Jazz to Honor Sloan

Earlier this month, the Toronto Blue Jays announced they will be wearing a patch to honor the late great, Tony Fernandez. Now the Utah Jazz will follow suit to honor former Coach who lost his life in may.

Zac Wassink of yardbarker broke the story, writing "The patch will carry the number "1,223," which represents the total number of games Utah won under Sloan during his 23 years as the team's coach. That patch debuts on July 23.

Additionally, the Jazz explained player jerseys will feature a similar "1,223" black patch during the 2020-21 campaign tentatively scheduled to begin on or around Dec. 1."

Sloan, who is of the 1000 win club, took the Jazz to back to back conference finals in the late 90s. Sloan's record with the Jazz was 1187 - 682. 

Anyone who wishes to by the Patch, will be able to with proceeds going to Michael J. Fox's Parkinsons foundation. Sloan is a legend who will be forever missed by Jazz nation.

Will the NFL push for 18 games in order to help offset pandemic losses?

Earlier this year, the NFL and NFLPA agreed on a new CBA. A new CBA which added a third wildcard team per conference to the playoffs, and a seventeenth game to the regular season. It also gave "minimum wage" players a raise, which angered the big names around the league; who wanted the increased salary cap to go towards themselves.

One NFL analyst and writer thinks the NFL could and should adopt an 18 game schedule in the future. Mike Florio of pro football talk talked about the NFL attempting to recoup money from the Pandemic by adding an extra game.

Florio wrote, "Already, 17 games will be played in 2021. For each week lost in 2020 (if any), the easy solution would be to add weeks to future regular seasons by adding an 18th game. Even without lost games, the money lost from the absence of fans becomes a potential impetus for more games."

Florio says the players at the moment won't agree. However, he notes that the players are money hungry and are already having issues about the fact they may lose money in 2020 due to the potential of a shortened season. 

Florio asks, "If agreeing to 18 games in future years allows current players to avoid reduce revenue in 2020 or 2021, would current players shrug at the increased number of regular-season games?"

Having two preseason games for the bubble players and an additional two games in the regular season allows the league to make fans happy. If done right, it can give bubble players a chance to play in meaningful games. It also gives the NFL a chance to expand over the next decade. We all know the league wants to move into London and Toronto. 

We'll have to wait and see how the NFL plays this but Florio brings up a good topic that the NFL is surely contemplating.

Blue Jays Come Back After Giving Up Four In The First

Canada's team, the Toronto Blue Jays played their first game of the 2020 regular season verses division rivals the hated Boston Red Soxs, and Let me tell you; the only good team in Boston, plays in Foxborough Massachusetts. 

Yes, the Jays were in the road and the bats showed up tuesday night. The Jays scored 8 runs on 10 hits. The Jays won beating the Red Soxs 8 to 6. 

The Jays battled back after giving up 4 runs in the first. Scoring 2 runs in the third before surrendering 2 more runs in the fifth. It was all over after that as team scored 2 runs in the sixth, 1 run in the seventh and 3 runs in the ninth. Anthony Bass was credited with the win after 1 inning pitched.

The team clearly still has issues when the bat is not in their hands. Blue Jays nation better get used to the sound of the Blue Jays winning on the road. The team was exiled from Canada earlier this week. 

The team has talked about playing in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and covid central; a.k.a. Florida. No decision has been finalized on where the team will play. All us loyal fans can think is, Oh Canada...

For now the Jays are one win closer to their third world series trophy. 59 games to go, can the Jays continue to win without their homeland's support? 

Patriots: WEEI host thinks Cam Newton has killed Tom Brady's popularity in New England

Patriots nation will never forget in 2001 against the New York Jets, when Tom Brady relieved franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe; who left the game with an unknowing life threatening injury due to Mo Lewis.

From the time the clock hit zero against the Titans until Cam Newton signed, almost every story out of Patriots media was about Buccaneers' quarterback Tom Brady. Add to that a large portion of the fan base jumped ship to "Tompa" because that's what bandwagoners do.

Typically this time of year, there is the debate over who's the GOAT, Aaron Rodgers who's only won one superbowl, or Tom Brady who's won nine AFC Championships and six superbowls. This year, we would also be talking about how one win doesn't make Kansas City a dynasty. Instead, there is a new story.

