Category: Other Sports

Boston Numbers that Should Be Retired

Bruins:

To start, the Bruins have some numbers from recent players that need to be retired eventually. These don’t all need to happen ASAP, but all these guys should have their number in the rafters:

33 – Zdeno Chara

37- Patrice Bergeron

46 – David Krejci

40 – Tuukka Rask

30 – Tim Thomas and Gerry Cheevers

63 – Brad Marchand (once he is retired from the league)

To soon to tell, but they are on their way:

88 – David Pastrnak

73 – Charlie McAvoy

Patriots

I have to make a caveat here. With the sheer amount of numbers needed for the NFL, I think the Patriots HOF shares a similar role as retired numbers do for other teams. For the Patriots, I think only all-time greats should have their numbers retired, especially since the Pats already have 8 numbers retired.

87 – Rob Gronkowski

56 – Andre Tippett

I also think Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick eventually deserve statues outside Gillette Stadium near where the Brady statue will be put up.

Red Sox

49 – Tim Wakefield

33 – Jason Varitek

15 – Dustin Pedroia

24 – Dwight Evans and Manny Ramirez

Celtics

The Celtics do such a great job with retiring numbers, there are no pressing players that need to be retired.

To soon to tell, but they are on their way:

0 – Jayson Tatum

7 – Jaylen Brown

I also think the Bill Russell and Red Auerbach statues in Boston should be moved to TD Garden or new ones should be built at the Garden if they don’t want to move them. And they should build a Larry Bird statue there to join them.

Celtics Sold

The Celtics sold for a valuation of $6.1 billion, the most ever for a North American sports team, to a group led by PE titan Bill Chisholm. Co-owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca bought the team for $360 million in 2002, so they made an insane return on their investment. It is unfortunate to see such great owners sell the team, but Grousbeck will be the franchise CEO through the 2027-28 season, which will help with the transition.

One of the great things about the current owners is that they were willing to spend a ton, similar to the LA Dodgers owners. They have the best roster in the league and have guys under contract for the foreseeable future. The first test of the ownership group is how willing they are to keep the team together. You have to imagine if a group is willing to spend over $6 billion for a team, that they will fork over money to keep the team together.

Reports are also that the NBA was waiting to get serious about expansion until this sale, since it sets a new floor for NBA franchises. Similar to most team sales, the Celtics sold over the estimated price of $5.5 billion.

Big Four Relocation and Expansion

One of my favorite sports topics is relocation and expansion in the Big Four Sports Leagues. In this post, I break down cities that should get new teams.

MLB

I think the MLB will soon expand from 30 to 32 teams. There are many teams vying for a new team. I think 5 new cities should get teams, with 2 expansions and 3 relocations.

I think the 3 relocations will need to happen before expansion. The first team that should relocate is the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite having decent success, the Rays have had terrible attendance, even for playoff games. With the new stadium project in the Tampa area collapsing and Tropicana Stadium having its roof ripped off, Tampa needs to leave soon.

I think it makes sense for them to move to Nashville. There is already a lot of momentum for a new team to go to Nashville and be called the Nashville Stars. There also is rumors that the new Tennessee Titans stadium complex will have room for a new MLB stadium which puts it in a great location. Nashville is a good sports town and the Rays moving there solves a current issue while also keeping allowing them to stay in the AL East (for now).

I also think the Chicago White Sox should relocate. They are having tons of issues with finding a new stadium and with current attendance issues. There is already another team in Chicago and they would be a prime candidate to move. I think Salt Lake City would be their best option. It isn’t as big as other potential expansion cities, but it already has 2 other sports teams and is a sports crazy town. They also have a big group trying to bring the team there and have a lot of momentum to bring a team there.

A potential wild card move I could see if the LA Angels moving to Portland. Portland is a big sports city/area without and MLB team. The Angels are second citizens in their town and could be due for a move.

The two expansion cities I see for the MLB are Charlotte and Austin/San Antonio. Charlotte would give the MLB access to the Carolinas market, which is a pretty big baseball area. Austin/San Antonio is a massive dual market they could get into.

* This is all assuming that the Oakland As do end up moving to Las Vegas.

