Now that the NFL season has

concluded, it’s time for the NBA to grab the spotlight this week with many

teams scrambling to make mid-season player trades prior to this Thursday’s (February

7) 2PM CST deadline.

Some perpetual non-playoff teams will likely be involved in transactions which will make you ask “Why would they do that”?  In many cases, it is probably an act of desperation by a deal junkie General Manager who believes that the new player(s) will give hope for a playoff run.

When you read about deals like this, a collective yawn is in order this week.  In all likelihood, most of the teams making deals this week are simply dumpster diving.     

In the case of the Dallas Mavericks, though, last week’s fishing expedition reeled in a potential game changer.

The Mavericks made a multi-player deal with the New York Knicks to obtain 7’3” sharpshooter Kristaps Porzingis.

For the Mavs, the newly acquired player gives the city some title hopes down the line as they now have two All-Star talents (along with Dallas rookie, Luka Doncic).

For the Knicks, the team now appears to be propelling itself toward the bottom of the standings in an effort to land the first pick in next season’s NBA draft.  If the Knicks should draft Duke’s Zion Williamson and, if, potentially, the team could lure an established NBA star to the Big Apple, then New York fans have been dealt some renewed hope.

In Dallas, the team now has a legitimate foundation to sell season tickets.

In New York, the team is saying “Trust me (again)”.  Caveat emptor.

Meanwhile, there is a big buzz in the air this week that another of the NBA’s top players might be dealt to another team by the end of this week.

Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans advised the team recently that he wants out and will not sign another contract extension to stay in the Crescent City.  The 6’ 11” Davis, who averages 29 points per game and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, believes that the city’s basketball franchise will never be able to bring a title to the Big Easy.

Davis has let it be known that he would love to be dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers and play hoops with the aging LeBron James. 

According to sources, Magic Johnson (General Manager of the Lakers) has offered up to five of the Lakers’ younger players and two #1 draft picks for Anthony Davis.

For the Lakers and the NBA, the league’s popularity will leap should the Lakers start contending for a title again.

What about New Orleans, you

ask?  Why would New Orleans send its best

player to another Western Conference competitor? 

Think “big picture” along with

me for a moment. 

With the deflation of any hope of short-term basketball success in New Orleans, the Anthony Davis deal may cleverly serve to nudge the New Orleans franchise to move to another city in the next year or two (get ready, Seattle!) as the Pelicans fans turn against the local basketball team.

The current owner of the Pelicans is Gayle Benson, widow of Tom Benson.  The Benson family also owns the New Orleans Saints of the NFL. 

By selling the Pelicans to Seattle,

Happy Groundhog Day! 

The nation’s long-time weather expert, Punxatawny Phil, did not see his shadow this morning.  Thus, he predicts that winter should come to an end in about six weeks.  Hooray!

In Atlanta this week, the National Football League’s Commissioner, Roger Goodell, made his annual “state of the league” address to a large gaggle of reporters just as eager to hear some real news about recent issues in the NFL.

Like Bill Murray’s daily repeating of the same events throughout

the movie Groundhog’s Day, Goodell annually

(painfully) goes in front of the media during Super Bowl week and, for the most

part, gives them the same bob-and-weave shtick over and over again.

“Groundhog” Goodell (who seemingly shies away from the bright lights more than the popular Punxatawny Phil) stepped-up to the microphone on Wednesday and dazzled (sarcasm included) the reporters with vanilla information and artfully played dodge ball with anything remotely controversial (especially involving the New Orleans Saints’ NFC championship game).

During one of his responses to a question about the Saints

game, the Commissioner said, “We understand the frustration of the fans.

I’ve talked to coach (Sean) Payton, the team, the players. We understand the

frustration that they feel right now and we certainly want to address

that.”

A chorus of respected Saints players said, “Not TrueDat!”  According to the Saints players, Roger Goodell may be related to Pinocchio.

Saints wide receiver, Michael Thomas, tweeted, “He ain’t talk to us.”