WEEI tweeted Monday, "Cam Newton has hurt Tom Brady's popularity in New England" —@GlennDOrdway 

Like myself, Adam Weinrib of Musket Fire disagrees. "Call me crazy, but any dip in Brady’s popularity likely occurred months before Newton’s arrival, when TB12…ditched this city for Florida?!"

Adam's says those who turned their back on Brady did so the day he decided to announce he wasn't resigning with the Patriots. In fact, there were videos of people burning their Brady merchandise. 

Weinrib also noted that everyone jumped on the Stidham bandwagon once Brady left. While it's true, not everyone just jumped on the bandwagon. Some did their research and became believers in the young quarterback. Weinrib points out that Odd makers are still giving Brady's former backup reasonable odds to start.

"Odds for Jarrett Stidham to start Week 1 better now than right after Cam Newton signed http://dlvr.it/RbkwLD " per WEEI's twitter feed.

For almost three months Cam was feeling disrespected by 32 NFL teams. His ego was telling him he's better than this guy, better than that guy. Better than Hoyer who signed with the Patriots earlier this offseason. Better than Stidham who was projected to be the number one in New England.

Weinrib wrote, "Plus, if you’re a Newton devotee and have now kicked Brady to the curb, what did you particularly like about Brady these past two decades? The two are polar opposites. Brady’s consistent dominance and triumph over his draft status helped define the New England region for 20 years. Newton’s a mercenary sent to reclaim his MVP moniker, who’ll likely price himself out of Bill Belichick’s system if he performs this year."

Brady leaving for Tampa is what caused people to abandon the greatest quarterback to ever play the position.  Tom may have tweeted Patriots for life but until he retires, or returns after the 2021 season (maybe), he is no longer a Patriot. We'll always appreciate what he did for the franchise, picking up where Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe started in 1996.

Personally, I just want to see Cam compete in preseason games against Stidham but that's not gonna happen. So I am gonna let Weinrib's words close this out. 

"If one, strange Cam Newton season makes you think less of Brady, I’m not sure where your thoughts were in the first place.

If you’re already thinking less of Brady thanks to three weeks of hype tweets and Instagrams about WoRkInG iN tHe LaB ~LiKe UsUaL~, then you may be a lost cause," per Adam Weinrib.

How Much Homework Did The Patriots Do On Newton, Chris Simms Suggests They Had Him Followed.

When a player enters the NFL, every aspect of their life comes under focus. Teams want to know every detail, every red flag, every skeleton that's in one's closet. The question is, does it stop there. The Answer is no.

In the NFL, we hear all the time about players having details provided by the team to "babysit" the players. If you're a Patriots fan, you know the team did this with Josh Gordon. So when we hear teams vet a player before or after signing them, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

NBC analyst Chris Simms accused the Patriots of following Cam Newton around for a month before signing him. Simms is a former player and son of Giants Superbowl winning quarterback Phil Simms. So he knows how teams operate.

NESN tweeted out asking if the Patriots spied on Newton, on July 20th. "Chris Simms apparently believes so. http://nesn.com/?p=1089624 ". WEEI also tweeted out, "Did Patriots have Cam Newton followed? Chris Simms thinks there is a good chance."

It's very plausible, the last thing the Patriots want is to bring on another Albert Haynesworth or Aaron Hernandez. The team over the past several years has had issues with drugs as well. Just last season, Patrick Chung was arrested for trying to bring drugs into the country.

Chris Simms tried to make a good case but keep in mind the former NFL quarterback is also trying to get ratings. Here's a little of what Simms said on his podcast "unbottoned" , “I think they started to do their homework on Cam, what is the guy like? Does he work hard? Can he handle our mental grind of stuff we put in in our offense on a daily basis? I think they started to do their due diligence there. And listen, New England, again, if you made me bet I would bet New England had Cam Newton followed for three to four weeks. That’s just the way New England works. I don’t mean to be like creepy about it, but that’s what I always heard they did with Randy Moss back in the day.”

