more dramatic conclusions to a major championship in the last 50 years.

faith in sports

You haven't heard of Shane Kampe. He's not an athlete. But he's very much a part of today's "Faith in Sports" segment here at #DMD.

Occasionally we just see something so good it has to be shared. This is one of those such occasions.

Eight minutes is all you need to take out of your day to watch this video. Can you do that? Just eight minutes...

I promise, it's well worth it.

Thanks, as always, to our friends at Freestate Electrical for their continued support of #DMD and our Friday feature, "Faith in Sports."

Thursday April 27, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3167

ravens full draft is here

OK, so if you were around here yesterday you know I have the Ravens selecting Emmanuel Forbes of Mississippi State in tonight's first round of the NFL Draft.

But what else are the Ravens going to do?

I'm glad you asked.

We're going to do our best to tell you here at #DMD this morning.

The Ravens have five total picks in this year's Draft.

Their needs are obvious; defensive back, wide receiver, offensive and defensive line.

It also stands to reason the Ravens will likely add a running back if they can somehow trade for an extra pick or two along the way.

Here's who we see Eric DeCosta and Company adding over the next three days.

1st round, #22 -- Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State.

3rd round, #86 -- Marvin Mims Jr., WR, Oklahoma

4th round, #124 -- Braeden Daniels, OL, Utah

5th round, #157 -- Brandon Joseph, S, Notre Dame

6th round, #199 -- Rakim Jarrett, WR, Maryland

We'll add this little nugget: A bird on a tree in Owings Mills says the Ravens are "warm" on Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett. Whether they use a pick on him remains to be seen, but if he somehow goes undrafted you can expect the Ravens to add him as a post-draft free agent signing.

An interesting story has developed this week regarding Ohio State QB prospect C.J. Stroud, who is expected to go in the Top 10 in tonight's first round of the NFL Draft.

Some people -- Stroud among them -- would probably like to swap out the words "interesting story" for "disturbing story".

Earlier this week, Stroud participated in a NFL Youth Clinic and was asked about a recent leaked story that indicated the quarterback posted low scores on the S2 Cognition Test, which is used by a number of NFL teams to assess a draft prospect's ability to process information.

The testing process is fair. Teams should have the ability to run a potential draft pick through a series of tests that are both physical and mental in nature.

But is leaking the information fair?

It's assumed a team considering Stroud in the first round leaked the information to scare off other teams. But the teams all get the same general testing results. They know who tested well and who didn't.

Why leak a player's private information like that?

To Stroud's credit, he said all the right things yesterday when asked about the leaked information.

"I'm a football player. I'm not an S2 test taker," Stroud said on Wednesday after the youth football clinic. "But shout out to S2, man, they probably have a good system, what they do, no diss to them. But I know who I am, and I know what I can do on that field. And I'll do that at the next level."

It seems like ultra-dirty-pool to leak someone's personal testing information.

The NFL Draft is a place where dirty pool is part of the norm. Teams fib and do misdirection all the time. Heck, the Ravens likely brought in or two players this spring that they're actually not interested in drafting at all.

But they do that to produce the appropriate smokescreen, knowing word will get out that "Player A" was in Owings Mills for two days interviewing with the Ravens.

But leaking a player's personal test scores, particularly when they're low and could cause him embarrassment? Bush league called and said, "Man, that's a low blow."

A crowd of 12,044 saw the Orioles post a matinee 6-2 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday, as the Birds improved to 16-8 on the young season.

That 12,044 people were there for a mid-day game seems like a triumph to me. I mean, they're hard pressed to draw 12,044 for a weeknight game in April. So 12,044 for a Wednesday afternoon game is more than acceptable.

By now, I think we all know what to expect as it relates to Orioles attendance.

Weeknight games are in the 9,000-12,000 range depending on the opponent/weather/promotion, etc.

You might get the occasional Friday night game hit the 25,000 mark.

Saturday and Sunday games can see crowds of 25,000-35,000 if there are large groups in attendance or they're giving away a shirt, hat or something else of promotional value.

If the O's are in the playoff hunt come September, you could see those weeknight crowds swell to 15,000 or 20,000, I suspect.

But by now, in 2023, these are the attendance figures the Orioles are going to produce. Two decades of drab play, a general disconnection between franchise and fans, and TV packages and media platforms providing unique access have all led to attendance decay in Baltimore.

The days of averaging 30,000 or 33,000 are long gone. It just is what it is.

But they will still draw 10-12 really good crowds over the next five months and if the O's stay competitive in the A.L. East the stadium will swell in September.

Meanwhile, on the field, the Birds completed a 5-1 homestand with the mid-day win over the Red Sox yesterday. They'll now head to Detroit for four games starting tonight.

I wrote here last week the Birds have a great chance to reach the 20% portion of the 162-game schedule with a minimum record of 20-12.

They need only to go 4-4 in their next 8 games to reach that mark. The guess here? They'll go 6-2 and be 22-10. And that would be a great start to the 2023 campaign.

We'll wait until at least the 30% mark of the season before we start talking about nailing down playoff spots and stuff like that, but just lean in and play along for a second.

If the Birds are 30-18 at the 48-game mark (30% of the season), they're in the catbird's seat. But we'll deal with those possibilities once we see what happens after 32 games are played.

Anthony Santander (.205) and Gunnar Henderson (.194) both continue to struggle at the plate and Adam Frazier (.208) isn't a whole lot better. Ramon Urias went 4-for-4 yesterday to raise his average to .292. That's all Santander, Henderson and/or Frazier needs; one or two games of 3-for-4 or 4-for-4 and they're suddenly hitting .260 and all is well with the world.

The Baltimore bullpen continued to shine in Wednesday's win. In 3.1 innings of work, Coulombe, Cano and Bautista allowed no runs, 3 hits and struck out 3 Boston batters. Tyler Wells had another decent start, going 5.2 innings and allowing just 4 hits and 2 earned runs.

And now, it's off to Detroit to batter the lowly Tigers for four games. There was a 4-year stretch where teams came to Baltimore to "batter" the O's. Those times, fortunately, have changed. The O's are the ones doing the battering, now.

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #6, 1997 Masters -- It was always thought that Tiger Woods would win on the PGA Tour. Everyone who followed golf -- well, maybe except for Curtis Strange -- knew Woods was going to be a winner as a professional golfer.

But I'm not sure anyone suspected he'd win 82 career events and 15 major championships when he left Stanford early to turn pro, but it wasn't at all a surprise to see him play well right away.

That Woods captured the 1997 Masters in historic fashion also wasn't a surprise. He drove it longer off the tee, hit his irons higher and putted the lights out of it. That's a pretty good combination for anyone, let alone a 21-year old like Woods who played with zero fear.

The victory at the '97 Masters set the stage for an incredible career at Augusta National, where Tiger won five times. As the great Jim Nantz said when Tiger rolled in a 5-foot par putt on the 18th green -- "A win...for the ages." Indeed it was.

The video below is an 8-minute recap of Tiger's 1997 victory at Augusta National. For those who don't remember how it all unfolded, you'll enjoy it.

Wednesday April 26, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3166

let's mock it up!

Tomorrow.

12 months of work and preparation goes into tomorrow's first round of the NFL Draft.

It seems like a lot of sweat to put into player and one moment, but as the Ravens proved back in 1996, the right player or players can take you to some great places.

The Ravens have been solid with their first round picks over the last 27 years.

Editor's note: Wait a second. Just wait. The Ravens have been in Baltimore for TWENTY SEVEN YEARS? That can't be. Hold on Flyers fans, don't rush for your calculator. '96 to '05 is 10 years. '06 to '15 is 20 years. '16 to '22 is 7 years. 2023 is year 28 of the Ravens. What on earth has happened to the time?

For kicks and giggles, here's what we'll do. "5" is an "A". "4" is a "B". "3" is a "C". "2" is a "D". "1" is an "E".

Before we tell you who the Ravens will take tomorrow, let's look back at who they've picked along the way and give out a grade for each one based on what they did WITH THE RAVENS ONLY.

