It’s been awhile Manoverse. Your humble Potentate of Profundity has been dealing with some health issues for a few months, but I am on the mend. The good news?? I’ve been watching a ton of sports, including a renewed interest in NASCAR and an effort to be more supportive of my Pittsburgh Pirates. Thru the years, while battling problems that leave me not really sick or even in pain as much as inconveniently incapacitated, I have been thankful to be a sports fan. It has helped me tremendously during some lonely and bleak moments.
Congratulations to the New York Knicks for winning their first NBA Championship since 1973. As y’all know, I don’t pay much attention to pro basketball’s regular season, but I do enjoy the NBA playoffs. My feeble fandom is fueled more by who I dislike for various reasons since I don’t really have a favorite team. When it got down to the final two it became easy to pull for the Knicks, not only because former WV Mountaineer Deuce McBride is a significant role player for the them, but also because of my disdain for San Antonio Spurs President (and former head coach) Greg Popovich. I know he’s been dealing with some health problems and I wish him no ill will, but he’s also been an ignorant blowhard in years past. Then there is Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama, a 7ft.4 center from France who can also shoot from way downtown. He seems like a real prick as well, and standing with his arms folded like a petulant 12 year old girl during the national anthem was a bad look.
I suppose congratulations are also in order for the Carolina Hurricanes, who won their second Stanley Cup since evolving from the Hartford Whalers and moving south in 1997. I didn’t watch that series though because I just can’t get into hockey. However, I continue to be amused that an NHL team from Canada hasn’t raised the Cup since 1993. #GodBlessAmerica 🇺🇸
MLB has really stepped in it, haven’t they?? If they had just ignored three San Francisco Giants players who wrote a Bible scripture on their “Pride” themed caps the moment would have passed and no one would’ve cared, but instead, they decided to chastise the players and threaten to fine them $10k. To be clear, I understand the rules. Players cannot be allowed to use their uniforms as art projects. I get it. I don’t have a problem with the rule. What has become an issue for all professional sports leagues is their hypocrisy. Players aren’t permitted to deface their uniforms, but the league can do so to uniforms, end zones, basketball backboards, etc. These leagues pick & choose the agendas they want to promote, but the second players who might not agree with the messaging push back they’re in trouble. Here’s an idea. The players are paid to play the game. The fans are in attendance or watching on TV because they want to enjoy the game. Even people who might agree with the sociopolitical statements, at the end of the day, really just want to have fun watching the damn game. I seriously doubt that any slogan painted on the field or stitched onto uniforms has ever been a dealbreaker for people deciding whether or not to attend a sporting event. Sports leagues that focus on anything other than the game are not only damaging their own brand, but inadvertently causing harm to those they’re allegedly celebrating, because now fans who otherwise wouldn’t have paid attention now feel some sort of way. Nobody wins. Just play the game. Don’t invite controversy. It isn’t productive, and it’s actually rather stupid.
What is less interesting than hockey?? Soccer. Therefore, I have absolutely zero interest in The World Cup, unless Team USA makes it to the championship, at which point I MIGHT watch the last few minutes of the game.
The NFL Supplemental Draft is a strange bird that only die hard football fans understand. That being said, in the past it has given us outstanding players like Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter, quarterback Bernie Kosar, and linebacker Brian Bosworth. Okay, Boz was a far better college player than pro, but I digress. The last time a player was selected in the supplemental draft was 2019, but that’s probably about to change. Someone will roll the dice on former Cincinnati Bearcats QB Brendan Sorsby, an admitted gambling addict who is being run out of college football, a sport that is heavily sponsored by DraftKings & ESPNBet. I don’t know if he’ll be successful in the NFL, but I wish him luck, because the hypocrisy of all these leagues, conferences, and institutions raking in millions of dollars from gambling while simultaneously condemning the activity is pretty gross.
Should the Pittsburgh Pirates trade pitcher Paul Skenes?? It’s become a topic of discussion in the Pirates ecosystem. He is 24 years old, in his third year, and is signed thru 2029. Anyone who has been a Pirates fan for awhile can tell you how this goes. If Skenes maintains his established level of play for the next few years he’ll be offered a huge contract by the Dodgers, Yankees, or some other big market team. By then he will understandably be tired of losing and want to play on a team with a realistic opportunity to go to the World Series. He’s involved with aspiring actress Livvy Dunne, and if they’re still together, well…Pittsburgh, PA ain’t where it’s at for her. A pitcher plays in, at best, 32 games per season. Even if he wins every game (which is unrealistic) a team still has 130 other games. I am NOT discounting the importance of pitching in baseball. That’d be foolish. I am also not trying to diminish Skenes’ talent. All I’m saying is that, if a team were to offer a king’s ransom for Skenes, including good hitters & fielders that impact every game, some high draft picks, and a pitcher or two that might end up being almost as good as Skenes, I think the Pirates have to be open to the conversation.