Jerry Trotta of Musket Fire was all about the details. Suggesting that it could cause issues if true and Simms needed to reveal more.

Trotta wrote, "We obviously wouldn’t put this past New England, which is as calculated as any team in sports, to be this paranoid before signing a player that’s coming off shoulder and foot surgeries, but Simms’ verbiage makes it seem like their methods were a blatant violation of Newton’s privacy."

If the Patriots had treated Aaron Hernandez like that after he was signed, the team would've been able to help him and his victims. So there maybe some validation for a team doing a deep dive and walking the gray line of privacy. The Patriots are a team that lives in that line, everyone knows it. So whether Simms was posting click bait or not, the story could have some credibility. 

NFL eliminates Preseason

To help hell undrafted players and late round picks develop and earn a shot at NFL roster, The NFL has decided to look out for them and cut the preseason down to zero. 

Ian Rapoport tweeted, "Per source, the league today offered the union zero preseason games. A big step."

To make the NFLPA happy, the NFL had previously reduced the preseason to two games but that wasn't good enough to the Big Names, who also opposed the lowest paid players getting pay raises in the new CBA.

Reid Goldsmith if Clutch Points, wrote saying that it was all about player safety. However, there is a contingent of fans who believe this was about helping big names hold back new comers.

Goldsmith wrote, "While the NFL is seemingly the professional sports league least affected by COVID-19, due to the fall and winter seasonal sport, the league may be still unprepared to handle the public health crisis in the United States because of the very nature of the contact sport. In recent days, there has been a suddenly strong push for improved health and safety protocols from players, buoyed by three-time Defensive Player of the Year and Houston Texans star defensive end, JJ Watt."

There has been talk about teams having their salary caps reduced next season due to lack of income during the 2020 season.  This would hurt the Patriots who have about $100 million coming to them but it would also hurt teams like the defending superbowl champions. The Chiefs just locked up most of their money between two players 

Goldsmith wrote, "The coronavirus pandemic may also impact the league’s revenue, given that states have varied planed in permitting fans to attend mass gatherings vis a vis NFL stadiums. Without fans in attendance or with a capped number of fans, COVID-19 may hit franchises’ bank balance hard, too, along with players and staff closely monitoring symptoms of the virus."

Empty seats at Metlife

On Monday, it was revealed that the governor put a halt to the Jets and Giants fans from attending home games at MetLife stadium. Now before anyone starts a riot in Albany, It's Governor Murphy of New Jersey that you need be mad at.

While New York's Buffalo Bills at the moment still have a chance, residents of New York state can save themselves a half hour drive into the much hated state of New Jersey because Murphy has put a stop until further notice.

The Jets and Giants really want New Jersey residents in the stand and admitted their frustration in a joint statement, saying they would comply.

“We support Gov. Murphy’s decision in the interest of public health and safety and, until circumstances change, both the Giants and Jets will play our games without the benefits of fans in attendance. Although we would have preferred to have fans at MetLife Stadium for our games, we will continue to work with Gov. Murphy’s office and will provide updates if necessary,” both teams said in a joint statement.

The two sports organizations should've moved back into New York State and maybe, this wouldn't be an issue. However, as residents of New Jersey, they have been given their orders and odds are that will be the way the 2020 season goes for them. 

NFL rookies to report July 20 or face discipline; league’s coronavirus protocols missing in action.

The NFL has no idea what it's doing regarding player safety due to Covid-19. Players are expected to start reporting as early as July 20th with, all players expected to report by July 28th; With threats of fines for players who don't put their lives on the line for the shield.

According to Nick O'Malley of Mass live, the NFL and NFLPA are still in talks. O'Malley pointed out the NFL has had about six months to get their affairs in order but have accomplished almost nothing in the process.

O'Malley wrote, "As the NFL and union continue to workout COVID-19 guidelines for the upcoming season, the league has reportedly submitted a proposal to deal with players opting out of the season. The latest reported proposal would allow players to opt out of the 2020 season if they give their written notice by Aug. 1."

If the league allows for players to opt out, this could be good for the bubble players. The league is pushing for a season, while players want safety, with UDFAs not getting their chance to earn spots, this could allow some to still get a chance; kinda like the strike season in the 80s.

