March 31, 2023

Month: February 2022

Mandel’s Musings: NFL Is In Big Trouble As Al Sharpton Enters the Fray. Billions of Dollars At Stake for the League and its Owners

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by Scott Mandel

Al Sharpton is getting involved with Brian Flores’ NFL lawsuit. The NFL should be afraid, very afraid.

Especially the owners.

Al Sharpton - Personal Life, Age & Facts - Biography
Al Sharpton will be assisting Brian Flores in his case against the NFL

Sharpton and other top civil rights leaders have requested a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a class-action suit against the league alleging racial discrimination.

“In light of the recent lawsuit filed by Brian Flores, it has brought this attention back to the forefront of our community, and it is important that you have an immediate open dialogue with Civil Rights leadership,” the letter read. “We are being asked to do everything within our power, including direct action at next week’s Super Bowl, as well as appealing to local municipalities that underwrite and give special considerations to stadiums to pressure the NFL and its owners to get more serious about enforcing the ruling law.”

Also, if it can be proven Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, indeed encouraged Flores, his head coach to “tank” the season to gain a higher draft pick for the Dolphins by offering Flores $100,000 in cold hard cash for each loss they suffer, Ross will be removed from the sport.

I’m just not sure how Brian Flores can prove all of these accusations or racism in the NFL’s hiring practices and tanking a season. Evidently, there’s nothing in writing.

The latest news today comes after Ross had more than 24 hours to think about it, Ross issued a fiery response to the claims made against him by Flores.

“With regards to the allegations being made by Brian Flores, I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding,” Ross wrote. “I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory.

“We understand that there are media reports stating that the NFL intends to investigate his claims, and we will cooperate fully. I welcome that investigation and I am eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims.”

Flores was fired in January after three seasons, the last two of which produced winning records. He claims that the team conducted a smear campaign in media and in league circles after his dismissal in an effort to paint him as “an angry Black man.”

The NFL. The “Not For Long” league, but, only if you get caught. Maybe the league should be re-named, DGCL. The Don’t Get Caught League.

Brady Belongs in a Different Hall of Fame, A New HOF For Only the Mount Olympus of Sports

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By Scott Mandel

I posted this several hours ago, related to the subject of Halls of Fame:

If one truly believes in the importance of idolization of athletes by building permanent fixtures in big buildings in cities no one would otherwise visit, like Akron, Cooperstown, and Springfield, Massachusetts (unless your cousins live there), there should be a “real” HOF for the gods and goddesses of all sports, under one roof.

Visit the football floor, where only Tom Brady, Lawrence Taylor, Dick Butkus, Deacon Jones, Jim Brown, and O.J. Simpson (morality has no role in this HOF) and a handful of others are honored. No statistical compilers allowed, because they aren’t gods.

Go upstairs to the basketball department, where Michael Jordan and LeBron James, along with Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Oscar Robertson will lead a small group of gods of hoops.

Let’s continue our journey to the upper floor where Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Barry Bonds, and Pete Rose (remember, we don’t care about a lack of moral terpitude) will lead a small group of baseball players. You won’t be able to find Bill Mazeroski, Ozzie Smith, or Barry Larkin in this wing. After all, we’re talking gods, not .260 hitters with good gloves.

The lower floors will include the gods and goddesses of golf, tennis, hockey, NCAA men’s and women’s sports, and, the WBL, as soon as that catches up as a real professional league. Boxing will get half a wing, as a dying sport. But only because some of its champions, like Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and even poor Max Schmeling did tons of social/political good outside of the barbaric nature of boxing. MMA will not have a wing, since it’s a terrible travesty of an event and does no discernible good.

The Museum of Natural History, under one edifice, can show us cromagnons, dinosaurs, and space exploration, under the aegis of science and societal development. The Louvre contains art from different genres and centuries. There’s no reason why there can’t be a one-stop shop of greatness in all things sports, which is an art form of its own.

Welcome to the International Sports Hall of Elites. The only question is, where do we get an american oligarch to pay for it and build it?

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