Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini published a hilarious article today outlining the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers experience. I’m not sure the Jets realize how hilarious it is.
Highlights!
- Other franchises believed the Jets had made Aaron Rodgers more of an assistant general manager than any other player in the league.
- Nathaniel Hackett would defer to Rodgers on play calls during training camp.
- Robert Saleh is a gigantic loser.
That last piece isn’t a direct quote from the article. That piece is my opinion. We should make that clear. Rosenblatt and Russini did not write, “Robert Saleh is a big loser baby who is incapable of taking any accountability from his own failings and thought that by turning the offense over to Aaron Rodgers while he focused on the defense, he could win a Super Bowl.” That’s my summary of the article. Robert Saleh, under whom the Jets drafted and tried to develop Zach Wilson, reportedly blamed the entirety of the team’s demise on his own “bad luck.” Meanwhile, Wilson—who thought Rodgers would be available for consultation during Rodgers’s rehab only to see him jet off to California—was told he’d be inactivated and traded only for Saleh to come back to him and tell him he needed to play. Saleh seemed to actually believe in the Rodgers comeback from the Achilles tear. Saleh put every one of his eggs into the basket of football’s most prominent psychedelic evangelist.
Aaron Rodgers isn’t a dumb guy. Aaron Rodgers isn’t a dumb quarterback. Aaron Rodgers knows a lot about football. But Aaron Rodgers is not a general manager! Aaron Rodgers is not an offensive coordinator! And Aaron Rodgers is—as we would think everyone should know by now—not a medical expert.
Robert Saleh, meanwhile, appears to be a dumb guy. That’s our impression from Rosenblatt and Russini’s reporting. Dumb and devoid of integrity. Not a great combination in a football coach.
Does Netflix Make People Like Sports?
NASCAR’s Netflix show debuted this week, and the reviews have been great. NASCAR fans sound like they love it, and it wouldn’t be surprising if some fringe sports fans get pulled in. I confess: I have not yet watched. We’re not here to review the show.
What we’re here to do, instead, is remind people how specific the circumstances were around Drive to Survive working so well for F1.
There’s this theory in sports that if you can get Netflix to make you a cool docuseries, you will experience dramatic growth, like F1’s in America after Drive to Survive. The problem is that this isn’t bearing out. Golf, tennis, and now NASCAR have each now enjoyed a great series, but the boom hasn’t come for golf and tennis, and it won’t come for NASCAR either. Why? Three reasons:
First, Covid. Drive to Survive soared at a time when people were watching a ton of television. Netflix’s numbers are not what they were towards the end of 2020.
Second, familiarity. I would offer that the average American has more preexisting familiarity with golf, tennis, and even NASCAR than they have with F1. We’ve been used to NASCAR our whole lives. It’s always been around. Golf and tennis? Some schools have kids playing those in gym class. F1 was novel and new, a foreign game. Drive to Survive was a first impression. Not a new look at a tired thing.
Third, the 2021 F1 season. Had F1 not lucked into an historically compelling title race in that specific year between two historic drivers, the ESPN deal would not have mattered. Why do we know this? Because F1’s competition has taken a nosedive in the last two seasons, and while it’s still accumulating fans, the front-edge media talkers are talking about it less. It’s gone from the young sports consciousness. It’s over. Total awareness may still rise, but the curve is flattening, and the ceiling is low. Lower, going by ratings, than NASCAR’s.
So, good for NASCAR. I’m glad the series is good and I can’t wait to watch. But this isn’t going to make any sort of difference in NASCAR’s American following.
Does F1 Hate America?
Speaking of F1…
Those bastards!
Michael Andretti and Cadillac have been trying to get an American F1 team off the ground, and today, F1 announced that it isn’t happening. Not until 2028 at the earliest, if F1’s word is set in stone. Why? Well, much like the NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB, F1 is a cartel of owners. They get the say on who’s in and who’s out, and they think Andretti joining the series would mean less money for each of them. This is similar to why Washington and Oregon couldn’t join the Big Ten until they agree to that partial revenue share.
Why Can’t Figure Skating Do Math?
In figure skating news (we cover it closely around here), the Russians got a 17-year-old banned for doping. So that’s sad. Predatory, I would say. In a retroactive move, Russia has been stripped of its gold medal as a team from the 2022 Olympics, but: They were only relegated to bronze, behind the U.S. and Japan in the scoring, when the International Skating Union’s rules imply they should have fallen behind Canada too? It’s an ongoing dispute. As of this morning, the report was that the ISU wasn’t answering emails. I hope it was a careless error and that they’re mad now and won’t admit their mistake. Or, I hope the Russians cared enough to bribe the ISU to let them keep the bronze. Or, I hope they lost the passwords to their emails. Really, any explanation here is great.