New Orleans’ retiring tight end, Benjamin Watson, wrote a personal letter to the Commissioner (no response yet).  Watson tweeted, “and he has all my contact info.”

Future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, Drew Brees, said he had not heard from the league about the NOLA No-call, either. 

“It’s the commissioner’s responsibility to represent

the NFL, and yet we don’t hear a peep for 10 days,” he said. “And

it’s because he has to do it now because he’s at the Super Bowl and he does his

annual press conference.”

Despite his skill at providing evasive answers, “Groundhog”

Goodell is not an attorney.  He majored

in Economics in college and was smart enough to snare a $40 million/year gig as

the Commissioner for the NFL. 

In a nutshell, his job is to be the designated shock

absorber for his 32 franchise owners.  He

is paid to take a licking and keep on ticking while protecting and increasing the

value of his bosses’ franchises.

His employers apparently feel that Goodell does that part of

his job quite well.

Meanwhile, Saints fans in the city of New Orleans continue to make preparations for their very unique Boycott Bowl on Sunday in a way that few cities in America could ever do.

Dear Saints fans and WhoDatNation:

If you just can’t bring yourself to watching the two teams playing in this Sunday’s “Big” game, this is your place!

Below are five videos below which should take up your Sunday evening as a happier alternative to watching that other televised game.

To get you in the mood before the 5:30 CST start of that other game, watch this 24-minute highlight of the Saints-Vikings 2009 NFC Championship game (courtesy of You Tube and ESPN):

Saints vs. Vikings – 2009 Championship highlights

The next video is a 1 hour 41 minute complete version of the Saints vs. Colts Big Game. It is edited and commercial free (thanks, You Tube and CBS):

Biggest Game in Saints History

Third, let’s enjoy the trophy presentation (courtesy You Tube and CBS):

Fourth, it’s time to celebrate for over 2 hours and 30 minutes as fans savor the big win N’Awlins style with the post-game coverage (courtesy of You Tube and WWL-TV):

The Crescent City celebrates!

Finally, the fulfillment of the promise of former New Orleans sportscaster, Buddy deLiberto. Before he passed away, he had always said that he would be so happy that he would wear a dress to the celebration parade. His successor, former Saints QB Bobby Hebert, took to the streets to honor his friend’s wish (courtesy You Tube).

Bobby Hebert?!!

Hope you enjoyed watching this. PLEASE tell your friends to watch on Sunday night instead of wasting your time with that “other” game.

WhoDat say they gonna cheat our Saints???

Basketball’s Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans told the team (and the rest of America) this week that he would not be signing a contract extension with the team this summer and wants to play somewhere else.

Though the timing of Davis’ announcement was like another gut-punch to the city of New Orleans after the Saints’ controversial home loss to the Rams, Davis is not a “bad guy” simply trying to make more money in a bidding war. 

By staying put in New Orleans,

the NBA rules allow the Pelicans the chance to pay him significantly more money

than another NBA team can.

Anthony Davis simply believes

that the New Orleans Pelicans will never compete for an NBA title.   Though Davis is only 25 years old (after a “one-and-done”

year at the NBA’s unofficial development league franchise otherwise known as

the University of Kentucky), he has been a consistent high level performer for

New Orleans.

In six seasons, Davis has been selected to the first team All NBA squad three times and has played in five NBA All-Star games.  Averaging 23 points and over ten rebounds per game over his brief NBA career, he is considered the best big man in the league.

The New Orleans Pelicans have

made the NBA playoffs twice during Anthony Davis’ six years.  Both times, the team failed to make the

conference finals.

Davis believes that New

Orleans won’t be able to build a championship team around him. 

He wants out, and, to me, the fix appears to be in.

Enter LeBron James (it’s OK to “Boo” here).

LeBron’s history is that he realizes that it takes more than one “star” to win an NBA championship.  That’s why he initially left Cleveland for Miami to team-up with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade.   

After garnering two NBA championships in four seasons at Miami (2012 and 2013), LeBron James returned to Cleveland.  While there, he teamed with Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving to win another ring in Cleveland in 2016. 