Many teams are working at allowing minimal fans at their stadiums, and with some players not caring about the virus and just wanting to play; the league may issue waivers for players that still wish to play in order to avoid lawsuits.

Nobody honestly knows what's going on but for now, the NFL is operating as close to normal as it can but for how long can they keep it up. Football is an American sport but we as Americans are refusing to follow simple safety requirements to get rid of the virus. With that kinda irresponsibility, can we really expect the NFL to have a successful and safe season? Players have all right not to report. It's only a matter of time before one ends up six feet under dirt.

Patriots call BS: Rob Gronkowski details why he didn't return with New England

In the spring of 2019, Rob Gronkowski had Patriots nation on the edge of their seats; waiting to hear whether or not he was going to retire. The Patriots were coming off a superbowl 53 victory and so Gronkowski was given time. Gronkowski ultimately decided to hang up his cleats.

The Patriots had missed their opportunity to trade Gronkowski, who had threatened to retire if the Patriots traded him to the lions, years back. Gronk went as far to say he would only play with Brady.

Clutch Points Virgil Villeneuva wrote "Per WEEI 93.7 FM, Rob Gronkowski said that he’s always been curious about what it’s like to play somewhere else. This has been lingering on his mind before stepping foot in the NFL and after retiring. This curiosity was satisfied when an opportunity popped up by way of the Tambay Bay Buccaneers securing the Tom Brady’s signing."

Gronkowski said  “No, no that actually was really never the case. As a player, you always want to see what it’s like somewhere else. [I] thought of that before definitely after playing nine years in the NFL and also thought about it when I came out of retirement. This is an opportunity to go see what it’s like somewhere else, to go see what it’s like in the NFL on another squad. There’s so many players that bounce around on so many different teams. I loved my time in New England, no doubt about it. But it was another opportunity that presented.But no, we never really ever talked about that before. It kind of just happened. [With] my retirement and him hitting free agency, it kind of just lined up like that.”

Gronk who refused a trade, now comes out of retirement to play in Tampa? Gronk could've continued to play in 2019 and then demand to be traded to Tampa. He still would've had power.  Gronkowski no longer wanted to play for the Patriots. But why?

Gronkowski was winning and getting paid, so who cares about anything else right? The Patriots, while they might not completely stop players from being themselves, are still very strict. The Patriots are treated like a corporation. Personal have to still watch everything they say or do. 

On top of that, there have been numerous stories of players coming or going from New England, who talk about how lax everything is. That other teams don't put in the work, that players aren't required to do as much. The It's treated like a game elsewhere, instead of a job.

Villeneuva goes on to say Gronkowski "looks happy", well good for Gronkowski. If he wants to go someplace that hasn't won a superbowl since Tim Brown was a Raider, good for him. That's what happens to teams who don't put in the work. It's why everyone hates the Patriots. 

So Gronk and his quarterback can have "fun again" in Tampa, they can play a couple of games between 2020 and 2021; in the mean time The Patriots are working towards winning their seventh superbowl because that's what it takes to do so!

Patriots: Goodbye Thuney, Maybe

Ion Rapaport reported just before noon on Wednesday that it did not look like a deal was going to be reached and that Thuney would play under the tag.

"No deal is expected for the #Patriots and G Joe Thuney, so he’ll play on the tag. Didn’t sound like there was much traction on talks. So, 1-year deal, and the sides will try again next offseason, " tweeted Rapaport.

The Patriots tagged the former third round pick and as long as the rest of the team healthy, the Patriots will have a full returning starting offensive line. With a new quarterback, that is going to be key to any success the Patriots have in 2020.

Clutch points Jeremy Chua pointed out just how good Thuney is, while saying there is a lot of excitement for the 2020 Patriots.

Chua wrote, "He is the first player in NFL history to start in the Super Bowl in each of his first three seasons. Thuney played every offensive snap for the team and helped contain the Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald when the two sides clashed in Super Bowl LIII in 2019."

With Thuney not being able to reach a deal with the Patriots, like with Cam; he could be playing his last year in a Patriots jersey. Especially if the league goes through with the expected cap cut in 2021.