Bobref

When I was a little kid playing baseball in the backyard, my brother would be Mickey Mantle. But I would always be Willie Mays. Yesterday, Baseball Digest presented it’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement award to “Say Hey” Willie Mays, as MLB’s greatest living player. Of course, he is more than that. Willie Mays was the greatest baseball player that ever walked between the white lines. The term “5 tool player” was coined for Mays, who was the first player who could hit for average, hit for power, run, catch the ball, and throw. “His glove was where triples went to die.” He was Barry Bonds without a head the size of a watermelon. He’ll turn 80 in 2 weeks. That means most of the people on here know of him only by what they’ve heard in passing from old-timers like me. But as his longtime manager, Leo Durocher, said “If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day, I’d still look you in the eye and say Willie was better.” https://www.mlb.com/news/willie-mays-earns-baseball-digest-lifetime-achievement-award Say Hey! Mays earns Baseball Digest award NEW YORK -- Willie Mays is the greatest living baseball player, and no one is going to argue with that. Leo Durocher, Mays’ former manager in the early 1950s, was spot on when he described Mays as a five-tool player. Mays spent a career frustrating his opponents with his fancy basket catches in center field, while his speed made Road Runner look slow. “The Say Hey Kid” stole 338 bases and had unmistakable power; he managed at least 30 homers in 11 seasons and at least 100 RBIs in 10 seasons. Runners had to think twice before challenging Mays’ arm as well -- just ask Cleveland, which couldn’t score on a deep fly ball hit by Vic Wertz in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. People talk about Mays’ over-the-shoulder catch on that play, but he often talks about the subsequent throw that prevented Larry Doby from tagging up and scoring from second base. What Mays has accomplished on the diamond was recognized on Thursday, 48 years after he played his final baseball game. Baseball Digest presented Mays with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. The new award -- the game’s only such honor to be presented annually on a national basis -- recognizes a living individual whose career has been spent in or around Major League Baseball and who has made significant contributions to the game. The selection was made by a distinguished panel of 12 longtime MLB participants and observers via independently submitted votes. The voters included former Major Leaguer Harold Reynolds, Pirates play-by play voice Greg Brown and Mets executive Jay Horwitz. “Baseball Digest was honored to cover and celebrate Willie Mays for the duration of his incredible career, and we are equally honored to celebrate an entire lifetime of contributions to baseball,” Baseball Digest publisher Norman Jacobs said in a statement. “Just as he thrilled us during a Hall of Fame playing career that spanned four decades, Willie has exemplified the best qualities of our game and our country in the nearly 50 years since his retirement.” Mays will make his fourth appearance on a Baseball Digest cover. He has previously appeared on the covers of the September 1954, February 1966 and May 1971 covers. “I never worried about personal awards. I worried about winning. But to be honored with this Lifetime Achievement Award, that’s a great honor, especially with all the other great names [considered],” Mays said in a statement. “All deserving. It’s a sports award, it’s a baseball award, but it’s much more. It’s about all the things you do. For me, it’s about helping kids and making sure they’re taken care of, because so many people took care of me in my life.” With recommendations from the voting panel, a preliminary list of 23 candidates for the inaugural honor was compiled. After an initial vote, the list of 23 was cut to six finalists: Hank Aaron, Roland Hemond, Willie Mays, Rachel Robinson, Vin Scully and Joe Torre. From these six finalists, each voter selected three names, with votes then tabulated on the following basis: 3 points for first place, 2 points for second place and 1 point for third place.

It’s only going to get worse. I’ve been hobbled with a walking boot lately, and I’m undergoing surgery Tuesday that’s going to have me essentially housebound for the foreseeable future. And Netflix and Amazon Prime can only take you so far.

No apology necessary. We are basically of like mind.

Don’t forget all those sweet looking old ladies with their babushkas who reminded you of your grandmother ... until they opened their mouths. Then you’d think you’d stumbled into a meeting of the longshoremen’s union.

