It’s that time of year when the Holidays demand that we “hop scotch” around from 1 thing to the next … often very quickly. Soooo…let’s do the same this week in the sports world…

…let’s jump 1^st into a Blue-tinted part of the sidewalk…biggest news was the firing of Craig Berube. Let’s face it…this is a mediocre team with a couple young players who can score some, skate fast but can they win ? The depth of this squad is questionable. You can’t replace the entire team soooo… Berube goes. Berube leaves as the 3^rd longest tenured Blues coach (behind Joel Quenneville & Ken Hitchock), 3^rd most wins in Club history, 3^rd most playoff wins but most importantly….he’s the ONLY coach to win the Stanley Cup in the Lou!! Maybe his gruff style rattled the younger players who have come out of different generation of coach/player interaction. This will be the Blues 27^th HC since 1967.

…the next part of concrete with the hop-scotch board has many, many bowls painted on it.  Yep…it’s bowl season. Mediocrity rules here!! .500 teams dominate the bowls until after Christmas. Many.. probably most…now have the names of their bowls with their sponsors name in the title…ugh! I mean does the “Pop-Tart Bowl” or Tony the Tiger Bowl, Tax-Slayer Gator bowl or Direct TV Bowl put you into a football mode? Sounds to me more like Saturday morning cartoon shows than football games.

…Speaking of Bowls…It’s become a shame!  Many stars or starting players (in several cases 15-20 players per team) are refusing to play in the Bowl game. They are either going into Transfer portal or preparing for the draft.  In several cases, the best players (the QB or WR/Running back) are “sitting it out”. Mizzou is favored over Ohio State!! How could this be? Well…the Buckeyes have their starting QB & 2 key running backs not playing. Mizzou has a few marginal players not playing by choice but not the “big boys”. (at least at this moment 😊). Hence, MU is favored

…The next hop-scotch square wasn’t used too often…hardly at all. I’m going ol’ school here….like all taxpayers, these athletes are provided with education, tutors, medical care, housing, everything they need by the population of that State through their taxes.  In return, they are expected to play the games, practices to the best of their ability, lift weights, perform in classroom (often with tutors), follow all the directions of the coaching staff. When they refuse to do so due to their choice of transferring or preparing for draft, they have broken the contract. Good or bad players…in my college, they’d be “outta there” in 1 week. You can’t have your cake & eat it too!!  Why should they remain under the free care, free education, free this & that and almost free everything? It should be the policy of all colleges….not just a few of them. If they choose to “not play”…they ARE choosing to leave… cut all ties with them upon their declaration of non-playing. You can’t ..or shouldn’t … have it both ways.

…I was happy to get out of that hop scotch box and move to another spot but it was right next to the last block. It showed symbols that were gradually fading away.  Do you really think that the sponsors will continue  their heavy “sponsorship” as the “big names” disappear? Clearly the viewership will be less , their impact less w/o the key players to the casual fan.   

…the next Hop-Scotch block had $$$ signs painted all over it. It had listed all the pay scales of the MLB teams AND their place of finish in 2023. Of the 30 teams, the 3 highest paid teams in 2023 (Mets, NYY & SD) didn’t make the playoffs at All! The Texas Rangers were #9 in the team pay scales as they celebrated winning the World Series. The Cardinals were 15^th in the MLB in salary (right in the middle) but finished in last place in their division. Spending the 21^st most (of 30 teams) Arizona made it to the World Series. Arizona had been under .500 for the last 3 seasons & lost 110 games two seasons ago! Spending 29^th in the MLB (2^nd lowest), Baltimore made it to the AL Division Series this year! What does this hop-scotch block tell us…it wasn’t just the amount of money  spent…it was the evaluation  and growth of the players by management(on & off the field).

…somehow money always comes up in these sports articles… this week, Shohei Ohtani shook the sports world with his contract. The Dodgers signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract with 97% of the money deferred for down the road!  97% deferred now leads the Dodgers down a couple different paths. 1^st of all they will still have money available to spend on other talent RIGHT NOW! According to Sportico, “The historic contract impacts taxes, both the Dodgers’ and Ohtani’s, and its annual value varies depending if you break it down over 10 years ($70 million), for luxury tax purposes ($46 million), for the players union calculations ($43.8 million), over the 20 years it will be paid ($35 million) or its 2024 payout ($2 million).” Will other teams now travel down that same path? Trying to win RIGHT NOW with a “pay me later” attitude!

…I hop-scotched to a really clean square, apparently not used very often. The NFL square! While most of us still view the NFL with bitterness (or complete apathy), some have adopted the KC Chiefs as “our” team. Logical…it’s close and most importantly for most fans, the Chiefs have been winners over the past few years.  Mahomes has become the football “icon” in the Lou. He’s entertaining with his passing style(s) & moves the ball often & easily. This year has been more of a struggle—yet they are in 1st place in the AFC West Division with an 8-5 record. Not exactly DOMINATION but still 1^st place!  Part of their struggles have been in turnovers (what’s new there?)!  The Chiefs are tied for 25^th of 30 teams in turnover difference (-7).  KC is still 11^th in the NFL is Points/Game Offensively with 22.5 ppg. Much to my surprise, defense still “rules”. Although usually thought of as an offensive team, KC is 3^rd in the NFL if lowest PPG allowed!  That’s usually how your win!

… Thanks for Hop-Scotching Around with me!  I’m always interested in YOUR “takes” on any of the topics. Put them up directly on my Facebook page or send to me & I’ll do it! Thanks for your read!

Bob