1996 - Jon Ogden (5.5), Ray Lewis (5.5)

1997 - Peter Boulware (4.5)

1998 - Duane Starks (3.5)

1999 - Chris McAlister (4.5)

2000 - Jamal Lewis (5), Travis Taylor (2)

2001 - Todd Heap (4.5)

2002 - Ed Reed (5.5)

2003 - Terrell Suggs (5.5), Kyle Boller (2)

2004 - no pick

2005 - Mark Clayton (3)

2006 - Haloti Ngata (5)

2007 - Ben Grubbs (4)

2008 - Joe Flacco (4.5)

2009 - Michael Oher (3.5)

2010 - no pick

2011 - Jimmy Smith (4)

2012 - no pick

2013 - Matt Elam (1.5)

2014 - C.J. Mosley (3.5)

2015 - Breshad Perriman (1)

2016 - Ronnie Stanley (4)

2017 - Marlon Humphrey (4.5)

2018 - Hayden Hurst (2.5), Lamar Jackson (4.5)

2019 - Marquise Brown (3)

2020 - Patrick Queen (3.5)

2021 - Rashod Bateman (3), Odafe Oweh (2.5)

2022 - Kyle Hamilton (3.5), Tyler Linderbaum (4)

That's 113 "points" divided by 30 first round picks. An average of 3.76 per pick. And 8 of those players listed are still active and able to increase their rating while still in Baltimore. We obviously only handed out 4 scores of 5.5 to represent the team's Hall of Famers. And we gave both Ngata and Lewis a score of "5" to represent the fact they were the best at their position for several years.

It's very possible Humphrey and Jackson could both wind up as "5" performers. Hamilton could easily be a "4" or "4.5" someday. Same for Patrick Queen. In other words, this is a free-flowing chart that probably goes up more than it goes down with current players.

It's also very fair to note that the Ravens total grade/rating was severely dented by the wide receiver aggregate; a total of 12 points scattered amongst 5 players. That's. Not. Good.

There have really only been 4 true "stinker" first round draft picks out of the 27. Travis Taylor, Kyle Boller, Matt Elam and Breshad Perriman. There have been 4 more "meh" first round picks as well; Clayton, Hurst, Oweh and, because he was shipped out before his rookie deal even expired, Hollywood Brown.

That's 19 "acceptable or better" first round picks and 8 "mulligans", if you will.

And of the 8, Odafe Oweh has gas left in the tank and can still upgrade his value/stock.

Let's hope the guy they take at #22 tomorrow night leans more towards the "5" area than the "3" area, right?

And so........here we go.

#DMD's one and only 2023 Mock Draft.

1. Carolina -- Bryce Young, QB, Alabama

2. Houston -- Will Levis, QB, Kentucky

3. Arizona -- Devon Witherspoon, CB, Illinois

4. Indianapolis -- C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State

5. Seattle -- Will Anderson Jr. Edge, Alabama

6. Detroit -- Jalen Carter, DL, Georgia

7. Las Vegas -- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State

8. Atlanta -- Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas

9. Chicago -- Anton Harrison, OL, Oklahoma

10. Philadelphia -- Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

11. Tennessee -- Paris Johnson, OL, Ohio State

12. Houston -- Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon

13. Green Bay -- Quentin Johnson, WR, TCU

14. New England -- Tyree Wilson, CB, Texas Tech

15. NY Jets -- Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee

16. Washington -- Peter Skoronski, OL, Northwestern

17. Pittsburgh -- Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State

18. Detroit -- Michael Mayer, TE, Notre Dame

19. Tampa Bay -- Anthony Richardson, QB, Tampa Bay

20. Seattle -- Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee

21. LA Chargers -- Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College

22. BALTIMORE -- Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississipp State

23. Minnesota -- Cam Smith, CB, South Carolina

24. Jacksonville -- Myles Murphy, Edge, Clemson

25. NY Giants -- Broderick Jones, OT, Georgia

26. Dallas -- Jordan Addison, WR, USC

27. Buffalo -- Bryan Bresse, DL, Clemson

28. Cincinnati -- Brian Branch, Safety, Alabama

29. New Orleans -- Lukas Van Ness, Edge, Iowa

30. Philadelphia -- Nolan Smith, Edge, Georgia

31. Kansas City -- Keion White, DL, Georgia Tech

Here's what Cole Jackson of Baltimore Ravens.com had to say about Emmanuel Forbes in his draft preview of potential first round picks.

Forbes ran a 4.35 40-yard dash and that straight speed shows on tape when he's carrying a deep route in man or covering the top of a zone.

His ability to transition zones with teammates and pick up routes after a pass-off was a strength, projecting very well as a high IQ zone scheme CB.

Despite his slight weight, he plays physical and attacks blockers and the ball carrier. This shows up in pass defense too, as he gets physical at the WR's stem to slow them down and limit separation.

Jackson adds: There will be a lot of discussion about weighing in at 166 pounds, but the Ravens look for big, long, physical CBs and Forbes checks a lot of those boxes. He does project better as a zone player than a press man player, where he can use his instincts and high football IQ. With the possible departure of Peters, the Ravens will be looking for a ballhawk who can generate turnovers and Forbes fits the bill.

---

Now getting to golf, this week's TOUR stop is in Mexico and there's a certain Spanish player who is looking to defend his title and enters the event on quite a heater.

Jon Rahm is a staggering +240 favorite in this week's event. Those are without a doubt the lowest win odds I've ever seen for a PGA Tour event. He is the likely winner of the event, so wager accordingly. We do have four other names for your consideration as both winners and top 10's.

If Rahm doesn't come out on top, this feels like a great week for Tony Finau to return to the winner's circle. All of the ball striking and shots-gained numbers are heavily titled in Finau's direction. His odds (+750) aren't great, either, but he's going to be on our win-card for sure.

Beau Hossler toyed with his first career win last week in New Orleans before falling short on Sunday, but we love his chances this week and the +4000 number is very inviting for the former University of Texas star.

Former U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland has pieced together some nice golf over the last month and this, too, is a course and set-up that favors him. He's a nice find at +2500 this week.

We're very bullish on the golf game of Canadian Taylor Pendrith and the +5000 number he's sporting this week is just too inviting to pass up. So, we won't pass it up.

It's Rahm's tournament to lose, but if he does fail to win, look for Finau, Hossler, Woodland or Pendrith to triumph.

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #7, 2000 British Open -- At age 24, Tiger became the youngest player to ever win the career grand slam when he throttled the field and won by 8 shots at St. Andrews. This was the victory where Nicklaus, during a TV interview two weeks later, conceded that his major championship record of 18 wins was in serious jeopardy.

"If he stays healthy," Jack said, "he can win 20 or more of them. I don't see what's stopping him."

Alas, back, neck and leg injuries stopped Woods at 15 major triumphs, but that 2000 British Open title was the one that earned him the career grand slam at just age 24.

Below is an interesting 2-minute clip of Tiger's range session at St. Andrews in 2000. This was at the height of his dominance, when, under the tutelage of Butch Harmon, he was swinging the club better than anyone in the world.

For "golf swing nerds" this video is like a van Gogh painting.

	The Stats Nerd And His Numbers
Contributed by #DMD's data and numbers analyst The Stats Nerd

Every NFL draft has its own unique rhythm and vibe. Last year it was a draft devoid of QB talent. This year the QBs seem destined to suck up most of the national media’s oxygen. It’s likely that at least 4 and possibly 5 QBs will go in the first round.

For the Ravens, too, this year's version of the draft feels dramatically different than a year ago. Last year, Eric DeCosta and his staff made 11 selections including 2 in the first round. This year the current pick count is 5.

In addition, this year's version reveals far more questions than a year ago. Last April the impending year-long soap opera surrounding Lamar Jackson would have seemed unlikely to most fans of the team.

Now we are collectively weary of the never-ending story line. But the powers that be in the Castle have to honestly assess what life with or without Lamar might mean to the franchise and how best to address those possibilities.

Here a few storylines that I think are worth considering as it relates to the Ravens:

Trading Back

There has been a lot of discussion of the Ravens trading back in the first round (or out) and picking up additional Day 2 or Day 3 picks in the process. I am in favor of this approach but they can’t just snap our fingers and make it happen.

By definition, the Ravens need a willing trade partner anxious to jump up from whatever selection they currently have into the Ravens slot. And that means there has to be a specific player that that team is targeting to move up and select.

Probably the most likely candidate to attract interest in the Ravens 22nd selection would be Bijan Robinson (RB-Texas). That could be a player that Dallas or Buffalo decide to jump up 5 or 6 spots to nab. That swap of first round selections might get the Ravens an added 3rd or 4th round pick.

Another player whose draft stock is quite literally all over the board is Will Levis (QB-Kentucky). He is projected everywhere from 2nd overall to out of the 1st round (I don’t think either is realistic).

If he slides down could a team jump up to grab him? Perhaps. The problem is that none of the teams in the Round 1 behind the Ravens are likely in the QB market.

Maybe Minnesota would have QB interest but they are only one spot behind the Ravens and are unlikely to trade much to move up a single spot. So that would necessitate a team in Round 2 bundling a handful of picks to move up that far.