The average annual wind speed of Chicago is 10.3 mph. The average annual wind speed of Buffalo, NY is 14.68 mph. This from the Wikipedia entry on Highmark Stadium, where the Bills play: Buffalo, by virtue of its position downwind of Lake Erie, is one of the nation's windiest cities, and as a result, Highmark Stadium is difficult for kickers, with swirling winds that change direction rapidly. This is exacerbated by the stadium's design. The field is 50 feet (15 m) below ground level, while the top of the upper deck stands only 60 feet (18 m) above ground. The open end lies parallel to the direction of the prevailing winds, so when the winds come in, they immediately drop down into the bowl, causing the stadium's signature wind patterns.

I’m sure you’re right. But Royal Center is smack in the middle of agriculture country. Doesn’t anyone there have an idea how to grow a decent crop of turf grass? 😂

No doubt. But he already had one blue ring before coming to Merrillville (Zionsville 1987). I know, because that was the first state championship I worked.

Buzz rounds out his staff by adding former Merrillville head coach Zac Wells, his DC at Homewood-Flossmoor, as his DC at Crown Point. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/sports/ct-ptb-hutton-column-st-0425-20210421-e4vwarintzeybikvjylwz5viem-story.html Given his health issues, I wonder if the plan is to have Buzz coach a few years, get their program in place, and then hand the reins to Zac.

I looked it up. The average annual snowfall in Buffalo is almost 8 ft. That’s more than Chicago and Green Bay combined.

Ever been to Buffalo?

That’s a great hire.

I feel the electorate’s repudiation of Trump has emboldened those who were already inclined in that direction.

Do you get the feeling that “big government’s” response to the pandemic is morphing into an excuse or justification for more intrusion?

Agreed ... on both counts.

Well, the Super League didn’t last long. Can’t believe those whacky Europeans didn’t foresee the pushback from organized soccer. Think about our NCAA analogy. If the Power 5 football schools seceded from the NCAA, what would happen to the other sports at those schools? I assume you’d have to either be an NCAA member for all sports, or none. Would the administrators who would run the new football super association give a rat’s behind about women’s lacrosse?

I guess not everyone thinks it’s a “scourge.” Anyway, SCOTUS handed down a pretty comprehensive opinion in the Indiana asset forfeiture case, Timbs v. Indiana, barely 2 years ago. Apparently, they don’t feel the need to revisit the issue so soon.

Writs of Certiorari Parties who are not satisfied with the decision of a lower court must petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case. The primary means to petition the court for review is to ask it to grant a writ of certiorari. This is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review. The Court usually is not under any obligation to hear these cases, and it usually only does so if the case could have national significance, might harmonize conflicting decisions in the federal Circuit courts, and/or could have precedential value. In fact, the Court accepts 100-150 of the more than 7,000 cases that it is asked to review each year. Typically, the Court hears cases that have been decided in either an appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals or the highest Court in a given state (if the state court decided a Constitutional issue). The Supreme Court has its own set of rules. According to these rules, four of the nine Justices must vote to accept a case. Five of the nine Justices must vote in order to grant a stay, e.g., a stay of execution in a death penalty case. Under certain instances, one Justice may grant a stay pending review by the entire Court. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/supreme-1

The decision to grant or deny certiorari depends on many factors, the least of which is the merits of a particular case.

How would you go about making promotion/relegation decisions? I mean, we can’t even get the IHSAA to seed the tournament.

Some of the most prominent teams in the sport of soccer have broken away from the established order to form a super league. The backlash has been ferocious. Will this experience provide impetus for the push to have the Power 5 football conferences (plus ND, of course) secede from the NCAA? What sort of backlash might they face? https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/european-super-league-explained-what-is-it-teams-in-and-out-fifa-uefa-premier-league-reaction-and-updates/

The rule is pretty simple: After the ready for play signal, and until the ball is kicked, K must have least 4 players on each side of the kicker. The “bunch” players are no exception. 4 must be on each side of the kicker.