One other thought on this:
How does the process work of the medal stripping? Does everyone send theirs in and then the ISU or the IOC sends them out to the new winners? Does everyone send them to each other? Does Russia put up a big middle finger and keep its gold? Does Russia do this more passively, perhaps by neglecting to answer the emails?
I hope this one day comes up around Ukraine peace talks.
Etc.
Note: We’re posting this later than planned, so some of what follows may be out of date.
The NIT, other college hoops:
- Shaka Smart’s Marquette Golden Eagles (winners of five straight, tied for second in the second-best conference in the country) beat Villanova last night, and while it was neither neat nor tidy, it was a victory. Importantly for Villanova, it was a loss. Villanova’s among the NIT favorites right now. They need to right the ship—these long losing streaks can send a team past our grasp faster than you can say “internet outrage mob”—but as of this moment, Villanova is aimed the right way. Keep it up, Cats.
- In other dramatic comebacks, but this time one that worked out, St. Bonaventure took down VCU. The A-10 is doing this fun thing where a lot of teams are hanging around the NIT bubble but none are especially promising. Odds are, a few will find their way into the mix, but we have no idea which ones. The A-10 is like when you meet twins and then you realize you’ve met triplets and then a fourth comes out of the bathroom and you learn you’re dealing with quadruplets.
- Indiana almost took a terribly sad home loss against Iowa (another big comeback was involved), but they survived. Anthony Leal’s emergence feels storybook, which we’ll take. Malik Reneau’s injury was concerning, especially with Kel’el Ware still in and out of full health.
- I don’t think we’re getting South Carolina. I do believe in Mississippi, though. The one thing we know Chris Beard will do is ch—*redacted*
- ToNITe, North Texas and UAB play at the Super Pit in a national championship rematch. The first 150 UNT students get a commemorative NIT Championship ticket, so if you’re a UNT student reading this, go to the Super Pit right the fuck now. Elsewhere in this great country, Xavier hosts NIT GOATs St. John’s, Wake’s at Pitt, and Boise State plays New Mexico in the late-NITe hours. New Mexico really shouldn’t make the NIT, but I believe they just won a big golf tournament named the NIT, so we cannot ignore them right now.
Chicago, the Packers:
- A great thing about the Raptors is that their roster is a tanking roster but is playing too hard to fully tank. A bad thing about the Bulls is that their roster is a mediocre roster and is playing with an average level of effort. This is why the Bulls are doing to 9th place the same thing Driver’s Ed videos say to do when you’re on the freeway: Establishing a lot of space on all sides.
- Just when we thought the college coaching carousel was pretty well finished, the Packers nabbed Jeff Hafley out of Boston College’s head job. Got ‘em!!!!
Joe Kelly, Burnley, and the Ottawa Senators:
- Joe Kelly worked at Jack in the Box today as a Dodgers promo event. Pictures here, here, and here. Family event.
- Burnley got beat by Man City today, as is their custom, but it was only 3–1. Stoppage time goal to make it look good. I will scroll past that result when I’m looking at this season’s Wikipedia page in a few years. It will not jump out as a blowout. That’s all you can ask of Burnley against Man City. (Also, Burnley won 1–0 in the portion of the game after Haaland came on. Some are saying Burnley shut Haaland down. Some are calling Burnley Haaland’s worst nightmare.)
- The Sens play the Red Wings tonight before heading into the All-Star Break, and to be honest, I still don’t know if the Sens have any All-Stars. There is so much I don’t know. The will of God and the number of All-Stars on the Ottawa Senators. Those are the first two things. Anyhoo, big game! Some Red Wings fans are still mad about the Mathieu Joseph thing in December which objective parties have agree was within the bounds of normalcy. Also, the Red Wings are clinging to playoff position. That’s not something the Sens have to worry about. House money, motherfuckers. House money. (The Blue Jackets appear to have won a game, so the Sens need to win one themselves to stay tied for last in the Eastern Conference instead of entering the break alone in last in the Eastern Conference.)
- In other Sens news, they might be in on Chris Tanev in the trade market, despite already having a contract logjam on the blue line. Speculation holds that they might be driving the price up for the Leafs. Would love that. If you aren’t going to be good, the least you can do is troll.