Outside of those two players, the best option would be if one of the Offensive Tackles or Edge rushers were to slide down that board. If Darnell Wright (OT-Tennessee) or Broderick Jones (OT-Georgia) were to be around I would think those players would garner interest from several teams selecting behind them.

Bottom line:Trading back makes a lot of sense but the Ravens need the right players to be available when they select at 22 to find a willing trade partner.

Best Player Available?

The Ravens have historically been very comfortable sticking with their board (ie Best Player Available or BPA). They don’t like to draft for current needs only and tend not to reach for players if other better players are available.

In fact, last year is a prime example. Safety Kyle Hamilton was widely considered a top 5 talent in the 2022 draft. So when he slid to the Ravens at 14 they happily turned in their card with his name in spite of safety not being an obvious position of need.

The problem with drafting for immediate need is that a) many rookies take some time to develop and may not be impact players in year 1 and b) every team is an injury, free agent season, suspension, etc. away from having a need at virtually any position.

In the salary cap era every team is going to have positions they are thin at every year. It’s a feature not a bug of the NFLs desire to maintain competitive balance.

A BPA drafting philosophy doesn’t automatically mean ‘this player is our 20th player and that player is our 18th player so we have to choose #18’. No. The general consensus is that players are tiered. In the example I mentioned above, a team might pick either of those players as there isn’t a ton of difference between them on a teams board. If the team’s need tilts them in one direction or the other that may be the deciding difference.

But if a tier 1 player is on the board (maybe top 10) when the Ravens select at 22, my instinct is that they will go in that direction. Marginal differences in player ranking probably won’t move the needle too much. But drastic differences in the available players will lead to a selection even if the player isn’t at a perceived position of need.

I believe that is what happened with Kyle Hamilton. Could that happen again this year? Well if the Ravens agree with others that Bijan Robinson is a top 5 football player in the draft and he is still on the board at 22, would they take him? Same question could be asked for one of the QBs or the top 1 or 2 OT available.

The Ravens history suggests that they believe in BPA. I think that is sound drafting philosophy. Other teams annually reach for players to fill their immediate need.

Bottom line: Don’t discount the Ravens taking a player at an unexpected position if the right player falls in their laps.

Trading a Player

There has been some discussion of the Ravens trading a current player to obtain more picks. The most obvious player being kicked around as trade bait is Patrick Queen.

The former LSU LB is entering the 4th and final year of his rookie contract. The Ravens seem unlikely to slap the 5th year option available to them since Queen was a 1st round selection. That option would give Queen a salary of roughly $13M in the 24/25 season and that probably isn’t happening.

The Ravens have not been shy about moving on from disgruntled players or players that don’t fit into their long term plans. Last year it was Hollywood Brown who requested a trade and got his wish on Draft Day. In 2021 it was Orlando Brown, Jr. Even Hayden Hurst got moved in 2020 in a deal that ultimately led to the Ravens selecting JK Dobbins

Obviously, the big other candidate for a mega trade deal would be Lamar Jackson. But outside of that who else may yield some valuable trade picks?

I’ve not heard this mentioned but what about the aforementioned JK Dobbins? Dobbins, too, is entering the final year of his contractual obligations. And he has been a little “noisy” about his displeasure with his utilization in the Ravens offense. If they don’t trade him he seems like the type of player that would want to test his value after this season.

RBs aren’t getting the contracts they think they are worth unless they are named McCaffrey. The current NFL philosophy seems to be to turn over the RB room every few years unless you have the top 2 or 3 backs in the league. Even then contracts to Saquon, Ekeler, etc don’t seem to be anywhere near where the players think they should be.

Bottom Line: Could the Ravens trade other players that we fans aren’t even considering? I think the answer is always yes.

Quarterback

We’re all sick of talking about it. But the Ravens have to be honest about the QB issue. Do they draft a QB or roll with what they have? It seems likely that Lamar will ultimately sign his offer sheet and play on the tag for 2023.

But what about beyond the upcoming season? It certainly doesn’t seem like Tyler Huntley will be anything but a decent backup. And I guess there is still a non-zero chance that Lamar extends this whole signing of the offer sheet process into training camp and beyond.

The Ravens would be wise to consider alternatives at QB. Does that mean waiting to pick up a veteran that gets cut or taking a swing at another QB in a mid to late round?

A few names that I have seen linked to the Ravens as possibilities in the draft are Dorian Thompson-Robinson (UCLA), Jake Haener (Fresno State) and Stetson Bennett (Georgia). Do any of these move the needle for the franchise long term? Probably not.

Bottom Line: Given the long shadows cast by the never ending saga with Lamar, the Ravens would be wise to take a swing at QB.

The draft is always an interesting chess match as teams try to solidify their roster and search for hidden gems. Drafting well is a bit of luck, a bit of hard work and a bit of right place/right time. Although this year the team only has 5 picks currently, how they manipulate this weekend could go a long way in the continued turnover of the Ravens roster.

There are almost always unexpected surprises and disappointments in every draft. This year is unlikely to be any different. Looking forward to see how the Ravens deal with it.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

weekend european soccer recap

England

It was a fantastic week for Manchester City. Along with their draw against Bayern Munich that secured their spot in the Champions League semifinals, they cruised past Sheffield United for a 3-0 win to book a place in the FA Cup Final.

Riyad Mahrez led the way scoring all three goals against the Championship (2nd division) team. City’s good fortune didn’t end there however. Despite having the week off in the Premier League to play that cup match, City moved closer to the top of the table thanks to a great effort from last place Southampton.

The current bottom dwellers managed a 3-3 draw with Premier League leaders Arsenal on Friday, closing the gap at the top to five points, with City having played two less games. After a nightmare start, Arsenal was lucky to even come away with the point. A brutal pass from keeper Aaron Ramsdale led to an early goal from Southampton’s Carlos Alcaraz. Then Theo Walcott added a second shortly after to put Arsenal 2-0 down.

The leaders looked to be getting back in the game with a goal from Gabriel Martinelli just before halftime, but then conceded again early in the second half to fall back to 3-1. Arsenal looked set for an embarrassing defeat, but late goals from Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka earned the draw. While the tie is a disappointing result, Arsenal will be relieved to avoid a loss ahead of a season-defining trip to Manchester City on Wednesday.

The race for the remaining Champions League qualification spots is looking more assured after 3rd place Newcastle decimated 5th place Tottenham on Sunday. Newcastle was dominant from the start and did the damage in an incredible 21-minute spell in the first half, scoring five goals.

Jacob Murphy got his side on their way by converting a rebound before Joelinton added a second. Murphy then scored a stunner from distance to notch Newcastle's third within nine minutes. Alexander Isak found the net twice in two minutes to pour on the agony for Tottenham, as Newcastle went on to a 6-1 win, opening up a six point gap in the table over Tottenham.

Manchester United remained in 4th place, tied on points with Newcastle. United was idle in the league this weekend in order to play in the FA Cup semis, where they advanced to the final defeating Brighton and Hove Albion 7-6 on penalties following a 0-0 draw in extra time.

In the dramatic conclusion, the first twelve penalties were all successful, but Solly March was the unfortunate man to miss as he blazed his strike over the bar. Victor Lindelof then stepped up and buried his chance to send the Red Devils through to their second domestic final of the season, where they will face Manchester City on June 3.

The other match of note from the Premier League weekend from an American perspective was Fulham hosting Leeds. The game featured four USMNT veterans in the starting lineups, with Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson lining up for Fulham and Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie for Leeds.

The Fulham duo got the better of the matchup, with both delivering solid performances to help lead their side to a 2-1 victory. Antonee Robinson had the biggest impact, delivering a dangerous cross to set up the second Fulham goal, which ended up being the winner. It wasn’t a banner night for either of the Leeds contingent and with the loss they now sit in 16th place, just one point above the relegation line.

Germany

The Bundesliga continues to provide one of the most dramatic title races in Europe. The top of the table once again changed hands this weekend. On Saturday morning, Bayern Munich suffered a stunning defeat to Mainz. Bayern took an early lead on a Sadio Mane goal then proceeded to collapse in the second half, conceding three goals in the last 25 minutes to fall 3-1 and leave the door open for Borussia Dortmund to overtake them.

After blowing a chance to catch Bayern last weekend, Dortmund made no mistake this week, delivering a comprehensive performance for a 4-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt later on Saturday. Jude Bellingham opened the scoring with a nice turn and shot from the top of the box in the 19th minute. Donyell Malen added two more and Mats Hummels scored one to complete the victory. The win moved Dortmund one point ahead of Bayern with five games remaining in the season.

