The Rubber Ball Won’t Come Bouncing Back

  The Rubber Ball  Won’t Come Bouncing  Back... 

Urban  Meyer  whose  retirement  from  College  Football  came  as  not  great surprise  even  after the  success of having  won  three  national titles  ,  two  with  Florida (Gators) and  another  with  Ohio State (Buckeyes)  gave the  coach all the credibility he  needed when he chose to ride off into the  sunset.  Meyer  was  able  to  parlay his retirement  into  a well-paying  gig as College  Football  analyst with ESPN.

If the rumors are to be believed then Urban Meyer’s appetite has been whetted with the coach seeking to come out of retirement and make his return to the professional level of football within the NFL ranks with one of the teams with a vacancy at present . Meyer is seeking seeking five-year deal worth $60 million .

With there now being at least three known NFL vacancies now within the NFL after the end of the regular season and the customary bloodletting with the dismissal of NFL Head Coaches. It could be said that the front offices of these teams in seek of a new Head Coach might not be necessarily willing to go after someone without prior league experience. Yet Meyer does offer a coach with a known pedigree of success wherever he has coached. The stumbling block may well be his asking price . That being said, Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders is the highest paid coach in the NFL and he’s yet to take the Raiders to the NFL Postseason since his return to the league. Mark Davis the principal owner of the Raiders was out to make a statement with the hiring of Gruden. but his mistake and naivete was the contract offered to the coach . Jon Gruden’s contract with the Raiders is a ten-year $100 million deal , by far the highest in the league to date .

Among one NFL franchise showing possible interest in the hiring of Urban Meyer, are the Jacksonville Jaguars who had a disastrous season under Doug Marrone , who was fired by team owner Shahid Khan . The Jaguars finished with the league worst 1-15 record, which gives the team the number one overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft . If Khan and Jaguars ‘ GM Dana DesJarlais can negotiate terms with Meyer , then he could become the coach of a team which struggled through much of the regular season .

The Coronavirus has plagued the NFL through much of the season and at differing points of the schedule there were at times at least twenty or thirty players sidelined by the virus . NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell set in place strict protocols which were often ignored which ultimately led to the dismissal of Dwayne Haskins from the roster of the Washington Football Team . Head Coach Ron Rivera seemed to have done an about-face, having first said that Haskins was OK , only then to cut the rookie quarterback of the 2019 NFL Draft . Haskins for now is an unrestricted free agent whose career in the NFL might be as short-lived as that of former Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel .

It’s hard to say where Dwayne Haskins can now go from here having imploded his career through self destruction , deceit and lying . One of the contests in question will pit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road to face the Washington Football Team with the home team having nothing to lose , with their having the worst record of any of the postseason teams. Buccaneers’ quarterback Tom Brady will be looking to carry on his postseason record by notching up another postseason victory for his new team .

I’ll say this for the new NBA season , it is proving to be very exciting as the rookies around the league get to whet their appetite for the game against the seasoned veterans . Over the next ten games it will be interesting to see how the teams are going to fare . James Harden and the Houston Rockets are still looking to lay claim as one of the best teams in the NBA but with the departure of Russell Westbrook in a blockbuster trade which sent John Wall from the Washington Wizards to the Rockets, it will be interesting to see what rookie Head Coach Stephen Silas can do with this Rockets’ roster .

Next up for the Houston Rockets will be a game against the Indiana Pacers on the road , in an intra-conference match-up . This contest will be taking place on Wednesday , 6th January , 2021. The Los Angeles Lakers will continue their quest to make a successful defense of their NBA title . The team led by four-time League MVP , LeBron James will next be on the court when the Lakers face the San Antonio Spurs at home in all Western Conference match-up .

Sorry , but I am having a hard time being convinced that Doc Rivers can immediately turn around the fate of the Philadelphia 76ers , turning them into a legitimate contender for this season’s NBA title . Rivers was never able to get the best out of the Los Angeles Clippers during his seven year tenure with the franchise. Granted , he won a title with the Boston Celtics . but that feat was twelve years ago . Over their next ten games I think that we’ll be better able to judge the Sixers on their merits . Their next game will see the Philadelphia 76ers face the Brooklyn Nets on the road between two of the Eastern Conference’s best teams .

Becky Hammon could very well become the first female in North American professional sports to coach a team where the players are male. Hammon is currently a lead assistant on the coaching staff of Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs . Also as part of his staff , Popovich has a future Hall of Fame bound player, Tim Duncan. Given the faith shown by Popovich in his two lead assistants , it is not surprising that he’s allowed to take the helm in the coaching of this team while looks more dealing with the operational side of this renowned franchise . This season however the Spurs find themselves in something of a difficult situation as they seek to transition , with their being several young players on what now appears to an inexperienced roster.

Gregg Popovich and his coaching staff appears committed to these younger players , while the likes of Rudy Gay and LaMarcus Aldridge can still provide the type of veteran leadership needed. This is a roster which can be competitive this season should the right breaks fall their way . In their next contest the Spurs will face the Los Angeles Lakers on the road in an all Western Conference clash . It will be very interesting to see the type of insight likely to be provided by Becky Hammon and Tim Duncan as they assist Gregg Popovich in the coaching strategy for the game .

Major League Baseball ended it’s postseason with a triumphant Los Angeles Dodgers winning their first world title in over three decades with their last victory coming in 1988 . The Dodgers’ triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays was not totally unexpected , but the end results did justify the means by way of the team’s mass spending on star players . Heading into this upcoming season there are high expectations for this Dodgers’ team

There were several off-season moves by a number of teams with salaries likely to go up alongside payroll obligations . Not doubt once the regular season gets underway on the !st April , 2021 , all of the teams will begin to get their wheels in motion . It will be interesting to see which players are likely to be in contention for the singular awards from each league . The MLB hierarchy led my Commissioner Rob Manfred will still be adopting strict protocols with regard to the Coronavirus as the pandemic does not seem to be waning .

So what should we expect of this NFL postseason with the teams now vying to become this season’s Superbowl champions ? The Kansas City Chiefs are there with their quarterback Patrick Mahomes leading the team and quite possibly looking to win his second League MVP Award. The Chiefs will have a first-round bye as the wildcard round gets underway with their games this weekend beginning on Saturday, 9th January , 2021. The most fascinating match-up pits the Washington Football Team at home hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Tom Brady as the makes another postseason foray with a team other than the New England Patriots . I expect the Buccaneers to be victorious given Brady’s success in the postseason , but it would not surprise me to see Washington pull off the upset .

What if anything are you now looking forward to within the world of sports as we have entered the year 2021 ? One would hope the year will be considerably better than 2020 in spite of the continued news about the Coronavirus .

Tophatal ………..

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