James left Cleveland and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers beginning this season.  Though the young Lakers have certainly improved by having the 35-year old veteran on the squad, LeBron’s time is running short to win yet another NBA championship in La-La-Land.

Enter Anthony Davis. 

Last year, Davis fired his

previous agent and hired the same agent as (you guessed it) LeBron James. 

Last summer, Davis purchased a $7.5 million home in (you guessed it) Los Angeles!

Who do you think has the

upper hand in signing Anthony Davis now?

But, doesn’t LeBron need a

third “star” to complete his previous formula for success?

Enter Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics.

As stated by this writer in a

previous post, Kyrie Irving hasn’t (yet) produced the championship level

results that Celtics fans had hoped for after he bailed out of Cleveland two

years ago.

However, Irving has

apparently caught the acting “bug” while filming his “Uncle Drew” movie last

season in (you guessed it!) Hollywood.

On Monday, the lawsuit filed by a couple of New Orleans Saints ticketholders against the NFL for failing to utilize and follow its own rules (NFL Rule 17, Section 2) and cause a replay of the final minutes of this year’s NFC Championship game was brought before a US District court magistrate in New Orleans.

WhoDat be the presiding judge, you ask? 

She is Federal District Judge Susan Morgan, who happens to be a Louisiana native who attended Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe and received her law degree from LSU.

While we don’t know whether Judge

Susan Morgan is a Saints fan, first appearances would certainly seem favorable for

the home team of litigators in their efforts to confront and take down the evil

empire called the National Football League.

Holy WhoDat!  First down, Saints!

The lawsuit was brought forward by the two New Orleans Saints fans demands to know why the NFL did not employ one of its own rules which would have compelled the league and its commissioner (Roger Goodell) to cause the final 1:49 of the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game between the Saints and the Los Angeles Rams to be replayed. 

In case you were stuck on Gilligan’s Island a week ago, a more-than-obvious pass interference and helmet-to-helmet contact penalty on a third down pass play by the Saints was conveniently overlooked by an officiating crew which, we later learned, had four paid employees who reside in the southern California (home of the aforementioned Rams).

For the NFL, the howls came

loud nationwide and included accusations (mine included) that the “fix was in”.   Saints fans expected the NFL’s Commissioner

to act quickly, decisively, and explain why the NFL rules were not utilized to

cause the final moments of the game to be replayed by no later than last

weekend. 

Predictably, the NFL went

into hiding last week and failed to address the issue.  As I opined last week, the league probably

spent the time “lawyering-up”.

If the game officials did,

indeed, intentionally swallow their whistles on the play, then the credibility

and financial viability of the league’s 32 professional football franchises

could be irreparably harmed if the outcomes of games could be altered by financially

or emotionally motivated game officials. 

  

Regardless, the lawsuit filed

by the Saints fans was dismissed by most of America as a waste of money and a

useless and futile “Hail Mary” sour grapes effort against the behemoth legal

defense team of the multi-billion dollar enterprise of the National Football

League.

With the judicial clock

running and the countdown to the Super Bowl (featuring the Los Angeles Rams

against the New England Patriots) now at less than one week away, the NFL is

the overwhelming betting favorite to win this judicial Battle Royale.

The District Judge for the

Eastern District of Louisiana cleared some time on Monday to hear the arguments

presented by both sides. 

The NFL “kicked off” the hearing by contending that delaying the Super Bowl game this weekend in order to replay the concluding minutes of the Saints/Rams game (if the NFL were to do it, of course) could cost the league $100 million due to the large number of sunk costs associated with playing the season finale slated fo...

Happy Friday, fellow WhoDats!  It’s now five days and counting.

As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell continues to employ his football version of basketball’s “Four Corners” stall against the New Orleans Saints and the team’s legions of loud and proud fans within the WhoDat Nation who would like to hear some type of official response about last Sunday’s travesty ending, one of the NFL’s most respected players has added his voice to the matter. 

New Orleans Saints starting tight end Benjamin Watson announced about a month ago that this would be his 15th and final season competing in the NFL.