Based on the moves above, here are the new divisions I imagine once 32 teams are in the league:

American League

AL East

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays

Baltimore Orioles

AL North

Minnesota Twins

Kansas City Royals

Detroit Tigers

Cleveland Guardians

AL South

New Austin/San Antonio Team

Houston Astros

Texas Rangers

Colorado Rockies

AL West

LA Angels/ New Portland Team

Las Vegas Athletics

Seattle Mariners

New Salt Lake City Team (formerly Chicago White Sox)

National League

NL East

Philadelphia Phillies

New York Mets

Washington Nationals

Pittsburgh Pirates

NL North

Chicago Cubs

St Louis Cardinals

Cincinnati Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

NL South

Miami Marlins

Atlanta Braves

Nashville Stars (formerly Tampa Bay Rays)

New Charlotte Team

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers

Arizona Diamondbacks

San Francisco Giants

San Diego Padres

NBA

I think the NBA should expand to Seattle and Las Vegas. Both cities have arenas that a new team could move into and both are great sports towns. An NBA team would also give both cities four sports teams and solidify them as massive sports towns. The new NHL teams in both cities have done well and can serve as a blueprint for a new NBA team.

I also think the Memphis Grizzlies could move to Nashville. Nashville is a better sports town and the Predators have an arena they could move into pretty easily.

The Grizz could move into the Eastern Conference and the new Seattle and Vegas teams would join the Western Conference.

NHL

There are multiple NHL cities that could potentially lose teams like the San Jose Sharks or Buffalo Sabres. However, with the recent NHL expansion/relocation, there aren’t many places for these teams to go. Hockey is mainly a northern sport, so I don’t think expanding to a southern city is smart. Potentially, a Canadian city like Quebec City or a northern US City like Milwaukee or Portland could be on the list. I think for right now, the NHL will sit pat and see how the new expansion/relocation pans out before making any more moves.

NFL

I don’t think there is any chance the league expands anytime soon. The current structure of 32 teams works so well that there is no real benefit to adding new teams. And while there are teams that don’t fit in great to their current cities, I don’t see any leaving soon. The Jaguars would be the main team that might have left. But they recently announced plans to do a $1.4 billion renovation of their current stadium so they aren’t moving any time soon. And if they did, where would they go?

London is not a realistic option. The travel that a team would have to go through being based in London is absolutely brutal and I don’t think any player or coach would be a fan of that. Plus, being in a foreign country throws in the complications of taxes, foreign exchange, and politics further complicating things for a team based there.

Outside of that, there are potential US cities that could field an NFL team. However, none are such great options that any team is likely dying to move there. You do not hear much about NFL teams looking to relocate because most, if not all, are happy enough with their current situations

Will the Big 10 and SEC Break Away from the FBS?

With the CFP results being underwhelming for the SEC, I wonder if this could start a chain of events that leads to the Big 10 and SEC breaking off from the rest of the country when it comes to competing for the national championship.

The SEC and BIG 10 are getting very little value from the other teams and conferences, whereas, the other conferences get insane value. Each conference gets a team in the playoff – even if they don’t deserve to make it – and weaker conferences like the ACC can have multiple teams. This all comes at the expense of the SEC and Big 10 not getting more teams in the playoff, which means less home playoff games, revenue, exposure, and more.

It is tough to compare teams from the SEC and Big 10 to other teams in the country, since there are way more good teams in the two big conferences and thus each team plays a much harder conference schedule. This means some teams that get in from other conferences will probably continue to be worse than SEC and Big 10 teams that don’t get in. This eventually could lead to the two big conferences getting fed up and wanting out.

I think there are four other schools that benefit the SEC and Big 10 due to their brand, success, following, etc: Notre Dame, Clemson, FSU, and Miami. What if the SEC scooped up FSU, Clemson, Miami, and one other team like UNC to make a 20 team conference? And then the Big 10 could make a scheduling agreement with Notre Dame and take on one more team to have 20 teams in/associated with the conference. In this scenario, the two conferences could form an ultra competitive 12 or 14 team CFP without help from any other conferences.