One of my top 5 places I’ve worked a high school game in 40 seasons. Great setting. Great people ... and the only time I’ve ever been actually physically afraid on a football field. In their pregame show, the cadet corps marches onto the field. Right after the national anthem, they have this gigantic horse that gallops down the sideline to whip up the crowd. First time I saw it, I wasn’t expecting it. As I was standing on the sideline I looked up and this horse blew past me at speed, about an arm’s length away. If you’ve never been that close to a 1,000 lb. animal running fast, I don’t recommend it ... especially when it comes as a surprise. But it’s a great place, and their coach is among the best I ever worked with. And the setting is incomparable.

I cannot get enough of this guy’s story. If you are not impressed and inspired, you need to check and make sure you have a pulse. We have not heard the last of this guy. Whatever he goes on to do in retirement, he’s going to be very good at it. Whatever else is going on in the NFL, there’s at least one “feel good” story out there. Alex Smith, reigning NFL Comeback Player of the Year, announces retirement from football Longtime quarterback Alex Smith announced his NFL retirement Monday, capping a 16-year journey that started as a No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and ended after his improbable return from a gruesome injury. Smith, who will turn 37 next month, announced his decision in a two-minute, 12-second video posted to Instagram, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. He was released by the Washington Football Team last month but was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2020 for getting back on the field after an injury two years earlier that nearly cost him his right leg. "Even though I've got plenty of snaps left in me, after 16 years of giving this game everything I've got, I can't wait to see what else is possible," Smith said in the video. "But first, I'll take a little time to enjoy a few of those walks with my wife, and my kids have no idea what's coming for them in the backyard." After he suffered a compound leg fracture in November 2018, many assumed Smith's career was over. He required 17 surgeries to stem an infection in his right leg, which was nearly amputated. He needed to wear an external fixator on his leg for eight months and developed drop foot. His battle to return to action was the subject of an ESPN documentary, Project 11, that aired last spring, and Smith kept fighting, passing numerous tests and milestones along the way to being cleared by doctors. "Two years ago, I was stuck in a wheelchair staring down at my mangled leg wondering if I'd ever be able to go on a walk with my wife again or play games with my kids in the yard," said Smith, who has three children. "Putting my helmet back on was the farthest thing from my mind. I kept asking myself, 'All this for a stupid game?'" But, Smith said, having a football in his hands again while working out at the Center for the Intrepid allowed him to feel "stronger, more driven and what once seemed impossible began to come into focus." He had a team of doctors helping him along the way and benefited from his time at the facility, which typically works with wounded military personnel. Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder and his wife, Tanya, said in a joint statement that Smith "accomplished the greatest comeback in professional sports history and was a huge part of our team's success this past season." "Since the day Alex arrived here in Washington, he has represented this organization with class and dignity both on and off the field," the Snyders' statement said. "We witnessed every step of Alex's comeback first-hand and he personifies perseverance, strength and the will to never give up. The support he received from his family, friends, teammates and club medical staff throughout his comeback journey was truly unmatched." Later Monday, Smith told ESPN's Outside the Lines that he recently went snowboarding with his father and children. He had not been snowboarding since he was in college, and the moment stood out to him and helped solidify his decision to retire. "For me this all started as a father and husband," Smith said during the interview. "That's where it began, wondering what -- if anything -- I would be able to do with my kids again, with my wife again ... to do some things with them I thought had been taken away from me forever. I'm so grateful." Smith also said on OTL that he visited the Jacksonville Jaguars, and his former college coach Urban Meyer, and debated signing with them. He said he left the meeting excited for what Meyer was building but, he said, he was already weighing retirement. "I was ready," Smith said. "I am ready. I'm so excited about what else is out there and to experience it with my family and to have no limitations and take on the challenges that lie ahead." Smith told ESPN's Stephania Bell that overcoming the injury also helped him gain a "better perspective." "When I think back to being in the hospital after all the debridements -- and then we were heading down the path of limb salvage, the places my mind went as far as what my life would be like, down the dark paths of all the things I would never be able to do again," Smith told Bell. "I was consumed with all the things I would never be able to do for