A few days prior to the Saints NFC Championship game last

Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams, Benjamin Watson was not at practice with

his Saints teammates preparing for the game.

He was dealing with a very unique medical issue for an adult

male of age 38.   As his team was getting

ready to suit-up to play against the Rams, Benjamin Watson was standing on the

sidelines dealing with a case of appendicitis. 

Appendicitis (from personal experience) initially provides you with severe stomach pain and, later, extreme and frequent nausea.  If you’re lucky (and I was), the doctors will be able to remove the culprit via surgery prior to that useless little attachment to your colon blows-up and spews poison into your blood stream. 

Benjamin Watson’s appendicitis problems appeared a few days

before one of the biggest games of his career. 

Certainly, it was the biggest Saints football game for Watson since the

likable and highly respected tight end came to play for the New Orleans Saints.

In Watson’s case, the doctors were able to treat the medical

problem without surgery (for now), and he was allowed to be on the sidelines

for Sunday’s emotional loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

For Watson, he endured not only some serious internal pain

for days prior to the game.  Now, he is

dealing with the incredible lingering emotional pain after the Saints loss

which featured the infamous “NoLa No Call” which cost the Saints a trip to next

week’s Super Bowl game in Atlanta.   

A finance major in college (University of Georgia), Watson

was drafted in 2004 by the New England Patriots.  After working six years and earning one Super

Bowl ring with Tom Brady in New England, he made stops in Cleveland, Baltimore,

and New Orleans. 

Benjamin Watson has spent much of his NFL career doing

positive things off the field for others, too.  He was a finalist last season for the NFL’s

Walter Payton “Man-of-the-Year” award for his service off the football field.

A proud father, he and his wife now have five children.  He will be quite busy as his NFL career now ends.

Benjamin Watson, a devout Christian, is a thoughtful speaker

on many issues and has even authored a book on race relations in America.

Thursday, Benjamin Watson spoke about his biggest disappointment following the Saints’ crushing loss to the Rams on Sunday.

Like most of us Saints fans, he is asking the NFL’s

Commissioner why he has been totally silent in the four days since the game

concluded. 

“Commissioner Goodell,” Watson wrote on Twitter. “We all

Roger Goodell is the commissioner of the National Football League.   

He is employed as the public face

of the league by the 32 owners of each NFL franchise. 

Goodell is paid quite handsomely to do his job (whatever it is he is supposed to do).   According to sources, the Commissioner’s new employment agreement with the 32 NFL franchisees calls for him to earn $200 million over five seasons.    

That’s right.  The NFL Commissioner earns an average of $40

million every single year. 

Fans of the New Orleans Saints are asking, begging, and, in some cases, legally demanding that the league’s “Big Guy” step-up to the microphone and intervene to right the wrong of last Sunday afternoon’s game-changing missed call by his league’s referees. 

For those who missed it, there was an obvious (albeit missed) pass interference penalty and illegal head-to-head contact which were perpetrated by a Los Angeles Rams defender (who later, in the locker room, freely admitted that he interfered on the play and was surprised he wasn’t penalized) that occurred with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship game in New Orleans.

As a result, the Saints lost

an opportunity to have the ball first-and-goal and a chance to set-up a short

(extra-point length) field goal in the waning seconds to beat Los Angeles by a

theoretical final score of 23-20 and move into the Super Bowl to play New

England.

Keep dreaming, Saints

fans. 

The silence from the “Big

Guy” of the NFL has been deafening. 

Nothing has been said in nearly three days to help explain the situation

or placate the New Orleans Saints and their deeply loyal fans. 

Tick, tick, tick. 

Crickets. 

But, if you were the NFL’s Commissioner, can you do anything (yes, he could) and should you say or do anything?

First, let’s address the

emotional side of the story.  If Roger

Goodell emerged from his hiding spot today to say, “I’m sorry, Saints fans” or

“We’re going to address the rules on pass interference in the offseason”, anything

he says which didn’t include chance to replay the final two minutes of Sunday’s

game would not satisfy any Saints fan (me, included). 

