Author: Chris Cook

Sunday State of Mind: August 22nd-August 28th

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Photo: Good Fon

The dog days of summer are about to come to an end, and this week’s SSM is about to begin.

Week zero college football, back in a minor way
Next week all of the big boys, will come out to play
Still great to have real games, that actually count
I think we all missed college football quite a large amount

The sad downside of football, injuries occur
The rough part of the game that none of us prefer
You never want to see a player get carted off the field
But Poe was hurt, really bad, hope he will soon heal

A monster baseball contract, pen to ink this week
Julio Rodríguez wins again, continues his hot streak
Fourteen years, $200 mil, that much is guaranteed
Seattle is a great sports town, this is the guy they need

Big weekend for the Mariners, and their GOAT Ichiro
Inducted to their Hall of Fame, should’ve happened years ago
The baseball Hall of Fame is not far down the road
An incredible player with everything he showed

A bad break for the Thunder, and their big draft pick
Chet Holmgren’s gonna miss the season, Oklahoma sick
It happened in a pro-am, trying to guard The King
LeBron hit him a little hard, made Chet’s little foot sting

Tiger & Rory Announced The TGL and LFG

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Photo: tglgolf.com

Suck it, LIV Golf.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy launched TGL Golf on Tuesday, with a pretty exciting promo video.

So, to recap: we’ve got top PGA golfers teaming up to play on simulators. This is honestly a great idea and should be pretty watchable.

We are here for it, and are here to help as much as possible. With that in mind, we want to provide some ideas to Tiger and Rory if they are looking for some interaction, as the above video implies.

So let’s list details that have been released for The TGL so far (in bold) with our thoughts & suggestions.

  • Two hour competitions: pretty good amount of time, could push it to three hours if needed.
  • Fifteen Monday night matches: great start, feel free to spread this out to Sundays, maybe some Thursdays. Also, could stretch this out to 17 weeks.
  • Three vs. three team competition: kind of small, maybe move this up to 11 on 11?
  • Eighteen players total (six teams of three): this seems low, need to pump these numbers up. Maybe 32 teams with 53 man rosters each, just spitballing some figures here.
  • Begins January 2024: this seems a tad off. Potential suggestion here would be to start training in August, with competition starting in September through the fall and winter, with the season ending in early February.
  • Using a golf ball: while this sounds smart on the surface, maybe think about moving to a lemon shaped ball with unpredictable bounces. Golfers could potentially also run & throw said ball.

Sounds great right? We’re super excited for The TGL, and think with the above suggestions, this new golf league could really take off and grab America’s attention.

Sunday State of Mind: August 15th-August 21st

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Photo: Peta Pixel

This week’s SSM has it all; mystery absences, crumbling baseball teams, and pro-am basketball.

The GOAT of quarterbacks, Mr. Tom Brady
Has been away for some time now, kind of seems shady
Assuming everyone is fine, the best theory has come
That he’s been filming Masked Singer, if true how great and dumb

Speaking of TB12, what could’ve been in Vegas
Apparently the deal was done, not much more to discuss
Jon Gruden nixed a package deal for Gronk and the QB
Would’ve had two more Super Bowls by now, maybe three

Whose fans feel the worst right now, the White Sox or Yankees
Yanks can’t win a game, La Russa’s brain is filled with bees
New York is at least still leading a tough AL East
Every day Chicago’s playoff chances just decrease

Pro-am basketball has become a hit this summer
The latest was The Crawsover, event was not a bummer
LeBron, Tatum, Holmgren, the lineup was real deep
A cool environment to get to see the big boys leap

Sunday State of Mind: August 8th-August 14th

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Photo: Wallpaper Dog

The weekend and summer are winding down…take a breath and enjoy this week’s SSM.

Fernando Tatis Jr., will he ever play again
Almost back from injury, coming out of the den
PEDs and injuries, all self inflicted
Eighty game suspension, the shortstop’s been evicted

NFL preseason’s here, football is so back
America’s favorite sport, just as good as a snack
Always a welcome sight to see the helmets and the pads
Sundays are now booked, watching all the lads

It’s getting really ugly with the Brooklyn Nets
Acquiring KD and Kyrie, maybe some regrets
KD’s getting antsy, wants changes at the top
Something has to change, or this will never stop

Hey Serena, Thanks

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Photo: Sky Sports

A massive, massive loss in the tennis world came down Tuesday.

Serena Williams, who became a pro 27 years ago, announced in a Vogue article that she will be leaving the game of tennis:

“I’ve been reluctant to admit that I have to move on from playing tennis. It’s like a taboo topic. It comes up, and I start to cry. I think the only person I’ve really gone there with is my therapist.”

The entire article, which you should read, begins with the idea that her daughter wants to be a big sister, and the almost 41 year old GOAT has chosen to attempt to try and expand her family over continuing the greatest women’s tennis career of all time. An admirable decision that is more impressive than anything she’s done on the court.