months and months. I had such a negative perspective on what my life was going to be like. ... I think I have so much better perspective because of everything I went through with the injury." At this time a year ago, there was severe doubt in the Washington organization about Smith's ability to even participate in training camp -- let alone make a roster. Numerous people in the franchise would say, "If anyone can do it, Alex can." But they also didn't make concrete plans involving him. Still, Smith fought his way back on to the 53-man roster and, after being inactive for the first four games, finally played again in Week 5 when starter Kyle Allen was injured. It did not go well that day for Smith, who passed for 37 yards but was sacked six times, including on his first series by Rams star Aaron Donald. It showed Smith, and others, what his leg could handle. Smith later started six games -- Washington went 5-1 in those contests -- and helped the organization win the NFC East title with a 7-9 record. But a bone bruise forced him to miss three of the last four games, including a playoff loss to the Buccaneers. Still, the fact that he played impressed others, and he earned 49 of a possible 50 votes to win the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award. Washington released Smith last month and signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Smith initially expressed his intent to keep playing but went unsigned more than a month into free agency. Washington coach Ron Rivera said in a statement that Smith "was the ultimate professional and one of the finest leaders I've ever had the privilege to coach. "His resilience and work ethic will serve as an example for our team as we continue to build a winning program here in Washington," Rivera said. "He is an inspiration to me personally and to the countless others who followed his journey these past few years." Smith was drafted No. 1 overall by the 49ers in 2005 and spent eight seasons in San Francisco. "For eight years, Alex represented our franchise with class both on and off the field, and his contributions to the 49ers organization will be remembered forever," Niners CEO Jed York said in a statement Monday. "Throughout his time in the Red and Gold, Alex showed how perseverance, commitment and hard work were core principles to him as a person and it was truly special to see his impact in the locker room and in the community." After Colin Kaepernick's rise in San Francisco, the Niners traded Smith to the Chiefs, where he spent five seasons and helped Kansas City reach the playoffs four times. Kansas City traded up in the 2017 draft to select Patrick Mahomes and, after that season, traded Smith to Washington for cornerback Kendall Fuller and a third-round pick. Smith started 16 games in Washington, which went 11-5 in those games; the team's record with anyone else starting in the past three years was 6-27. Mahomes said Monday that Smith "always seemed to come out on top" despite the adversity he dealt with throughout his career, while Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Smith would make a great coach someday. "If he gets into coaching, I get first dibs on him," Reid said. "I doubt he will, but if he decides to go that route, he's a guy you would love to have on your staff." For his career, Smith started 167 games, and his teams went 99-67-1 in those contests. He passed for 35,650 yards, 199 touchdowns and 109 interceptions. His 46 interceptions since 2013 were the second-fewest by a quarterback with at least 70 starts, trailing only Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. "I was a skinny no-name recruit who wasn't supposed to play in college, let alone go to New York as a Heisman finalist or be the first one to have his name called on draft night," Smith said in the video. "And then on a routine play, I almost lost everything -- but football wouldn't let me give up because, no, this isn't just a game. It's not just what happens between those white lines on a Sunday afternoon. It's about the challenges and commitment they require, it's how hard and how far you can push yourself and it's about the bond between those 53 guys in the locker room. It's about fully committing yourself to something bigger, and most of all it's about you." Smith then thanked the fans of the teams he represented: "Niner Nation, the Chiefs Kingdom or the Burgundy and Gold." "To all the men I had the privilege of standing with and playing alongside, thank you," he said. "Thank you for believing in me and thank you for helping me believe in myself and in the impossible."

I hope I’m around to see it. https://iuhoosiers.com/news/2021/4/19/football-iu-notre-dame-agree-to-home-home-series.aspx IU-Notre Dame Agree to Home-&-Home Series BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana and Notre Dame football programs announced on Monday afternoon a home-and-home series in 2030 and 2031. IU will travel to Notre Dame Stadium on Aug. 31, 2030, and host the Fighting Irish on Sept. 27, 2031. "I'm looking forward to facing one of the most storied programs in the history of college football," head coach Tom Allen said. "It's tremendous for the state of Indiana and for our fans, and it will be a great opportunity for our players." The teams last met at Notre Dame on Sept. 7, 1991, and last faced off in Bloomington on Oct. 21, 1950.

And they can both be false.