You know what else I didn’t watch?? UFC Freedom 250 live from the White House. I got rid of my Paramount+ subscription a long time ago because it really offered nothing I’m interested in and choices had to be made. I wasn’t about to resubscribe for one event, especially since my interest in cage fighting is on par with my enthusiasm for hockey. Having said that, I need to address a couple of things. First, I had no problem with the event being held at the White House. Considering what other Presidents have done inside the place, I don’t think President Trump setting up an octagon on the lawn is that big of a deal. Perhaps a bit weird, but as long as everything is deconstructed afterward it’s fine. Secondly, can self righteous gas bags please stop whining about the dude who called former First Lady Michelle Obama a man?? It isn’t something I would have said, but the same people doggin’ this guy for what he probably perceived as being funny are the same people who have verbally mauled the entire Trump family for a decade, practically jumped for joy when Charlie Kirk was murdered, defended Jimmy Kimmel, and have made no secret of their contempt for half of the American population that doesn’t vote for the correct people (in their opinion). If they are under the delusion that they hold the moral high ground they’re mistaken.
I’ll be honest…I dozed off & missed most of the CFP National Championship Game, and I’m okay with that. Ohio State should’ve never been there after playing only half of a season, and I’m beyond tired of Alabama. You’re mileage may vary & that’s okay.
ESPN talking head Israel Gutierrez actually suggested that it would be “crazy powerful” for Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers to skip his team’s first playoff game in response to the unfortunate events that had taken place in Washington DC a couple of days before. Now I’ve heard some real head scratchers on that channel the past few years (a big reason sports fans like myself & many others have stopped watching as much as we once did), but that statement from Gutierrez might be one of the dumbest things uttered by anyone anywhere in my 40+ years on the planet. He should’ve been fired immediately and dragged out of the building in a straitjacket…it was that incomprehensibly stupid. To suggest that an MVP level quarterback whose team has a very real opportunity to win the Super Bowl should sit out to make a political statement is just…insane?? Ridiculous?? Pathetic?? All of the above?? You tell me.
My Pittsburgh Pirates were in the news recently after signing 16 year old outfield prospect Shalin Polanco from the Dominican Republic. One might assume something like that would elicit cheers from the Pirates’ faithful, but you’d be wrong. Understand, we’ve seen this movie before. One of two things will happen…a) the kid will be a total bust, or b) just as he’s entering his best years as a player Pittsburgh will trade him for a bunch of prospects and he’ll go to the World Series with his new team. Those of us that have been rooting for the Bucs for any length of time suffer from what I call Battered Fan Syndrome. We don’t believe anything great is on the horizon for them and if it is we’re pretty sure they’ll screw it up. You may call it cynical, but really it is just self-preservation. 
Dynasty” ever again. If this football season has proven anything it’s that the New England Patriots needed Tom Brady a whole hell of a lot more than Brady needed the Patriots. New England went 7-9, while Brady has Tampa (who went 7-9 last season) in the NFC title game. I hope this doesn’t happen, but IF Brady wins the Super Bowl with another team everyone should start using the term “Brady Dynasty”.
guy hitting a home run in his last at bat or making a buzzer beating three-pointer in his final game. But that’s not usually the way it goes, is it?? Professional athletes often have a hard time recognizing when their skills are diminishing. They want one more opportunity to get a ring, so they stick around for a season or two or three too long. Oftentimes they play those years with different teams than the one that made them a household name. They sacrifice their legacy chasing one last shot at glory. The good thing is eventually we are able to put aside that sad limp to the finish line and focus on the highlights, but how cool would it be if our sports heroes never had that heartbreaking end that we need to erase from our memory?? Unfortunately that’s not how it works.
Y’all may have noticed that I hadn’t written anything in this space for a few months until now. I don’t put a lot of my business out there to the masses for many reasons, not the least of which is I don’t expect pity from anyone. However, let me just say that I’m going thru a rough time at the moment and will be on the proverbial shelf until well into the autumn. I have no doubt that I will heal physically, despite many misgivings about my medical care and lack of trust in caregiving personnel. The bigger battle is mental & emotional. I must admit that my faith is shaken and I’ve been questioning many of my beliefs. Having said that, I am fortunate to have access to technology, so with the helpful distraction of movies, TV, books, & social media, life affirming therapy of music, and the catharsis of writing perhaps I can muddle thru without descending into madness. If you haven’t perused 
upset at all though. We got a really entertaining seven game series without the big market “usual suspects” involved, and that’s cool in my book. Yes yes yes…I’m aware that Houston, TX is the fourth largest city in the United States and the Astros have been rather successful lately, winning the World Series in 2017 and appearing in the last three ALCS. However, before that they’d only appeared in one Series, losing to the Chicago White Sox in 2005. During my youth in the 70’s & 80’s the Astros were a prosaic team with only an occasional above average season, so right now I’m not tired of their success just yet.