In the competition for the other Champions League qualification places, Union Berlin got a 1-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach to stay in third place. Meanwhile, Freiburg jumped into fourth place with a 4-0 win over Schalke combined with an RB Leipzig 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.

Spain

Barcelona maintained their large lead at the top of La Liga with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid with a Ferran Torres goal just before halftime. Real Madrid kept pace nine points behind them with a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo on goals from Marco Asensio and Eder Militao. American midfielder Luca de la Torre played the full game for Celta Vigo but couldn’t help overcome the supremely talented Madrid.

Italy

The biggest news in Serie A came away from the field, where the 15 point penalty that Juventus received earlier this season for financial rule violations was temporarily rescinded, vaulting them to third place in the standings. The ruling is still in the appeals process and the deduction could be reasserted or applied in a reduced fashion when the final decision is made in the next month or so.

Juventus also played in the best on-the-field matchup of the weekend as well, hosting runaway leaders Napoli on Sunday. Napoli was able to extend their lead at the top, pulling out a hard fought 1-0 win with an injury time goal on a fantastic volley from substitute attacker Giacomo Raspadori. The loss left Juventus in third place, behind Lazio who lost 1-0 to Torino and three points ahead of Roma and AC Milan.

With Juventus back in the picture, the battle for fourth place and the final Champions League qualification spot becomes all the more fierce. AC Milan won 2-0 over Lecce with two Rafael Leao goals, moving them into a tie with Roma for fourth place, after Roma lost 3-1 to Atalanta on Monday. Rivals Inter Milan won 3-0 over Empoli to keep pace in 6th place, just two points behind Roma and AC Milan.

France

In Ligue 1, Paris St. Germain maintained their eight point lead at the top with a 2-1 win over last place Angers. Kylian Mbappe scored both goals for PSG, with Leo Messi assisting the second.

Team of the Week

G: Maignan - AC Milan

D: Calabria - AC Milan; Militao - Real Madrid; Schar - Newcastle; Dimarco - Inter Milan

M: Valverde - Real Madrid; Casemiro - Man U; Barella - Inter Milan

F: Rodrygo - Real Madrid; Malen - Dortmund; Leao - AC Milan

Player of the Week

Rafael Leao - AC Milan

Last season’s Serie A MVP has been the key figure in AC Milan’s late season resurgence. Leao was the pivotal player across both legs of Milan’s upset of Napoli in the Champions League quarterfinals, setting up both goals that Milan scored.

His incredible run through the Napoli defense to ultimately set up a tap in for Olivier Giroud on Tuesday proved to be the deciding moment in the two-leg affair, sending home the team well ahead of them in Serie A. In addition to that assist, Leao drew an early penalty, drawing a foul on a darting run into the box, but Giroud couldn’t beat the keeper with the ensuing penalty kick.

Leao continued his excellent form over the weekend, scoring both goals in Milan’s 2-0 win over Lecce that kept them in Champions League qualification position for next season. After a relatively slow start to the season, Leao has come on strong down the stretch and is playing his best soccer at the most critical point of the season for AC Milan. He now has the chance to further his place in team lore by leading them past their city rivals to a Champions League final.

Tuesday April 25, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3165

options...lots of options

We're two days away from the NFL Draft and there are more juicy rumors floating around Baltimore than there were bad songs on The Beatles' White Album.

One of them has even found its way to the national side of things, as a couple of different NFL media members have opined recently that a Lamar-to-San-Francisco deal could be percolating just in time for Thursday's big event.

The Ravens can't trade Jackson until he first signs his franchise tender, but one would assume if, in fact, a draft day deal is announced that Jackson would be a willing participant in the whole thing. He'd work out a new contract with the 49'ers, sign his franchise tender in Baltimore, and then move on to the Bay City to start things off on the right foot with the 49'ers.

That's just a rumor, though. It's been working its way around town for a week or so now.

Me? I don't believe it.

The Ravens haven't invested this much time and energy on getting a Lamar deal done to then suddenly shift gears and deal him away for some draft picks and, presumably, Trey Lance. The Ravens already have a second-hand QB in Tyler Huntley. Why would they want two of those with Huntley and Lance. Right?

But it's also reasonable to remember that, occasionally, where there's smoke there's fire. Would I be out-of-this-world shocked if the Ravens made a draft day deal that involved Lamar? Of course not. It's a possibility. But it's a very slim possibility in my mind.

There's also been a story floating around for the last week about a possible trade involving Patrick Queen that would enable the Ravens to move up in the draft to (likely) select a quarterback.

I wouldn't be blown away if that happens, either. But the Ravens were thrilled with Queen's 2022 play, particularly after the arrival of Roquan Smith. I'd be surprised if they dealt him before the draft or on Thursday.

I definitely wouldn't rule out the Ravens trading out of #22 on Thursday night, moving back to the mid 30's or so, and using the picks they acquire in the first round deal to acquire DeAndre Hopkins from the Cardinals. Even if something wonky happens with Lamar and he's either not with the Ravens in 2023 or holds out and doesn't start the season on the active roster, they'd be giving Huntley (or whomever is the starting QB) a nice group of receivers to utilize.

Are the Ravens interested in Hopkins? The streets say they are. We'll find out more on Thursday.

Where these rumors start is anyone's best guess. But in the case of Lamar and Queen, the context of both potential trades are at least sensible, even if they're unlikely.

We'll make our official Ravens first round pick tomorrow here at #DMD. We've actually only had two possible picks in our mind from the outset of our Mock Draft efforts. Tomorrow we'll settle on one of those two.

Today, we'll tell you who some other national media folks think the Ravens are going to take with the 22nd pick.

Former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden has even caught wind of the Lamar-to-San-Fran trade. He thinks the Ravens are going to do that deal, acquire some picks and Trey Lance, and then draft Nolan Smith, Edge, of the University of Georgia.

I don't see the Ravens going with an edge rusher at #22. They have a couple of young guys in that spot right now and one of them -- Ojabo -- is almost like a 2023 pick in that he didn't play until late in the 2022 season.

Here's what others around the country think the Ravens are going to do on Thursday with the 22nd pick in the first round:

The Ringer -- Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Ohio State

Eric Edholhm, NFL.com -- Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

Steve Palazzolo, Pro Football Focus -- Myles Murphy, Edge, Clemson

Bo Marchionte, Sports Illustrated -- Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State

Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports -- Quentin Johnson, WR, TCU

Peter King, NBC/Pro Football Talk -- Emmanuel Forbes, CB, Mississippi State

Kyle Lindemann, RotoBaller --Jordan Addison, WR, Southern California

Nate Davis, USA Today --Deonte Banks, CB, Maryland

Mike Renner, Pro Football Focus --Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennesee

---

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #8, 2006 British Open -- Other than 2019, this one might go down as Tiger's most "emotional win" ever. It came at Royal Liverpool in 2006 and it was Tiger's first triumph since the passing of his father, Earl, two months earlier. Woods tamed the famous Hoylake Course in impressive fashion, hitting driver only one time in 72 holes and putting on a tee-box clinic.

Tiger hit 86% of the fairways at Royal Liverpool and masterfully worked his way around the layout, finishing at 18-under par for a two-shot win over Chris DiMarco.

In 2019, Woods recalled the 2006 win by saying, "Hoylake was the one major where I mapped out a strategy early in the week and never had to waver from it. I knew putting the ball in play off the tee was the key to not making any big numbers. I knew by Tuesday that driver wasn't the play on almost every hole unless you were forced to hit it because of the wind or weather. And I hit a lot of great putts that week, too. Everything came together nicely for me that week."

Here are five of Tiger's best shots from that 2006 victory.

	RANDY MORGAN on American soccer
Americans are playing more and more of a vital role in international soccer these days, and Randy Morgan has his eyes on all of them for #DMD. Each week here, he looks at recent performances of American players and highlights upcoming games of importance.

european soccer recap

This was another busy week around Europe and for the US national team. The Champions League quarterfinals concluded midweek, with the final four now set for Europe’s most coveted trophy.

It was a great week for Manchester City, who advanced in two tournaments and got an assist from one of the worst teams in the Premier League over the weekend.

The top spot in Germany once again changed hands with a shocking upset on Saturday. In Italy, an off field decision has shaken up the race for Champions League positions, while Napoli got one step closer to securing the Serie A title.

On the American front, the US men played a friendly against Mexico on Wednesday night that was short on star power for both teams. Then over the weekend, four USMNT regulars were on the field for a clash between Fulham and Leeds United. The federation has also found a new sporting director.