Under an obscure rule, the

NFL Commissioner can, indeed, order a game to be replayed.  Though most likely formulated to allow games

which have been altered by unusual factors (let’s say the lights went out or, in

the Bay area, an earthquake happened), a missed call by the games’ referees

doesn’t seem to measure up to such a standard.

Remember, Roger Goodell has 32 bosses he must answer to.  Though the Gayle Benson family in New Orleans, the WhoDat Nation, Louisiana’s Governor, and most fair-minded NFL fans would think this to be a great idea, Roger Goodell’s generous salary is paid to protect and advance the current and future value of his employers’ 32 franchises.

Most likely,

If you saw the final two minutes of Sunday’s NFC Championship game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints, you saw (several times) an obvious missed call of both pass interference and head-to-head contact which would have (almost certainly) handed the football game and victory to the New Orleans Saints.

If the call had been made, the Saints would have retained the football with a first down inside the ten yard line.  The Saints would have run the fourth quarter clock down to under twenty seconds and attempted a field goal from extra point distance (95% chance of success) to win the game 23-20.

Inexplicably, the referees

overlooked the obvious penalties on the third down Saints passing play.  The Saints kicked a field goal and handed the

ball back to the Rams with enough time to drive for their own game-tying field

goal. 

In overtime, the Rams

prevailed by three points and moved onto the Super Bowl to play the New England

(this is a recording) Patriots.

Let’s focus on the play

again.

The current rules of the NFL only

allows a head coach to throw the “challenge” flag to force a video review in

order to overturn a specific ruling on the field. 

In this case, if no call was made by the officials, Saints head coach, Sean Payton, cannot challenge a call which wasn’t made on the field.

It won’t make it any easier

for Saints fans (count me as one) to accept this incredible dereliction of duty

by the officiating crew when you learn that:

* The head referee for the Saints/Rams game (Bill Vinovich) said, “I personally haven’t seen the play”.   Translated, that means “I haven’t been instructed by my employer (the NFL) on what I should or shouldn’t say at this time.  I really like my high paying job, and I’d really like to keep it”.  * The flagship radio station for the New Orleans Saints reported that two of the officials (including the referee closest to the actual play) are from (you guessed it) the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  * There was no attempt made by the officials on the field to discuss this matter and change the call prior to the next play being run by the Saints.  The head referee can and should have stopped the game for a consultation if he really wanted to understand why no flag was thrown in this situation.

In professional wrestling,

the outcomes of matches are predetermined. 

Both the participants and the referees are paid by their employer to

maintain the appearance of an honest match even though the match has a scripted

outcome.

Professional wresting calls this “Kayfabe” (translated – act like it isn’t fake, but do what your employer tells you). 

Let’s now apply this to

officiating in other professional sports such as the NFL. 

The officials are hired by

the NFL, paid by the NFL, and selected by the NFL for their assignment to work

certain football games. 

If you are the NFL, how do you

explain that you sent two officials who reside in the Los Angeles area to offic...

The Kansas City Chiefs and their fired-up fans are more than ready for the chance to host their first-ever AFC Championship game late Sunday afternoon against the visiting evil empire otherwise known as the New England Patriots.

Though New England will be appearing in its NFL record

eighth straight AFC Championship game, much of America may be weary of the annual

appearance of the Patriots in this event. 

According to a totally unbiased (cough, cough) survey this week, the majority of fans in only seven of the fifty US states (New England strongholds Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island plus Michigan) will have a majority of football fans pulling for the Patriots on Sunday against Kansas City. 

The young Chiefs captured the home field advantage

throughout this season’s AFC playoffs with a 12-4 record.   Last weekend, KC won its first home playoff

game in 25 years with a resounding 31-13 thumping of the Indianapolis Colts.

This Sunday, Kansas City will play host to the AFC

Championship game for the first time since the former American Football League

team was merged into the NFL in 1970.   

Fifty years have passed since Kansas City won 1969’s Super Bowl IV 23-7 over Minnesota with a Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Len Dawson leading an offense running creative plays called by their Hall-of-Fame head coach, Hank Stram. 