odious things I’ve seen in sports during my 47 years on the planet. A few thoughts:
I’m not a fan of style over substance. It may be unfair to chime in since I’ve never been there, but my perception is that Hollywood specifically and California in general is a lot like The Capitol in The Hunger Games…self-absorbed, hedonistic heathens whose wealth far outweighs their common sense. That’s why I chuckled a bit when it was announced that this year’s National League MVP was Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder Cody Bellinger and the American League MVP is California/L.A./Anaheim (I’ve lost track) Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout. The Dodgers did atleast make the playoffs before being ousted by the Nationals, while the Angels finished 35 games behind the Astros in their division. Individual honors are nice, especially for those players, but team sports are…well…about the team, and I am always amused when I see small market teams like the Minnesota Twins, Oakland A’s, Cleveland Indians, & Milwaukee Brewers achieve some level of success while teams like the Angels spend a ton of money and it does them absolutely no good. Even funnier is the case of Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper, who signed with Philly last winter for $330 million over 13 years. The Phillies finished with a .500 record in 2019, 16 games out of first place in their division. Harper’s former team?? The Washington Nationals. Sure, $330 million is nothing to sneeze at, but almost any professional sports player whose career lasts more than a few years is going to retire a very wealthy person these days, and I’m guessing most of them would trade half their money & individual accolades for a championship that many will never see.
why it took so long for Russell to finally accept his ring can apparently be solved with one name: Chuck Cooper. Cooper was an All-American for Duquesne in the late 1940’s and was the 14th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in 1950. He didn’t have a statistically notable pro career, but was the first black player drafted into the NBA. Perhaps one could think of him as the Jackie Robinson of basketball. Cooper was finally inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame a few months ago (35 years after his death), which is what likely persuaded Russell to accept his honor. There’s a lot to unpack here. We’ve got virtue signaling all over the place, which y’all know drives me nuts. I suppose there’s no big issue with Cooper being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but on the other hand it’s worth pointing out that his numbers on the court didn’t seem to justify it for more than a half century. It wasn’t until the “woke” 21st century when simply being a certain race, religion, gender, orientation, etc. is deemed worthy of accolades that someone somewhere thought Cooper’s standing as an NBA trailblazer makes him a Hall-of-Famer. Jackie Robinson…besides being a more famous trailblazer himself…actually had a Hall of Fame career: Rookie of the Year, six time All Star, World Series champion, National League MVP, National League batting champion. Nevertheless, I suppose putting Cooper into the Hall of Fame is a nice thing to do. But Russell refusing his induction for 40+ years is just weird. I’m reminded of actor Marlon Brando refusing the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1973 for his role as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather because he was protesting Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans. What good does any of that do?? Bill Russell was one of the greatest basketball players of all time and he delayed his Hall of Fame induction for what?? Craziness!!
Well, they finally did it. The Pittsburgh Pirates cleaned house. They got rid of manager Clint Hurdle as well as pretty much the entire front office. Hurdle seems like a nice man, but in the past couple of years it felt as though he’d given up, knowing that he could never have a team that would flourish with the current Pirates ownership. He’s not wrong, but for the sake of the team I think it’s important to have a manager with enough idealism & passion to atleast believably feign faith in his club’s potential instead of a tired old man so worn down by life that his boredom is palpable. Energy & enthusiasm aren’t going to be enough to turn the tide in Pittsburgh, but it’s a good start. The new front office is taking shape and I expect Hurdle’s replacement to be named before Thanksgiving. Years…decades…of futility have taught me not to get excited at all about the Pirates, but after one of the most demoralizing seasons in team history it’s nice to know that steps are being taken and something new is being tried.
I’ll give credit where credit is due…the New England Patriots did the right thing by releasing receiver Antonio Brown less than two weeks after signing him. Admittedly I am among those who felt like Brown ending up with the Patriots was a fiendish plot cooked up by he & his slimeball agent Drew Rosenhaus. After weaseling his way out of Pittsburgh Brown simply didn’t like that he ended up in Oakland where the Raiders aren’t going to be playoff contenders anytime soon, so he forced his way into “freedom” and the Patriots picked him up in a heartbeat. I assumed Brown would put the batshit crazy act to bed & conform quickly to “The Patriot Way”, but with sexual misconduct allegations swirling around the team quickly cut bait. The truth is they don’t need him and will likely do just fine in his absence. But y’all want to hear something funny?? If New England wins yet another Super Bowl (ugh) Antonio Brown would get a ring even though he only played in one game, and Dan Marino might be found curled up inthe fetal position somewhere weeping gently. The NFL should seriously consider revising those rules.
their miserable team this offseason then the entire Pittsburgh fanbase should unite in filing a class action lawsuit for malfeasance.
