Sunday, May 2, 2021

Sports this 'n' that

 After trading Sam Darnold during the off-season to Carolina, the Jests drafted Zach Wilson out of Brigham Young in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday. Darnold got off to a good start after being drafted out of USC, but fizzled out because of the chronic ineptitude of the Jests' coaching staff. Management thinks new coach Robert Saleh can maximize Wilson's talent. Saleh, remember, was the defensive coordinator in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, New England has found their QB of the future, as they picked Mac Jones (Alabama), who will compete for a starting job with incumbent Cam Newton and backup Jarrett Stidham. Knowing the Pats' history, color Stidham gone during training camp.

Florida's Kyle Trask probably won't see the field beyond pre-season. That's because Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay drafted him to be Tom Brady's caddy, and as we all know, Brady is loathe to come out of a game even when his team is well in command, although last season, Tampa coach Bruce Arians convinced him to let Jameis Winston finish some games.
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Another year, another Kentucky Derby for trainer Bob Baffert.

As usual, the media 'round here slept on Baffert and Medina Spirit, who gave jockey John Velasquez his 4th Derby victory Saturday night. Baffert has won his 7th, more than any other trainer in the modern era. Churchill Downs was at 60% capacity for the Saturday card, and NBC devoted 5 hours of coverage, leading up to the Derby, which was the 12th race on the card.
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Umpires never have it easy or difficult.

Vacation umpire Jose Navas, a relative rookie, had the spotlight on him in a tie game in Philadelphia Saturday night. Before I speak further, Close Call Sports takes a look at his pivotal decision from the points of view of both the Phillies & Mets' broadcast teams:


Baseline calls are, unfortunately, non-reviewable, and the homestanding Phillies were screwed. Then again, as history has shown, they have benefited from similar umpire miscues ruled against the Mets in years past. Navas blew the call on Andrew McCutcheon, and replay overturned the safe call in favor of Matt Joyce, giving the Mets a gift double play. Karma, you know. Man-child Bryce Harper was ejected, and the Mets cashed in the gift certificate, if ya will, when Michael Conforto took Hector Neris out of the yard in the 9th to snap a 3 game losing streak that has them now in 3rd place in the NL East.

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