Imagine if rather than SMU, Boise State, and Arizona State, the teams playing were Alabama, Miami, and South Carolina. That would be a much better CFP.

I am not saying this should happen or will happen, but I think it is something to keep an eye on.

Any change will be gradual. As of now, the likely next step is 14 teams in 2026. I’m sure if/when that happens, the SEC and Big 10 will make demands on how many of their teams are guaranteed a spot and how the seeding is determined. If the other conferences don’t give in, that could lead to the break described above.

Belichick to UNC

In a shocking turn of events, Bill Belichick is now the head coach on UNC. Now that a couple days have passed, along with the initial shock, the decision seems to make more sense.

It looks like the market for Belichick as an NFL head coach was going to be very small. Even the teams that might consider him did not seem willing to let him have the level of control he was looking for and he likely would not have been able to bring in all the people he wanted. UNC will allow him to call all the shots.

He has always loved college football and grew up around the game. UNC is a great academic school that matches with Bill being an intelligent individual.

UNC is the perfect middle ground of being a good program, but not so prestigious that he can’t come in and take over the program without worrying about boosters and an AD looking over his shoulder all the time.

The transfer portal and NIL have made college football much more like the NFL. He will be able to recruit guys other programs don’t value enough and develop them into great players. Football players with dreams of going to the NFL will want to play for him.

All in all, I think he will be very successful. I don’t think he’ll be able to win a national title, but I think he can consistently compete to win the ACC and make the playoffs.

Benefits of Conference Realignment

I know people have mixed feelings on conference realignment, but I think it’s good for the future of college football. Below are the games we’ve had this year thanks to realignment:

6 Tennessee @ 18 Oklahoma – Week 4

11 USC @ 18 Michigan – Week 4

2 Ohio State @ 3 Oregon – Week 7

4 Penn State @ USC – Week 7

5 Georgia @ 1 Texas – Week 8

1 Oregon @ Michigan – Week 9

Washington @ 6 Penn State – Week 11

Florida @ 5 Texas – Week 11

7 Alabama @ Oklahoma – Week 13

3 Texas @ 20 Texas A&M – Week 14

Oklahoma @ LSU – Week 14

5 Georgia vs 2 Texas – SEC Championship

3 Penn State vs 1 Oregon – Big Ten Championship

17 Clemson vs 8 SMU – ACC Championship

CFB Week 8 Reaction

5 Georgia @ 1 Texas

Georgia with a huge win in an extremely unique game. This shows the good side of realignment where two all-time programs play each other in a primetime top 5 matchup.

For Georgia, they don’t look as dominant as they have the past three years. But they still look like the best team in a loaded SEC. Even with Carson Beck not playing his best, they thoroughly outplayed Texas. Their strength continues to be an absurd defense with future NFL players all around it.

Texas’s season is very much still alive. If this is their only loss, they easily still make the playoff. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle everything internally.

Sark removing Quinn Ewers so early was kind of ridiculous. But once you put Arch in, stick it out instead of taking him out right away. Now you hurt both QBs confidence and create a controversy moving forward. They need to pick one and commit to them moving forward. I think Ewers is the guy right now due to his experience. He’s still shaking off rust from injury. The remainder of the schedule is not easy since it’s the SEC, but they should be able to right the ship and Quinn should get back to playing well.

7 Alabama @ 11 Tennessee

Bama is in a tough spot now. They really have no way to make the conference championship game. Their one avenue to the playoff is to win out, look impressive, and hope their resume is good enough to get an at large bid. This is exactly why great teams like them can’t afford brutal losses to teams like Vandy. The SEC is so good, you’re nearly guaranteed to lose 1 or 2 games to great teams. Any extra losses just tank your season.

Tennessee finds themselves in a pretty good spot moving forward. Their one tough remaining opponent is Georgia. If they can pull that off they are likely in the SEC Championship. Even if that is the one loss they have, this Bama win gives them a strong case for the playoff.

24 Michigan @ 22 Illinois

The emphatic nail in Michigan’s already brutal season. They lose by 14 points to a team that had 80 yards passing. They are in rebuild mode and I’m betting they’ll be back to great in a couple years. Illinois is sneaky good this year. They have a big next game vs Oregon. If they pull off the upset, they have a clear rode to the Big 10 Championship.