Matt Crocker appears to be the selection to take over the role vacated by Earnie Stewart, and the man who will lead the search for the new men’s head coach. Crocker will be moving from a similar role at Southampton in the English Premier League and may bring a fresh perspective as a choice from outside the established US Soccer network.

USA v Mexico --

On Wednesday night the USA and Mexico squared off in the “Allstate Continental Clasico”, which was largely a cash grab to get ticket revenue for a game played between “B’ team versions of the two rivals.

The teams played to a 1-1 draw in front of a heavily Mexico-friendly crowd in Phoenix. The rosters were stocked with domestic-based players from MLS and Liga MX. The notable exception was Sergino Dest, who was given leave from AC Milan to participate since he has fallen out of favor there.

Despite the low stakes, interim US coach Anthony Hudson chose a veteran-heavy starting lineup, with Cade Cowell, the only under 20 prospect to get the start.

In the game, Mexico had the slight edge in possession (53%) and shots on goal, but the US found a late equalizer on a nice play from Jordan Morris finished off by Jesus Ferreira. Mexico had opened the scoring ten minutes after halftime, when Kellyn Acosta hit a horrendous back pass that Aaron Long failed to deal with, putting Uriel Antuna free on a breakaway where he beat Sean Johnson.

Neither side generated a ton of danger in attack, with just one big chance for each team. Mexico had nine shots to just four for the US, but both teams looked like the hastily assembled squads that they were.

There won’t be much to be learned from this game given the personnel and the circumstances. Jordan Morris carried over his strong form for Seattle and produced a few nice moments for the US, including the cross to set up Ferreira’s goal. Sergino Dest also showed why he is a locked-on starter for the US with a great dribbling run to help set up the goal as well. Brandon Vasquez finally got his shot to start up top for the US but didn’t distinguish himself.

Other than that, it was frustrating to see unexciting veterans like Aaron Long, Deandre Yedlin and Kellyn Acosta get the run instead of more intriguing prospects, none of which provided much value in the game. Olympic-eligible 21 year old Aidan Morris did get a 26 minute sub appearance and showed some signs that he could be a viable option in midfield if Tyler Adams is forced to miss games this summer.

European Roundup –

Champions League

The Champions League field narrowed from eight to four this week with the completion of the quarterfinals. On Tuesday it was AC Milan traveling to Napoli carrying a one goal advantage from the first leg.

In a thrilling encounter, AC Milan held off Napoli with a 2-1 aggregate victory, securing their first Champions League semi-final appearance in 16 years. Despite dominating possession with 74%, Napoli was unable to capitalize on their 23 shots on goal, while Milan made the most of their chances.

The first half saw Napoli put pressure on the Milan defense, but they couldn't find the back of the net. Milan responded with a swift counter in the 21st minute, with Rafael Leao earning a penalty for a foul in the box.

However, Olivier Giroud's effort was saved by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret. The French striker made amends in the 43rd minute after Leao made an incredible solo run from deep inside the Milan half and set him up with a tap-in.

Napoli was handed a lifeline in the 80th minute when the referee awarded a penalty for a handball in the box, but Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s shot was saved by Milan keeper Mike Maignan.

Napoli finally found a breakthrough in injury time when Victor Osimhen headed in a cross, but it was too little too late, and Milan held on for a 2-1 aggregate victory. It’s a devastating result for a Napoli team that had cruised through most of the season and sits well ahead of Milan in the Serie A table.

The other matchup on Tuesday was less dramatic. Real Madrid entered London with a two goal advantage from their home leg and left little doubt with another 2-0 win over a downward trending Chelsea. The hosts were a bit better in this match than most of their recent performances, but it still wasn’t enough to tame the Champions League magic of Madrid.

Chelsea managed a slight edge in possession with 54% and created 19 shots, but they were unable to convert their chances. Big opportunities fell to Cucurella and Kante, but both failed to capitalize on them. Real Madrid, however, were clinical in front of goal, scoring twice from their nine shots.

The deadlock was broken in the 58th minute, when Rodrygo put Madrid ahead, latching onto a cut-back from Vinicius Jr and firing into the net. Rodrygo doubled his tally in the 80th minute, rounding off a flowing move involving Fede Valverde and Vinicius Jr., tapping in Valverde's unselfish squared pass to secure a 2-0 victory on the night.

With the win, Real Madrid continue their unparalleled recent success in the competition, returning to the semifinals yet again. This time they will meet the odds-on favorites to claim the trophy.

As Manchester City secured their spot in the final four with a 1-1 draw against Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday. City will represent the strongest challenge yet for Real Madrid. The draw secured a 4-1 aggregate victory for the reigning Premier League champions.

A scoreless first half saw Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman denied by City goalkeeper Ederson, as well as an Erling Haaland missed penalty. City then opened the scoring in the 57th minute when Haaland capitalized on an untimely slip by Dayot Upamecano and fired the ball into the roof of the net, after a quick counter-attack sparked by Kevin De Bruyne.

Bayern managed to pull one back in the 83rd minute, with Joshua Kimmich converting a penalty. However, it was nothing more than a consolation for the hosts, who were unable to close the gap any further.

In the end, the curious firing of Julian Nagelsmann and quick replacement with Thomas Tuchel did not yield the results that Bayern hoped. Manchester City will now look forward to their semi-final clash against Real Madrid, the betting favorites once again to capture their first Champions League title under Pep Guardiola.

In the final pairing of the round, Inter Milan booked their place in the semis with a thrilling 3-3 draw against Benfica at home, resulting in a 5-3 aggregate win. Inter started off well, with Nicolo Barella opening the scoring in the 14th minute, assisted by Lautaro Martinez. Benfica responded in the 38th minute with a header from Fredrik Aursnes, assisted by Rafa Silva.

In the second half, Inter regained control as Martinez found the back of the net in the 65th minute, following an assist by Federico Dimarco, then put the tie away with a stunning goal from Joaquin Correa in the 78th minute. Benfica managed two late goals to save face with a 3-3 draw, but it wasn’t enough to advance.

The result sets up an all-Milan semifinal, with Inter facing their city rivals with whom they share a stadium, AC Milan. It will be a rematch of the 2002-03 semifinals, which saw AC Milan come out on top.

Tomorrow here at #DMD we'll look at the week in England, France, Italy, German and Spain.

Monday April 24, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3164

"with the 22nd pick, the ravens select..."

This Thursday night, Eric DeCosta and the Ravens will be presented with the opportunity to select the 22nd player in the NFL Draft.

It remains to be seen if they make that pick at #22.

There are reasons why it makes sense to stay where they are and pick at 22 and there are reasons why trading back to add a couple of extra picks in rounds 2 through 7 might be the better option.

And, yes, both of those options are connected to Lamar Jackson and his status in Baltimore.

While the wide receiver pool in this year's draft isn't all-world, the Ravens would potentially impress Jackson if they gave him another weapon to use in 2023 and beyond.

There are also several high quality offensive linemen that could go at #22. Keeping Jackson healthy would be important to both the Ravens and Lamar, one would think.

But what happens if somehow, between now and Thursday, the Ravens aren't convinced that Lamar is going to sign off on his franchise tender for the '23 season? If DeCosta and John Harbaugh are concerned that Lamar might not report to the team in time to start the season as their number one quarterback, how would that impact what they do with that 22nd pick on Thursday night?

Is it possible that the Ravens might draft a quarterback at #22 Thursday?

Or could they trade out of the 22nd pick, move back into the early/mid 30's, perhaps, and still get a quarterback to serve as an insurance policy in the event things don't work out with Lamar?

The idea of drafting a quarterback seems illogical at this point. I mean, would you really turn your team over to Hendon Hooker, for example?

But the Ravens are certainly going to explore every option heading into Thursday and Lamar's availability is directly connected to that decision.

The guess here is that the Ravens will simply hand the team over to Tyler Huntley while the Jackson contract saga plays itself out. Huntley's no Lamar, of course, but he's also not a bum.

Would the Ravens be a playoff team with a healthy Lamar playing the 2023 season? Without a doubt.

Would the Ravens be a playoff team with Tyler Huntley serving as their full time QB in 2023? Maybe. And only maybe.

That's a big gamble to take if you're the Ravens, but that's where they are now.

Several veteran quarterbacks moved around in the off-season, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton and Jacoby Brissett chief among them. The Ravens seemingly had no interest in adding any of those three. Guys like Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz are still available, but it's reasonable to think they can get just as much if not more out of Tyler Huntley.