In his coaching era, Hank Stram was every bit as innovative and hard to predict as New England’s current coach, Bill Belichick.    He coached the team from its inception in 1960 (initially founded as the Dallas Texans before being relocated to Kansas City) through 1974. 

In 2019, the Chiefs are led by another offensive innovator.  Head coach Andy Reid came to Kansas City in 2013 after a successful 13-year stint in Philadelphia.  His Eagles teams were perennial playoff squads and came up short in their lone Super Bowl appearance in 2004 (losing to, you guessed it, the New England Patriots). 

Kansas City’s loyal and historically loud fans have waited a

long time for this chance to come to Arrowhead Stadium. 

The stadium boasts of being the loudest outdoor stadium in the world.  Kansas City fans have mastered the art of banging empty beer cans on the metal stadium seats to create a deafening noise for opposing teams.  

Another odd factor in this game will be the rare appearance of a super blood wolf full moon (translated – a full lunar eclipse).  With the first full lunar eclipse of 2019 happens after this game concludes, I think viewers will be in store for high drama, suspense, and the possibility for more than the average number of goofy plays Sunday evening in Kansas City. 

Speaking of wolves, did you know that Kansas City’s field mascot is named “KC Wolf”?   Who knows what he’ll have in store for this blood full moon Sunday! 

Then, there’s the frigid weather and the field conditions.

The NBA’s Boston Celtics are underachieving and regressing as a basketball team in 2019. 

In one of the most unusual situations I’ve ever seen in the

NBA, the consensus of most basketball analysts is that the Celtics have TOO

MANY talented players on the roster and have not jelled as championship caliber

unit.

Though I don’t necessarily buy into the “too much” talent discussion, I do think that the Celtics are dealing with a simple math problem which can be solved by subtracting one unfortunate mistake.

Last season, Kyrie Irving came to the Celtics from a championship run with LeBron James in Cleveland.  He was (and, for now, still is) expected to be the on-floor leader to help mold the young Celtics into an NBA championship team.

Due to an injury late in the season, Irving watched from the bench as Coach Brad Stevens took the Celtics’ youngsters to the verge of the 2018 NBA Finals.  Only that pesky LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers stood in the way (again) from the C’s going to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010. 

The year before (without Irving) in 2017, the young (coach and players) Celtics were carried by a 5’9” sparkplug guard named Isaiah Thomas to the Eastern Conference finals before bowing out to Cleveland (which had LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving at the time). 

Kyrie Irving, who played only one season of college hoops under

Coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke before bolting

to the NBA, is already a five time NBA All-Star who won’t even turn 27 until

March.  There has never been a question

that he is a talented NBA player.

The real question, though, is whether he is the leader that the Boston Celtics’ General Manager, Danny Ainge, thought he would be to help mold this team into a championship squad.

The jury is out on that question, but, based on the Celtics’

record this season (as of this writing, Boston is 25-17 and in fifth place in

the NBA’s Eastern Conference), the team is regressing with a roster filled with

young players who want to make their own mark in the league.

Though he played a wily aging basketball player in this summer’s movie entitled “Uncle Drew”, Kyrie Irving seems to be the odd man out in Boston.

Last weekend, Irving called out his Celtics’ teammates after a loss on the road in Orlando. 

“The young guys don’t know what it takes to be a

championship level team. What it takes every day. And if they think it is hard

now, what do they think it will be like when we’re trying to get to the

Finals?”

The team’s response? 

A loss in Brooklyn on Monday night and a 0-3 record on this road

trip. 

So much for Uncle Drew’s locker room leadership skills.

Boston has a great young coach in Brad Stevens who has rebuilt this team (along with GM Danny Ainge) with some good draft picks with a system built on hustle and teamwork.  He did the same thing as a college coach at tiny Butler University. 

Brad Stevens doesn’t appear to need a “superstar” player such

as Kyrie Irving to succeed.  His college

teams were all disciplined teams stocked with hungry players who enjoyed being

in the role of underdogs.