One of the most unpredictable factors when prognosticating games or entire seasons is injuries, and there have been some doozies lately. It already looked like my Steelers were in for a rough year, but now it could get exponentially worse after a season ending elbow injury to QB Ben Roethlisberger. I like young Mason Rudolph well enough, but it would have been nice to see him get another year or two of experience before taking over the starting job. Guys like Rudolph are oftentimes referred to as “the quarterback of the future”; well, for Pittsburgh the future is now. Can they still be a playoff team?? I don’t know. I’m the sort of person who expects the worst case scenario and enjoys being pleasantly surprised, so we’ll see. The news isn’t quite as devastating in New Orleans, as QB Drew Brees will only miss about half the season with a thumb injury. That means that Brees will be back for any kind of playoff push, but it’ll be interesting to see what position the team is in upon his return. Back in the pre-season 
expectations for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but losing QB Nick Foles to a broken collarbone for half the season limits the team’s potential even further, despite the early success of rookie signal caller Gardner Minshew. The Foles injury combined with Andrew Luck’s retirement seemingly makes the AFC South the Houston Texans’ for the taking if they perform up to their capabilities. Then there is Carolina Panthers’ QB Cam Newton, who is currently out with a foot injury. He may only miss one game, but I kind of get the feeling that he might be in & out of the lineup all season long, which would undoubtedly have a negative impact on the team’s playoff hopes.
I honestly haven’t paid much attention all season, for various reasons, but the playoffs will begin soon so I suppose I’ll watch some of those games. I have zero interest in a Yankees-Dodgers World Series, although I’m sure the TV folks and a large portion of baseball fans would love it. I could root for any AL contender except the Yankees, while the NL field is much less appetizing. A Twins-Nationals or Indians-Brewers World Series would probably be considered disastrous for television ratings, but I think I’d actually prefer such an unexpected matchup.
In offering 
orange & black in the past decade or two, to choose Mixon, but that’s on them. I assume the young man will be under a zero tolerance policy, and rightfully so. If he even so much as looks angrily at someone he should be waived and forced to get a 9 to 5 job like the rest of us working stiffs, but if he stays on the straight & narrow I think allowing him to pursue a professional football career is proper. The other issue I have with this whole thing is the relatively new idea that professional athletes need to be model citizens. I have opined multiple times over the years that just because an individual can run fast or has superior athletic skill doesn’t mean they are a good person, and it didn’t used to be a requirement. The history of sports is chockful of drunks, junkies, bullies, & criminals of all kinds, from baseball’s Babe Ruth & Ty Cobb to football’s Joe Namath & Lawrence Taylor to basketball’s Dennis Rodman & Allen Iverson and many many other examples from every level of athletics. Some people ultimately ruined their careers while others were just branded as “colorful”, but because they were supremely talented all were given an opportunity…oftentimes numerous opportunities…and no one seemed to mind. However, in the ultra-PC 21st century there are those eager to toss aside someone who made one big mistake when he was barely 18 years old?? Again I ask…where is the mercy??
Add NFL Hall-of-Famer and favorite Steeler Jerome Bettis to the list of those dismissed in the much discussed ESPN bloodbath. I’m a huge fan of The Bus, but I’m not shedding too many tears for him because I happen to know that he’s involved in various business pursuits and will land on his feet just fine. To be honest he didn’t add all that much to the already copious amount of NFL coverage on The Mothership and likely won’t be missed.
Lord above for Lebron James?? Windhorst has parlayed a local career in his hometown of Akron, OH during which he covered Lebron’s high school games into a gig with the Akron Beacon-Journal, then the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, & now ESPN. He has basically been Lebron’s personal reporter for almost two decades, and now he has written a book that I just finished reading called Return of the King, about Lebron’s homecoming to Cleveland a few years ago and the Cavaliers’ failure then success in pursuit of an NBA title. The book is pretty good if you’re into those kind of books, which I am. Good job Windy!!
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who gutted out a seven game series victory over the Washington Capitals to move on in the NHL playoffs. The Pens will have to take down the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Finals to earn a shot at defending their Stanley Cup championship.
Seattle a team back. Ditto for Vancouver. How about Vegas?? The NFL’s Raiders are moving there and the NHL is expanding there as well, so why not?? I’m a little partial to the idea of awarding a team to Pittsburgh. I don’t know…discuss amongst yourselves. All I know is that we need two additional teams.
I said about 
The Manofesto 