College Football Week 7

South Carolina @ 7 Alabama

Alabama has such a wide range of performance. At their ceiling, they can beat anyone, like when they put up a 28-0 lead on Georgia and beat them. At their floor, they can lose to teams they absolutely should beat, like Vanderbilt. With so many good teams in the SEC, that isn’t the consistency needed to win the conference and win the Natty.

Saturday was the perfect example of their floor where they let a much worse USC team hang around. USC failed on a 2-point conversion to tie the game, despite a wide open receiver their QB simply missed. That should have been the game. Instead, Bama botches the onside kick and gave USC another chance to win the game. If they keep playing this way in the SEC, they won’t make the conference championship.

I also do not see Jalen Milroe as a legitimate NFL prospect. He came into this week as Mel Kiper’s #2 QB which I think is crazy. He is not a consistent enough passer and makes too many poor decisions with the football to be great in the NFL. He is such a good athlete that he may eventually be able to develop into a good NFL QB with the right coach, but it’s a long shot. I think Shedeur Sanders and Quinn Ewers are the clear cut top two prospects and after that there is much more uncertainty.

1 Texas vs 18 Oklahoma

QB Quinn Ewers looked shaky early. He got better as the game went on, but will need to play better if they want to beat Georgia. If he was more settled, this would have been a bigger blow out. There will be noise this week about Arch Manning playing over Ewers. A bad performance against Georgia will only make those voices louder.

Texas’s defense led the way and played great the whole game. They put the offense in position to score so many times. The offense missed many opportunities to put the game away earlier.

Oklahoma’s defense is great, but the offense could not keep up. Their QB should be good once he develops more, but he could not handle Texas’s defense, especially with his top FIVE wide receivers out.

2 Ohio State at 3 Oregon

This game lived up to the hype. Both teams are so even, either could have pulled out the win. I believe these are the two best teams in the Big 10 and they will meet in the championship game, with Ohio State getting revenge.

9 Ole Miss at 13 LSU

Another awesome night game that was overshadowed by the Big 10 showdown mentioned above. LSU saved their SEC title hopes with the win and ended Ole Miss’s chance to make it. The SEC is super close right now and Texas A&M, Texas, and LSU are the only SEC teams without a conference loss.

College Football Week 6

1 Alabama @ Vanderbilt

Bama with one of the most shocking upsets of the year. A week after pulling off a season defining win, they now have a loss that will follow them all year. They might not be able to lose one more time this year if they want to make the playoffs.

Gotta love the Vandy fans taking the goalpost down Broadway and throwing it in the river. Nashville was probably POPPING last night.

4 Tennessee @ Arkansas

Another massive SEC upset. TN has looked so good this year, it’s sad to see them lose to a much worse team. That’s what makes the SEC so hard to play in.

8 Miami @ California

Unlike the above teams, Miami staved off an upset with one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory. Cam Ward’s draft and Heisman stock keeps rising.

10 Michigan @ Washington

Washington gets revenge by ending Michigan’s shot at making the playoff. It’s crazy that the two teams who made the championship game last year have both fallen off so much.

11 USC @ Minnesota

USC’s season is also over with this loss to Minnesota. As good as Lincoln Riley is, his USC teams continuously disappoint and have bad losses.

Premier League Matchweek 6 Reaction

Man City surprisingly drops points in a tie to Newcastle. They are so dominate that every game they don’t win is a shocker.

COLE. PALMER. 🥶❄️🧊. He sets a Premier League record with 4 goals before halftime. He also hit a post and had a goal disallowed, so it could’ve been 6. What a game from The Blues. They now sit in 4th in the league. Since the start of last season, in Premier League play, Palmer has 28 goals and 15 assists and Nicholas Jackson has 18 goals and 8 assists. Palmer is 22 and Jackson is 23. We are seeing the start of what could be an amazing duo.

Arsenal took advantage of Man Citys draw and finds themselves in 2nd place. These two are on a collision course that will be fun to watch.