So it seems unlikely that the Ravens would use a draft pick for a quarterback on Thursday night. At least not in the first or second round, anyway.

But if they're still pursuing Lamar as of Thursday, is it reasonable to assume the Ravens would like to make a selection that both impresses and satisfies him?

And would the Ravens pass up on, say, a talented defensive back or edge rusher just so they can choose an offensive player with the thought of impressing their star quarterback who might not even be with the team next season?

That's the catch-22 the Ravens face on Thursday night.

Even if they select an offensive player with Lamar in mind, there's no guarantee Jackson is going to sign the franchise tender and be a good soldier in 2023.

And if they pass on a talented wide receiver at #22 and go with a defensive player, Lamar could look at that as yet another indication that DeCosta and Harbaugh aren't willing to give him additional weapons while he's playing out the 2023 season on the franchise tag.

The key to this Thursday's Draft? Somehow get Lamar signed to a new deal before the first round.

Getting Jackson signed would at least eliminate the worry about what kind of impact Thursday's first pick might have on the quarterback. With Jackson under a new contract, DeCosta could draft a cornerback, linebacker, wide receiver or offensive lineman and have no concern at all about Lamar's "approval" of that selection.

But, it seems highly unlikely the Ravens are going to be able to get Lamar signed before this Thursday. And there's almost no chance he'd sign the franchise tender before Thursday, at least not for $32 million anyway. There's growing speculation that Jackson almost certainly will demand the Ravens pay him $50 million for 2023.

So, what happens on Thursday?

Wide receiver?

Offensive tackle?

Defensive back?

One of those three seems almost a done deal.

Two of those three would help Lamar Jackson.

But is that the way the Ravens should proceed? Should they help a guy who isn't, at least up to now, signed for the 2023 season?

Tomorrow here at #DMD, we'll show you who the rest of the country's draft experts thinks the Ravens will take at #22 on Thursday night.

On Wednesday, it's our Mock Draft for the first round.

And on Thursday, we'll highlight all of the players we think the Ravens will take in this year's Draft.

---

The Orioles went from having a perfect game thrown against them to winning for a 6th straight time on Sunday afternoon, as the Birds polished off a 3-game sweep of the Tigers with a 2-1 win in 10 innings.

Tampa Bay has the best record in the American League at 19-3.

Who is second best at this point? The Orioles, that's who. The Birds are now 14-7 after Sunday's win.

Detroit's Eduardo Rodriguez retired the first 20 O's batters on Sunday afternoon, but Ryan Mountcastle's two out single in the bottom of the 7th ended his bid for baseball history.

And even though the Birds only managed to scratch out 3 hits yesterday, that was enough to cobble together a run in the 8th and a run in the 10th, where Adam Frazier scored on a wild pitch to finish off the sweep.

Despite scoring just 9 runs in the series with the Tigers, the Orioles got the better of Detroit by receiving three outstanding starts from Tyler Wells, Kyle Gibson and Grayson Rodriguez.

In the 6-game winning streak, Baltimore pitching has allowed a total of 7 runs, four of which came in the first inning of last Sunday's win in Chicago over the White Sox. The Birds blanked the Nationals in two games early last week and then surrendered just one run in each of the three games vs. Detroit over the weekend.

And now the Red Sox come to town for a 4-game series that starts tonight at Camden Yards. Boston is 12-11 on the year with wins in 7 of their last 10 games. Chris Sale, who was a good pitcher five years ago, gets the start tonight for the Red Sox against Dean Kremer.

Looking ahead, though, the O's could face a couple of decisions in the not-too-distant future. When/if Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate come back from the injured list, Brandon Hyde will have to make two corresponding roster moves. Right now, the two pitchers scuffling the most -- Cionel Perez and Austin Voth -- also happen to have no minor league options remaining. And don't forget, at some point later this season John Means will return to the rotation.

The Birds could go from being pitching-starved to having to part company with some pitchers who have generally been useful the last couple of seasons. Lefty Danny Coulombe, purchased from the Twins in March, is another guy who has thrown the ball very well thus far but also has no options. He either sticks with the Birds, comes up with "an injury" or tries to pass through waivers.

The offense sputtered throughout most of last week, scoring 5 total runs in D.C. in addition to the 9 they tacked on vs. the Tigers. There's still plenty of time, of course, but Mountcastle, Henderson and Santander are off to lousy starts to their respective 2023 campaigns.

Henderson gets the most leeway of the three, as he's in the 3rd month of his big league career. There's nothing about his past or make-up that suggests he won't figure out Major League pitching sooner rather than later. He's going to be a star.

But Mountcastle (.213/.234/.461) continues to labor at the plate. Take away the 9-RBI night against Oakland and his start is far worse. Perhaps this is what he's going to be, though: a guy who hits 30 HR's and drives in 90-100 runs but hits .235 every other season and gets on base at a paltry .300 clip more often than not.

Santander's slow start to 2023 makes Mountcastle and Henderson look like Mike Trout-clones. He has just 1 HR in 21 games and only 7 RBI. Mountcastle collected that many in 90 minutes earlier in the season. Perhaps Santander will heat up when the weather does. But of all the offensive players who are having a tough time, he's the one that's most concerning.

The good news? The feasting on sub-par teams should continue for the next two weeks. The O's face Boston at home (4), then head to Detroit (4) and Kansas City (3). It's important to pile up those expected-wins now, because the real teams come calling at the beginning of May. The Birds will play three games in Atlanta before hosting Tampa Bay in an early-season 3-game showdown in Baltimore.

Oh, and don't forget, if you're one of the 9,800 heading out to OPACY for tonight's game, the months of April and May feature the awesome 6:35 pm weeknight start. Should be a great night for another win.

---

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #9, 2005 British Open -- Some players strive to win the career grand slam in golf. To do so, you have to win the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship.

Rory McIlroy has a total of four and has won three different majors. He can't win the Masters.

Jordan Spieth has also won three different majors. He can't win the PGA.

Phil Mickelson has six major wins but none of them took place at the U.S. Open.

Arnold Palmer never won the PGA, either, believe it or not.

Lee Trevino couldn't collect the grand slam because he always came up empty at Augusta National.

Ray Floyd won the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship (twice) but never won the British Open.

It's really, really hard to win all four major titles in golf.

Only five players have ever done it, in fact: Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Tiger finished his career grand slam at age 24 when he won the British Open in 2000.

At the 2005 British Open -- at St. Andrews -- Tiger won the career grand slam for the second time, with yet another dominating win at the Home of Golf.

The victory was Tiger's 10th major championship victory. Even more significant at the time, the win pushed him ahead of both Player and Hogan, who each finished with 9 career major wins.

Imagine that: Palmer, Mickelson, Trevino, Floyd and, currently, McIlroy and Spieth -- all of them couldn't get to the finish line in all four major championships.

Tiger won the career grand slam twice before he turned 30 years old.

Only two players ever won it twice. Jack and Tiger. The win at St. Andrews put Woods into that exclusive category with his idol, Jack Nicklaus.

For those of you who like to see creativity associated with golf, here's a 2 minute clip of Tiger's five best British Open shots.

Sunday April 23, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3163

time to start saying "was" with tiger

As you'll see below, today starts my look at the major championship history of Tiger Woods in my "10 Top Moments" segment here at #DMD.

Tiger will finish his career with 15 major titles. I am 95% certain that's where he'll finish up. Could he somehow manufacture a win out of nowhere at Augusta National in the next few years? Maybe. And that's a very slight maybe.

If Tiger was 48 and healthy in 2024, then, yes, maybe.

If Tiger was 48, healthy and played three or four "ramp up" tournaments leading into Augusta next April then, yes, maybe.

If Tiger was 48, healthy, played three or four "ramp up" tournaments and then caught lightning in a bottle at the 2024 Masters, then, yes, maybe he could win there again.

But those are obstacles that are difficult to overcome. He'll never be healthy again. And because he'll never again be 100% healthy (or even 75% healthy), there's no way he can play the much-needed 3 or 4 tournaments within an 8-week span to prepare himself for the rigors of major championship golf.

Editor's note: I'll be on the air today at 105.7 from 12-1 pm talking golf on Fairways and Greens, for those who interested in listening.

I've been saying for two years now that Tiger can't win another major playing golf "like this". In other words, he can't win a major playing no golf from August through March and then trying to piece something together in April, May, June and July. It doesn't work for anyone. No, not even Tiger Woods.

Throw in this week's news that Woods underwent ankle surgery, effectively ending his 2023 campaign, and you have a career that is really starting to phase itself out. We all knew it would be difficult to return and compete again after the car accident in 2021. It turns out we were right.

