Four days later, it remains a kick in the gut that we suddenly lost Rick Wolff to a brain tumor at 71 . Wolff, in addition to being an author, editor, publisher, raconteur and WFAN weekend radio host who advocated unconditional sportsmanship to an audience that was drawn to him, perhaps because it was unaccustomed to such sounds from standard radio bottom-feeding. Rick was an unapologetic old-fashioned gentleman, just like his famous sportscaster dad, Bob. Both reminded us that “old school’s” only requisite for acceptance is wisdom and a smile of authenticity. TV’s Ted Lasso character could’ve been styled after Rick, who reasoned that you choose both your feet as the best one on which to step forward. The only folks he held in contempt were parents and coaches who tried to wreck it for the kids while driving rec league umps and refs into escalating scarcity. But he never dismissed even the most obnoxious or threatening as irredeemable. That was the pitiful part: Those most in need of Wolff’s advice and counsel were the least likely to be tuned in. Just as I relied upon Bob Wolff for clarity, guidance and phone numbers, I leaned on Rick. I was hardly alone. Road Outrageous: Bad timing. Tuesday, I had to run out for something and thus was stuck in the car with John Sterling. So help me, on the very first pitch I heard, Sterling applied his tired, often wrong, one-size-fits-all home run call to Yankees rookie Anthony Volpe, supposedly on the occasion of his first big-league homer. Only it wasn’t a home run. Then, Sterling amended his call to “It’s off the wall!,” then settled on “It’s caught, beautifully caught on the warning track by [left fielder Steven] Kwan.” Small problem: There wasn’t a shred of truth to any of Sterling’s calls. It wasn’t a home run, off the wall or “beautifully caught.” It was a routine fly ball caught at the near edge of the warning track. And so Sterling, after 34 years calling Yankees radio broadcasts, still refuses to wait a moment to find out what just happened, preferring instead to apply his infamous bad guesswork to be suffered by a
New York radio audience. That has nothing to do with his age, 84, or diminished eyesight. It has to do with his ill-advised, career-long, self-promotional habits and a condescending arrogance that long proceeded his Yankees days. You might have heard by now that last Friday an
NBA team owner, the Mavericks’ Mark Cuban , had his team lose intentionally to improve its draft status rather than win to try to make the playoffs. There was no false pretense at work. That was to be a rip-off of fans, a disgrace to the franchise and a Machiavellian humiliation of the NBA’s code of credibility. Before Dallas’ home game against the mediocre Bulls, Cuban decided to not even dress regulars Kyrie Irving, Josh Green, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood for either exaggerated injury claims or, absurdly, the need to rest. The Mavs, as planned, lost. The media screamed foul. And the media were right. The integrity of the league, by design, was placed in peril. But missing from this sordid story were and are some key elements: The NBA is the official bought-and-paid-for gambling partner of both FanDuel and DraftKings. And it stands to reason that before this internally fixed game began, people in and around the Mavericks’ organization likely knew what was up and therefore may have sought action, either directly or through a party once or twice removed. The Mavs, until removed from the betting menu, were listed as 7 to 8 ¹/₂-point favorites. Whatever inside-info betting went on before the game, it’s highly unlikely that either gambling operation would make a public stink that pointed to the NBA, a valued, credibility enhancing partner, as unable to
police its game from inside game-fixing. We’ve seen this before. In 2019, Marshall’s
Football team defeated visiting Louisiana Tech, 31-10. You bet it did. Two days before, the betting line underwent a sudden, significant change. Marshall went from a two-point favorite to five. Why the sudden, one-way action? Louisiana Tech, after all, had won eight straight, and this was a Conference
USA game between title contenders. Well, Louisiana Tech, without releasing the info to the public until Thursday night, had a day earlier suspended three players, including star QB J’mar Smith. Who knew? Just those on the inside and those told by the insiders. Anyway, the NBA last week included a must-win game that on official orders became a must-lose game. What’s that? Friday you bet the Mavs, legally, laying 8 points with one of the NBA’s bookmakers? Just dial 1-800-NBA-TANK for your refund. Sure. Yet, again, ignore what you see, believe what you’re told — or should’ve been told. Wednesday, with the Yankees down, 3-0 in Cleveland, Oswaldo Cabrera hit one off the right-field wall. YES viewers, expecting to see Cabrera at second base, instead saw him standing at first, performing self-smitten gestures, a routine aimed at the Yankees dugout. Michael Kay said nothing about that while John Flaherty only hinted that Cabrera belonged at second. Flaherty’s too reliably good to pull punches. On SNY, a few minutes later, the Mets’ 5-2 win over the Padres ended when career laggard Manny Machado, after agreeing to a $350 million extension, jogged into a double play for San Diego. While many of us prefer a dull game that runs 2:40 to a dull game that runs 3:10, dull is dull. The Cards’ 7-4 win over the Rockies on Wednesday included 24 strikeouts. The D’backs’ 7-3 win over the Brewers in 8 ¹/₂ innings, included 11 pitchers. And the designated hitter continues to be the designated swinger. Tuesday, Padres DH Matt Carpenter went 0-for-4, all strikeouts, while the DHs in Royals-Rangers went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts. Monday, Dodgers DH J.D. Martinez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in a game that included 24 Ks. MLB’s elimination of the shift has not reduced the home run or strikeout mentality. How many
golf fans were relieved to learn that Tiger Woods, 23 strokes back, had pulled out of the final round of the Masters , thus vastly improving the chance of CBS actually showing the Masters being played rather than Woods eating an
Apple to the adoring gaze of broadcasters who wonder aloud where he gathers the strength, confidence and conviction to eat an apple? No one has made bigger fools out of TV folks than Woods. And that’s on TV, not Woods. The first three rounds of the Masters last week again left Jim Nantz needlessly self-sentenced as a facts-free sycophant. Pastor Jim again chose to have Woods lead us on a religious retreat. For those who prefer silence to insults (the many ugly truths about Woods will never be spoken during golf telecasts), it was another major turned into another endless and insulting worship service. The PGA is now encouraging the drunks, gamblers and other loudmouths among spectators to lose “You da man!” in favor of “You da person!”