Monday, March 21, 2022

Sports this 'n' that

 Last season, Matt Ryan, while with the Atlanta Falcons, shot a Cold Call commercial for Tide detergent with Gordon Ramsey (Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Next Level Chef, etc.), "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and Ice-T (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit), still in Falcons colors.

If they bring him back this coming fall, since the ad is still being used during NCAA basketball telecasts, he'll have a new uniform, or wear street clothes.


Reports are that Ryan, after 14 seasons in Atlanta after being drafted out of Boston College in 2008, is being traded to Indianapolis for draft picks. The Colts need a quarterback after sending Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders, also for draft picks. Ryan would be the 3rd different starting QB for Indianapolis in as many years.
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Not too shocked to read of some sour grapes coming out of the TCU-Arizona 2nd round game in the men's NCAA tournament on Sunday. The Wildcats won, 85-80, in overtime, but there's some gripes about----what else?----fouls not being called in the 2nd half that could've conceivably prevented OT. Seems to me that the NCAA and its media partners (CBS/TNT/TBS/TruTV) want to make sure that most, if not all, of the top seeds are still playing once we get to the final four April 2 & 4.

In this writer's opinion, it is also possible that they could arrange for Duke, a #2 seed, to go all the way to send coach Mike Krzyzewski to retirement with one last championship. This is why I'm not that big on college hoops anymore. The not-so-secret politics behind the scenes have poisoned the college & pro game more than the deals with sponsors like Nike. It's all about what would generate the biggest numbers in terms of television ratings come that first weekend in April.
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Minnesota's Gable Steveson captured another national wrestling title on Saturday, then retired from Greco Roman competition on Sunday, clearing the way for his transition to the pro game and WWE. Rumors have him in Dallas for Monday Night Raw on April 4. Brother Bobby is already in WWE, under a stage name, and paying his dues in the ring. Stay tuned.
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In a case of the rich getting richer, the Boston Red Sox signed shortstop Trevor Story over the weekend after Story left Colorado as a free agent. Problem is, manager Alex Cora has no plans to move incumbent shortstop Xander Bogaerts to a new position, which is why MLB insider Jon Heyman, appearing on MLB Network, suggested Houston or the Yankees would be a better fit for Story, as they, especially Houston, would need a quality starting shortstop. Houston, of course, lost Carlos Correa, who signed a 3 year deal with opt-outs after each of the first two seasons (Scott Boras, anyone?), with Minnesota.

Boston also re-signed Travis Shaw, who returned last summer in a trade with Milwaukee, while the Yanks picked up Marwin Gonzalez (Boston, Minnesota, Houston) in a minor league deal. 

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