However, what was done on the court wasn’t too shabby. This screenshot alone from Serena’s website is just bonkers:

I mean they had to shrink the font to ant size so all of her titles could fit within the web design! If that’s not GOAT stuff, I don’t know what is.

The list of accomplishments goes on an on that other/better blogs and websites can list. I am not the most knowledgable tennis fan, but can very easily appreciate what Serena Williams has achieved on the court.

More importantly, her philanthropy and representation in tennis has likely done more for the sport than anyone could put a dollar figure on. A champion in the most literal sense.

The dedication and dominance cannot be denied, and may be something we never see in women’s tennis again.

Sunday State of Mind: August 1st-August 7th

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Photo: Art Station

Settle into your Sunday with our latest edition of SSM.

Only place to start, is to send our love
Vin Scully and Bill Russell, left us for above
Giants of their sports, both all-time human beings
A rare thing in sports that has all of us agreeing

The NFL is king, and we had it this week
The Hall of Fame Game, football fans were geeked
For about 10 minutes, then came in the scrubs
Raiders played the Jags, Vegas got the dub

We hit the trade deadline in the MLB
Buyers adding talent, sellers went to flee
Biggest movers were the Pads, adding talent right and left
Headliner was Juan Soto, other moves felt like theft

Deshaun Watson Got Off Easy

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Photo: Cleveland.com

This is gross.

On Monday morning, the jerking around of the Deshaun Watson case(s) came to completion. The Browns quarterback received a six game suspension for his loads of sexual misconduct charges against him.

Six games for 24 counts of (if true) horrendous behavior. A total stroke of luck that Watson received the equivalent of on game per woman he (allegedly) took advantage of. The ruling today basically wiped clean any wrong doing in exchange for 33% of one season’s worth of games.

NFL writer Dov Kleinman put this into perspective in relation to other past league suspensions:

That’s right; same amount of games for PEDs, 72 more games for smoking weed, and 12 more games for placing one bet on your team to win a game. That’s how much this suspension blew.

The whole thing was and still is a total mess. The whole process was rubbed down to nothing which resulted in a horrific punishment that satisfies no one besides Watson, which is all he cared about in the first place.

Kyler Murray is Playing Mental Games

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Photo: Arizona Sports

We’re playing checkers, he’s playing chess.

Kyler Murray, AKA Baby Yoda, AKA Toad from Mario, AKA Baby Groot, has had a rollercoaster past seven days.

On July 21st, his monster contract agreement was announced; $160 Million guaranteed will have anyone flying high. Once the contract language was released, the entire world freaked out about the now overly-discussed video game clause. So, a big payday followed by a big embarrassment.

Well, Kyler doesn’t want to talk about it. Or, he does…right?

No, he doesn’t. Well…maybe.

Do we talk about Kyler not wanting to talk about it? Or does Kyler want us to talk about not talking about it?

There’s nothing that says “I don’t want to talk about this” more than holding an impromptu press conference talking about how you don’t want to talk about it. Message clearly received, Kyler.

So, in review. We will not put any effort into talking about what Kyler does, or does not want to talk about.

Pretzel brain, engaged.

Sunday State of Mind: July 18th-July 24th

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Photo: SCANPH

This week’s Sunday State of Mind is sneaking in at the very end of what was another great week in sports.

Little Kyler Murray, big contract extension
A deal finally signed after some more than awkward tension
Arizona ponied up the cash to pay their guy
We need real football to start or else I’m gonna die

On Friday the Blue Jays put up four touchdowns
Won 28-5, made the Red Sox look like clowns
Toronto’s bats were hot, Sox bats were in a jam
We even got to see an inside the park grand slam!

Conspiracies abound on James Harden’s deal
Took way less money now, sounded like a steal
Around the NBA, there seems to be some doubt
If this deal is legit, or if Harden’s getting a bailout

Rob Manfred Heroically Comes Out Pro Poverty

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Photo: Sports Illustrated

Thank you for your service, Commissioner Manfred.

As the sport of baseball thrives in popularity, the fearless leader of Major League Baseball bravely came out against the biased and unfair notion that minor league baseball players are criminally underpaid:

Amen Commissioner…amen.

According to the New York Times, MLB “raised pay for minor league players in 2021, with Class A minimum salaries rising from $290 to $500 a week and Class AAA salaries increasing from $502 to $700.”

These prima donna minor leaguers, $290 per week wasn’t enough? You really need half a grand a week like some kind of galavanting fast food worker? Shame on you. Last time I checked, $290 was more than enough to survive on ramen noodles, a pay by the minute phone, and an annual shopping trip to Goodwill.

What else do you need? One of this country’s biggest issues is the 1%’s hogging all of the wealth. Our lionhearted Commissioner tried as hard as he could to eliminate the unjust wage gap in America, but these greedy minor leaguers, grabbing at every dime in the couches they sleep on, overran him.

So, congratulations on living the American dream, minor league baseball players. Enjoy those mammoth paychecks and looking down at all the peasants.

Keep fighting the good fight, Commissioner Manfred. We’re proud of you.