And, so, it would appear that it's time to start using the word "was" in connection with Tiger.

As in: he was the greatest player of his generation -- by a mile.

He was the greatest closer golf ever saw. When he was ahead with 9 holes to go, you might as well call the airline and get your ticket reserved for the 7:30 pm flight. You won't be staying around after the tournament to talk to the media. Tiger will be doing all the talking.

He also was the biggest needle mover in golf from 1996 through -- well -- now, I suppose. Even today, on one leg, golf starts and stops with Woods from a global standpoint. No one can hold a candle to him in terms of generating basic interest in anything and everything he does. If Tiger took up magic and started doing card tricks, David Copperfield would stop what he's doing and buy a ticket to the show.

Nearly every golf course built in this country from 2000 through 2010 was largely hatched out of someone watching Tiger Woods play golf and wanting to be involved in the very same business that Woods was helping prop up with both his on-course play and off-course marketing appeal.

But those are pretty much all "was" definitions. Everything with Tiger is now in the past. Future glory is very, very unlikely.

---

I don't even think Woods can win a "regular" PGA Tour event. The fields these days are just too strong week-in-and-week-out. And Tiger's game, while still very solid, isn't up to the task of putting together four straight rounds that leave him on top of the leaderboard.

There has been speculation that Woods might someday enter a "light field" event or even one of the "opposite events" the week of a major championship in an effort to snag career win #83 and set the all-time record.

I don't see that happening.

If it did, I wouldn't have any problem with it. A golf tournament is a golf tournament. If you win, you win. Sniping at Woods for doing that (and winning) would be like Aaron Judge hitting 74 home runs this season but hitting #74 off of a minor league call-up who was up at the end of the season because Boston's real pitchers were all out of gas and no longer useful. You hit the home run off the guy who throws you the ball.

That said, I don't ever see Tiger entering a tournament in Napa Valley, Bermuda or Sea Island, Georgia just to try and pick up a win. For starters, the fields in those events are still really good, even if they don't contain the top players in the world. Just assuming Tiger would win there is very, very shortsighted.

Nothing Tiger ever does -- or did -- surprises me. I assumed he'd finish with 81 wins and 14 majors, but he won the 2019 Masters in improbable fashion to tie Sam Snead's mark of 82 career triumphs, adding a major at the same time to reach 15 major titles in his career.

Would I be speechless if Tiger won again, somehow?

I would not be speechless. The man is capable of doing anything in golf.

But this act is over. There are no more wins to be had, sadly.

Professional golf, though, is now starting to reap the benefits of the post-Tiger era, if you will. College players coming out on TOUR are better equipped than ever to win right away. You're already hearing about guys like Sahith Theegala, Davis Riley and Cameron Young. They are stars-in-the-making just a few years out of college.

Pretty soon you'll be hearing about Gordon Sargent, Travis Vick, Caleb Surratt and Dylan Menante, among others. They'll be out on TOUR sometime soon and looking to chase the dream every kid over the last 25 years has had -- to be "the next Tiger".

On the course, it's highly unlikely any of those I listed will ever even come close to reaching 82 career wins and 15 majors. Heck, truth be told, you could take those seven names above and they might not win 82 tournaments combined on the PGA Tour.

But someone like Theegala, born in Los Angeles of Indian heritage, could be a significant needle mover both here and in other parts of the world. His golf is certainly good enough to gain attention. It remains to be seen if that translates to global popularity like we saw Woods receive when he turned professional in 1996.

---

There are some interesting comparisons to this period of golf history and the mid 1990's. When Tiger turned pro, he was coming into the game at a time when Jack Nicklaus was ten-years-removed from being relevant and guys like Norman, Price, Strange and Faldo were on the back end of their successful careers.

Phil Mickelson hadn't yet become Phil Mickelson in 1996. Ernie Els and Vijay Singh were starting to make a name for themselves, but other than that, really, golf didn't have a lot of star power when Tiger left Stanford and turned professional.

Take away the 2018-2019 six-month run where Tiger won the TOUR Championship and The Masters and Tiger hasn't really been a factor on the course for 7 or 8 years now. Injuries, surgeries, personal issues...it all added up to Woods scuffling throughout most of 2015 and beyond.

Rory, Jordan, Brooks and D.J. all tried their hand at being golf's global needle mover. McIlroy and Spieth are both mega-stars, there's no doubt about that, but neither of them are Tiger. Brooks and D.J. are just frat boys with boats in Florida. They are big names in golf here, in the U.S., but no one cares about them in Tokyo or Bombay.

The time is ripe, though, for a "new Tiger" to step up and start carrying golf's international baton. That player has to be a winner on the course, for sure. Woods gained his fame because no one could beat him at golf for 15 years. But the "new Tiger" also has to be able to make newcomers to the game want to play the sport, both competitively and recreationally.

In my lifetime in golf, two players were central figures; Fred Couples and Tiger Woods. Those were the two who pushed me into competitive golf.

Golf needs those kinds of guys, whether that's Rahm, Scheffler, Morikawa or any of the 20-somethings I listed above.

So now we move on. There are "10 Top Moments" from Tiger's illustrious major championship career that we are eager to document and rank here at #DMD.

It's hard to leave out 5 of his 15, but those are the five that, historically speaking, are the ones a lot of folks simply don't remember all that well.

Like, who remembers much of anything about his win at the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah? Tiger blistered the field, winning by five shots over second place Shaun Micheel. A nice win and all, but hardly memorable when compared to many of his others.

Even the much-anticipated U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in 2002 was sorta-kinda non-descript when it was all said and done. Tiger beat Phil by three shots in that one, you might -- or don't -- remember.

So, yes, we'll leave those two and three others out of our list. We're working hard to put the "10 Top Moments" into its proper ranking order. We know what #1 is, without question. We're pretty much sold on #2, too. But 3 through 10? We have our reasons, but your order could be completely different.

Tiger's 10 Top Moments: #10, 2005 Masters -- People tend to forget that prior to winning at Augusta National in 2005, Tiger was on a (nearly) three-season winless drought in major championships. That all changed in 2005 when he won his fourth career Masters green jacket and hit what is still probably the most talked about and viewed golf shot in tournament history. You remember it. Everyone remembers it. From behind the 16th green, facing one of the most difficult shots the back nine had to offer, Woods neatly clipped a pitch shot from back and left of the pin and holed out the shot for an improbable birdie.

He actually made -- also improbably -- bogey at #17 and #18 to fall back into a playoff with Chris DiMarco. And DiMarco nearly had Tiger beat twice that year. Once on the final hole of regulation and again on the first playoff hole. He nearly chipped in on both occasions.

But Tiger prevailed in the playoff, making a birdie of his own to sew up his Masters victory.

Why it was important -- Tiger hadn't won a major title since the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. The 2005 Masters win got him back on track. And this was at the height of his career, remember. And it also came at a time when Phil Mickelson was starting to flex his "major muscle" a little more and becoming a clear #2 to Tiger's #1. It also helped cement Tiger's legacy as a player who was never out of it, no matter the circumstances or shot he faced.

Saturday April 22, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3162

what if "both of them" happen?

Hang on tight, Bawlmer. 2023 is starting to really look promising.

Imagine what might happen here if the O's starting pitching we've been seeing for the last week is actually the real thing. Yes, I know they've faced the White Sox, Nationals and Tigers. Not exactly the best of what baseball has to offer. I get it.

But "what if"???

The offense is there, despite what we've seen over the last three games. The bats are fairly close to a sure thing in Baltimore.

It's been the starting pitching we've been concerned about, right? Mike Elias only added Kyle Gibson in the off-season, which meant our pitching hopes were mainly tied to him and the emergence of Grayson Rodriguez. Everyone else -- Wells, Kremer, Bradish, Irvin (already struggling) and perhaps, at some point, D.L. Hall -- had to do their fair share and more in order for the Orioles to prosper this season.

Until Felix Bautista gave up a rare run and coughed up a 1-0 lead in the top of the 9th last night, the bullpen had been flawless going back to last Sunday's 8-4 win in Chicago over the White Sox. The early reports this season -- other than a stumble or two at Fenway Park in the first series of the campaign -- are very favorable for the Birds past the 5th inning or so.

Getting to the 6th inning is the chief worry in 2023, but we're starting to see a developing story in Charm City and the pitching is looking like it might just settle in as a strength instead of a concern this season.

Wouldn't that be something?

