Proof of concept

 

One of the toughest things about college basketball for a stretch of about 20 years was the brevity of the stays in college for the best players. It was hard for schools to build momentum, and the tournament made little sense. The tournament is still a challenge to forecast, but now, teams can build and grow because players are starting to stick around a bit longer. 

The money almost certainly helps. NIL deals get a lot of attention on the football side of it, but they are a boon for basketball players as well. Part of players staying in college involves a high rate of transfers, playing for multiple schools while opportunity and revenue increases along the way. 

Still, whatever money can be made playing college basketball doesn't hold a candle to the riches of the NBA, or even many leagues overseas. For so long, players jumped to the NBA early, and NBA teams often avoided drafting upper classmen, fearing that they wouldn't get better, or there was no "upside" as draft speak goes. 

The thinking seems to be turning around, as teams are starting to realize that college donors can play for a players' development, rather than the team, and having that player spend time deep on their bench. This year, 6 seniors were drafted in the first round. Generally, seniors have been the lottery ticket, selected at the end of the second round, but now, teams are recognizing that they may be able to be inserted into a lineup right away. 

Tonight, Bronny James got the attention for the Lakers, but it was former senior Dalton Knecht who was the first rookie off the bench of LA. College fans will remember Knecht for his sharp shooting at Tennessee, where he ended up after starting at Northern Colorado (that transferring for money and opportunity thing, a prime example). Not many teams are looking for the overall health of the league versus their own success, but having a player with more name recognition as they come into the league is only going to benefit everyone. 

Zach Edey is playing for the Memphis Grizzlies, and is going to start at center. He was the 9th pick in the draft, and everyone who follows basketball knows who he is. He was 2 time player of the year at Purdue, and a force to be reckoned with for the past two years, and totally unrecognizable, save for the 7'4" height, from the player he was as a Freshman. 

The money is a good base to keep players grinding away in college, as is the ability to move more freely from school to school. Now, there is a proof of concept - you can stay in school and still get paid. College basketball is getting it's passion back, and basketball across the country will be better for it. 

The NCAA season starts in less than a week, and the NBA began today.

 No matter your particular affinity for music, hearing about the premature death of a 31 year old father is a tough thing, a hard bit of news. Obviously, there is the family of Liam Payne, as well as his close friends and collaborators to offer condolences to, but he was in the prime of his career. If you were a fan of Payne, especially one who watched him grow up for nearly 20 years, there is likely a sense of loss that is a little deeper for the future is no longer there.
I know of One Direction, and perhaps more than any group, I know the individual members of the group through their other work. Liam Payne in particular dabbled in a field of music I am more interested in, working with hip hop and R&B artists. This led to the sad thought that Quavo has now seen two of his hit making collaborators cut down too soon. First his real life nephew Takeoff, and now Payne.
So I looked to see if Quavo, formerly of the Migos, had any formal statements or public condolences because I am up later than my wife and was a little bit bored. Nothing from Quavo, but I did see other rappers issue statements or social media posts, like Juicy J, Ty Dolla Sign and Flava Flav. Liam Payne was not only someone who worked with these artists, but he was a fan.
I am a 41 year old white dude from Minnesota, and I have been a rap fan for 20+ years, but I was struck by the English kid being a big fan as well. And I know, and am a big fan of English rappers! But this was still quirky to me, and I know it shouldn't be. 
Nevertheless, this post is the result of an internet wormhole I fell in, but in the interests of paying respects to Liam Payne, please enjoy this song, performed by Lol Baby and Central C, rappers from either side of the Atlantic. I presume Payne liked it.

Levine, Popkins, sacrificed to the baseball Gods

 As no doubt long time readers are aware, Minnesota men's sports are cursed. I'm not sure what can be done to break the curse, but it reared its ugly head again for the Twins in 2024. Just when fans of the organization were feeling hopeful, the team slashed payroll, precipitating a chain of events that ended with a disastrous conclusion to the 2024 campaign.

This was an unforced error by the Twins management. If the organization is actively working against the success of the team, that seems to suggest they are in cahoots with the curse, or at the very least seek favor from different baseball gods than those that the fans do. This is obviously the case. The fans look at wins and losses, while the Pohlads wins and losses are in black and red on the ledger.

So yes, fans demanded that there be changes to the organization after a catastrophic end to the year, though the Twins perhaps didn't feel those same pressures. At least, not from a wins and losses stand point. If they did, the changes the organization would have made would have been to the payroll. If you asked many fans, say, those chanting at Target Field, the personnel move they would have preferred was to "Fire Rocco" Baldelli.

But instead, it was the hitting staff, including hitting coach David Popkins, that was let go. Justifiable, certainly, given the offensive collapse and the overall streakiness of the hitters, but maybe not as extensive as some of the more disappointed fans would like. And then there is Thad Levine, also leaving, though the press release seems to indicate it was a mutual decision. I'm not sure there were many people out there saying "boy, Thad Levine is the entire problem, the Twins will be better if he is replaced" but he was an executive, and replacing him is certainly symbolic!

If you haven't figured it out, the gods Levine and Popkins were sacrificed not to the gods of on field fortune, but to the gods of baseball fortune, in the monetary sense. Popkins' firing may mollify some of the fans that still plan on paying for tickets, while Levine didn't hold as much sway as Dave St. Peter or Derek Falvey, the two who kept the budget in check in 2024. 

No word on this will do anything for local curses. 

Grasping at straws

 I'm mad about the end of he Twins season. I am mad about Joe Pohlad's statements, essentially indicating that payroll shouldn't be a determining factor in putting a winning product on the field (despite all evidence to the contrary) and seeming to be unwilling to put any extra investment into the team from a financial standpoint to get through times that are lean for other reasons (Media rights, in this case). Rather than leaning into the momentum of 2023, the organization trembled at the downturn in revenue projections, and subsequently made it worse by pronouncing a reduction in payroll. 

I'm mad because I thought there was a chance that the Twins were making misleading statements, knowing that they were just going to contend with pre-arbitration players, and would necessarily spend less money on players, and would supplement at the deadline if they needed to. That was obviously not the case, and the team instead is doubling down on their unwillingness to increase payroll.

But it's the offseason, and if anything, the last few days have reminded us that it's a blessing to be able to be upset about something as silly as baseball. Yeah, the Twins are a frustrating, spiteful organization, but they also aren't worth a winter's worth of negative energy. That in mind, there is one very dramatic piece of good news.

I was particularly worried, in the face of the various bits of bad news that were tacked upon the end of a bad season that the Twins were going to be happy enough to go into a tailspin for the long term, limiting payroll to operate their business, rather than consuming their minds with winning. Carl Pohlad won a World Series on a 22 million dollar payroll, so dammit, why not do it now?

Obviously, with a mentality like that, anyone that could get out with their reputation intact would go. Dave St. Peter is pretty committed to the Pohlads at this point, but Derek Falvey has a career ahead of him, and by all reports was in a contract year. And Falvey is the Chief Baseball Officer, whereas St. Peter is the one keeping a closer eye on the bank. Falvey is taking the hit to his reputation if things go awry on the field, not so much anyone else. 

And Falvey is staying. 

2024 was a bad year after one of the best in a while, but Derek Falvey, a baseball man as close to the story as anyone could be, isn't giving up on the organization. It might not mean much, but it certainly means something.