In the latest chapter of an 18-month saga, Georgia backup quarterback Jaden Rashada is suing Florida’s football coach, a major Florida booster, and a few others for alleged fraud. The backstory here is that Rashada committed to Florida in return for what’s been portrayed as a promised 13.85 million dollars. Then, Florida backed out, and Rashada quite publicly decommitted in response, landing at Arizona State before transferring to Athens this offseason.
Right now, we’re relying on a lot of claims, including one in the lawsuit which holds that Billy Napier himself promised Rashada’s father an undelivered one million dollars the day of Rashada’s signing. Theoretically, the lawsuit could nail down the facts. But whether it’s settled out of court or goes all the way to trial, this is a great case for college football, especially if Rashada wins the suit or receives a sizable settlement. Why? Because for as ugly as this is, justice in the case would prove wrong all the claims that there aren’t any rules in the NIL world. If Rashada was defrauded and, through legal action, receives what’s rightfully his, it’ll be proof that there are plenty of rules governing college athletics’ gray markets. The key distinction is that they’re not set by the NCAA or the SEC. They’re the same laws that apply to all business transactions.
The NIL world has reinforced how firmly the invisible hand governs college sports recruiting. If the invisible hand starts guiding athletes to the courts, recruiters will respond accordingly. Want NIL cleaned up? A guilty verdict against Florida might be the most effective means to that end.
Do the Celtics Need to Sweep Someone?
The Celtics have been unchallenged this postseason, and while part of this is their own doing (they’re better than their competition), and part of it is happenstance (their competition isn’t very good), it’s worth noting. It doesn’t need to be a criticism to be a question.
What’s potentially a criticism is that despite this easy road, the Celtics have yet to put a team away via sweep. The hope would be that a championship-caliber team could dominate these lesser foes. So far, the Celtics have won both their series comfortably. But they haven’t completely dominated. They haven’t swept anyone. Does this matter?
For whatever it’s worth, exactly half of the last twenty NBA champions swept at least one opponent during the postseason. Exactly half. The ultimate “maybe.” But really, we know the answer:
The Celtics’ failure to dominate this postseason so far does matter, in a marginal but real way. It’s a product of their approach, one that lends itself towards inconsistency. It’s a product of their identity, one that doesn’t always lead to meeting the moment. The Celtics are a very good team. But they’re definitely not a great one. Assuming they get past the Pacers, they’ll have an off night or two in the Finals. The question is whether they can win four times on their “on” nights. It’s a challenge Minnesota and Dallas won’t face in the same way. It’s a challenge Boston could emphatically answer—their identity is malleable, and there’s no rule against lighting it up from three five or six nights in a row. But it’s an added challenge. It’s the weakness.
The Rest
The NBA:
- We’d love to compare the Pacers to a collegiate Cinderella candidate, even though the NBA’s seven-game format changes what that means. Regardless, the Pacers don’t fit the bill. Their up-tempo pace isn’t exactly what you want out of a massive underdog. Still, there’s an angle here: The Celtics have been shooting the most threes of any team these playoffs, even with Kristaps Porziņģis sidelined for more than half their games. Their lone loss to the Cavaliers happened in a game where they shot 23% from deep. If the Celtics really go cold, the Pacers have their opportunities, but Indiana’s going to need that to happen a lot.
The NHL:
- The Oilers survived the Canucks, but I don’t know that they should have built any belief in themselves among outside observers. The storyline of that game seemed to be Vancouver’s inability to put pucks on the net. Some of that ties back to Edmonton, but far from all of it.
Chicago:
- Alex Caruso was named to the NBA’s second All-Defensive Team despite being the leading vote-getter among guards. I understand the concept behind positionless “All-_____” teams, and behind positionless basketball! But the first team (Gobert, Wembanyama, Adebayo, Jones, Davis) would struggle defensively. If there isn’t going to be some sort of positional requirement, don’t call it a team. (Also, voters should maybe compare defense by positional requirements. A lot more is asked of guards.)
- The quarterfinal field is set at hockey worlds. All Blackhawks in the field are still in action. I think only Sweden, Finland, and Slovakia lack a Blackhawk among the remaining eight teams.
- As we speculated yesterday might be the case, it’s Pete Crow-Armstrong being sent down as Luis Vazquez is brought up. Dansby Swanson has been activated, sending Miles Mastrobuoni down to the minors, but that didn’t require the Vazquez move. The Cubs flipped Vazquez and PCA. Why? My best guess, and I didn’t articulate this particularly well yesterday, is that the Cubs want to roll with a more consistent starting lineup, and they want a lesser prospect than PCA filling a bench role. They don’t want the Brewers to stretch their division lead, so they’re circling the wagons, and they’d rather PCA develop than pinch run here and there and take at-bats from Mike Tauchman (who continues to crush it), Seiya Suzuki, and Ian Happ (who’s earned the benefit of the doubt over the years to turn things around). Why bring Vazquez up and send Mastrobuoni down, rather than simply inserting Swanson for Crow-Armstrong? Possibly just a hope that Mastrobuoni can get his bat right. There’s promising stuff there at times—his xwOBA’s around league average—so this might be an investment in trying to heat him up. They also might want to get Vazquez some big-league exposure, or Mastrobuoni might be a little banged up himself. A lot of possibilities. But the likeliest explanation for PCA going down is that the Cubs are prioritizing winning games this next month, and they don’t want to spare at-bats for him if that isn’t what makes sense for the team.
- With that covered: Cubs start a series with the Braves tonight. Nice to catch them coming off a doubleheader.