After their 9-7 start in the opening 16-game segment of the season, I opined here at #DMD the Birds needed to take advantage of a soft schedule over the next 16-game stretch and finish at least 20-12 at the 32-game mark.

They're heading in that direction and then some, now sitting at 12-7 after last night's win over the Tigers.

After this imminent 3-game sweep of lowly Detroit, they face Boston (4, at home), Detroit again (4, away) and even-more-lowly Kansas City (3, away). Talk about a chance to get fat and happy, huh?

20-12 would be nice, but at this point, is there any reason the O's couldn't be 22-10 based on the schedule they face over the next two weeks?

If the starting pitching continues to shine like it has this week, 20-12, 21-11 or 22-10 is a very real possibility.

Heck, if they get to 22-10, I might have to amend my pre-season prediction of 85-77. This could be a 95 win team, not 85 win team.

I realize they've yet to play Tampa Bay or Toronto, but these O's are showing real signs of legitimacy three weeks into the season.

We knew the offense would be there. The pitching, though, is starting to turn some heads.

What if...

And speaking of "what if" and 2023 and Baltimore sports, we could be in a for very pleasant double-whammy if the Ravens get the Lamar issue straightend out and he reports to camp in July with a smile on his face and his head on straight.

When's the last time both the Ravens and Orioles were both really good in the same season? I guess we'd go back to 2012 for that one, right?

The O's made the playoffs in improbable fashion in 2012 and the Ravens were a Lee Evans catch in the end zone from going to the Super Bowl.

We haven't had both teams "in the hunt" together since that 2012 campaign.

But if Lamar gets paid and the Ravens add a quality player or three in next week's NFL Draft, the 2023 season could be a memorable one for John Harbaugh's team.

The offense should be good-to-very-good, as long as Jackson plays in December. I know that probably seems like it's a jab at him, but it's more just a statement of fact. In order for the Ravens to be really good in 2023, Jackson has to stay healthy and play in all of the games. Not trying to be overly critical here. Just making a point about the offense and its potential.

The defense should also be good-to-very-good. They might need to solidify their run defense just a hair, but that's what the Draft and off-season free agent signings are for, right? Someone will cut a decent veteran defensive lineman in training camp and the Ravens can scoop him up if necessary. There are plenty of ways to improve.

The kicking game is as good as any in the league.

It all boils down to Lamar.

The problem is, he knows that.

He realizes the entire team depends on him, hence the continued hold out.

But if that can be resolved, either with a new contract or Jackson simply agreeing to play on the franchise tag, the Ravens have themselves a potential championship-caliber team.

Their home schedule is fairly easy. Other than Cincinnati, they don't have a challenging opponent in Baltimore: Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, L.A. Rams, Miami, Houston, Seattle and Indianapolis.

I know it's awfully early to do the "pick the record" thing, but that looks like 8-1 or 7-2 at home to me. At worst.

Their road slate is a tad more ambitious, admittedly: You have the three AFC North visits, plus the L.A. Chargers, San Francisco, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Arizona. 5-3 on the road would be a whopper of a campaign based on the expected quality of their opponents in 2023.

Without Lamar? There's no telling what the Ravens might do in 2023.

But with him...based on the schedule? They're a 12 or 13 win team, it would appear.

Yes indeed, these next seven months could be awfully memorable in Baltimore.

They call it "The Land of Pleasant Living" for a reason. And 2023 could, in fact, be very pleasant around these parts.

Starting tomorrow here at #DMD, I'll be running a month-long series called "10 Top Moments" of various things that super-duper-interest me.

Some of them might even interest you.

The first entry will look at Tiger Woods and his "Top 10 Major Championship Wins" dating back to his first very one in 1997.

With Woods out of next month's PGA Championship due to recent foot surgery, I thought this would be a good time to start really knitting his career together here at #DMD.

I'm not saying his career is "over", but if we were playing horse and the word was "OVER" instead of "HORSE", Tiger has the "O", the "V", the "E" and the "R" is sitting on the kitchen table just waiting to be picked up and placed on the board. It's as over as it can be without the "R" going up, in my opinion.

So why not look back at Tiger's incredible run of 15 major championships and figure out which of the 10 were were his best and most important triumphs from the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and British Open?

We'll get a jump start on May tomorrow, April 23, with the first entry in our "Top 10 Moments" feature.

And there's more fun to follow after Tiger. I assure you of that.

Friday April 21, 2023

#DMD

Issue #3161

topics

Two stories are making the rounds this week on the PGA Tour.

Slow play amongst professional players. And American LIV golfers playing in this September's Ryder Cup.

The LIV-golfers-in-the-Ryder-Cup scenario is easy to dissect.

If an American golfer qualifies in the Top 6, they should be on the team. Period. If that's Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed or Bryson DeChambeau and they somehow play well enough in the remaining three majors to earn enough points to make the team outright (top 6 point getters automatically qualify), they should then be on the team.

That's easy. And simple.

But if they don't finish in the top 6, they shouldn't be added to the team as captain's picks. That's also easy. And simple. They left the TOUR in part knowing there was a chance they wouldn't be able to play on the Ryder Cup team. They chose money over prestige. All good, I say. They got their money. Let other players who didn't jump ship get the prestige.

The ongoing discussion about whether a LIV player should be allowed on the team if they automatically qualify by finishing in the top 6 is really a moot point. To me, there's no discussion about that. The four major championships (double points awarded in each) offer everyone who plays in them the opportunity to distinguish themselves.

If an American LIV player cobbles together enough points to make the team just by finishing Top 5 in all four majors (which still might not be enough, actually), he should 100% be allowed to play.

Other than that, no captain's picks should be used on an American LIV golfer. That's how I'd rule if they allowed me to be the judge and jury. Yes if you make it on points. No if you want to be a captain's pick. Easy peasy.

The other issue this week is far more delicate and not nearly as easy to remedy. Slow play. It's an issue at every level of golf.

At the professional level, slow play can at least be partially explained by the difficulty of the golf course and the absurd amounts of money the players are playing for on a weekly basis. It doesn't fully exonerate the slow guys, mind you, but it does help explain some of the problem.

There are fast players in professional golf. There are "regular speed" players. And there are slow players. My guess on the percentages? 20% are fast players. 70% are regular players. And 10% are slow players. But the slow players are far, far more easy to pick out of the crowd.

Golf is a sport that moves forward at almost every moment. There are rare, rare occasions when a player has to play backwards to get him/her self out of trouble. But mostly, it's always moving and moving forward. And so, when slow players are in the mix, it's VERY obvious to everyone involved because the other players are also in stall mode. It's very difficult for a fast player to play at any reasonable pace when a slow player is in the group.

So, what I'm saying is a slow golfer -- or two in the same group -- is, almost across the board, far more slow than a fast player is fast.

It should be noted that fast players are equally as guilty of disrupting the normal pace of play in tournament golf. I once had a veteran PGA club professional admonish me in the Maryland Open, circa 2005, for "speeding around with your hair on fire". I certainly wasn't trying to play fast on purpose and I wasn't in any way attempting to get others in the group to follow my pace of play. I guess my pace was a little too quick for him and he rather abruptly asked me to slow it down.

But a field full of fast players would be far more enjoyable than a field full of slow players. That's for sure.

Golf is hard. That's a given. And because it's hard, particularly at the professional level, it takes time to navigate your way around the course. Factor in wind, pin placements, green speed and the like and it's understandable to take a certain amount of time to go through the process of hitting a good shot.

Amateur golf is incredibly slow. You think PGA Tour players have a propensity for taking too long? Pull up a lawn chair, grab a book and watch a high school golf match or local junior tournament.

Without mentioning any specific school, I've seen in the last three weeks these exact scenarios play out.

One foursome took 28 minutes to play a standard 420 yard par 4 hole. There were two offending parties to that pace, both from the same school. And one of the tee balls of those two players was perfectly placed in the middle of the fairway, 135 yards from the hole.

The other tee ball was wildly off target in an adjacent fairway. That player took roughly eight minutes to hit one shot. It wasn't a standard golf shot, granted, but it also shouldn't have taken as long for him to hit that shot as it does for you to drive to Royal Farms for a cup of coffee, either.

Worst of all, when his approach shot -- eight minutes later -- finally came to rest about 10 yards short and left of the green, his teammates all applauded him as he finally came into sight.

It's one thing to play slow. It's another thing, entirely, to play slow and be complimented for it.

And then once the two of them got on the greens, you would have thought the U.S. Open was on the line. It took a total of about 10 minutes for all four players to finish putting.

I watched one player use the "aim point" putting technique on all 12 holes of a high sch