The obligatory question following a game as spectacularly dramatic as the women’s ice hockey gold medal game (won by Canada in overtime over the U.S., or if you must, They over We) was asked before the game – what about a Women’s NHL?
And now, over to Gary Bettman to throw cold water (and point to the level of competition after the ‘Nucks and Yanks) on the idea.
“We actually had a consultant take a look at this for us,” Bettman told Al Michaels on NBC Sports Network. “The overall development at women's hockey at the grassroots level through the college level isn't at the point where a pro league is viable.”
Then there’s the other thing – too many owners aren’t getting as rich on hockey as they thought they would, and after bungling the last attempt to screw the players in collective bargaining aren’t putting a spare dime in anyone’s hands but their own.
But wouldn’t it be dandy to have these two teams pretend to be eight teams in the WNHL and clock the hell out of each other night after night?
Actually, no. That’s what the real NHL is for.
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Good news for San Francisco – at least for the 37 people who thought the America’s Cup went so well that an Olympics would be seventyteen times as fun – New York doesn’t want the 2024 Summers.
Mayor Bill de Blasio has diverted from predecessor Michael Bloomberg’s flight path to say he has no plan to bring the Summer Olympic Games to New York City.
“This is not something the mayor is considering at this time,” said Phil Walzak, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio.
The timing thus makes the Apple a non-starter for a race that may include Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia and San Diego. Chicago, the U.S. nominee for the 2016 Games, isn't planning to chase 2024.
Of course, as there will be no new stadiums built here between now and 2024, and the 49ers will be complaining by 2020 that they want to move back to The City, the Bay Area’s Olympics are probably a non-starter. And not even Larry Ellison can buy them, as his net worth is $11 billion less than Bad Vlad Putin threw at the Sochi Graftfest.
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And now over to former Raider and Cowboy Greg Ellis, who apparently thinks he is the deity’s gift to gay men, on Michael Sam, via KESN in Dallas:
“He has to be careful. He has to come in, close his mouth. If he pats somebody on the butt (I hope ESPN don’t get mad and never have me back) but if he pats somebody on the butt, how is that to be received? If he does that how is that to be received? If he said, ‘Come on baby’? I called guys baby all the time on the football field, but when you have taken a stand and went and go public and say that, ‘I am gay,’ how is that going to be received?
“People who’ve never been in an NFL shower room, not just a locker room, it’s an open room. We don’t have private curtains. It’s just an open-form shower, so everybody sees each in the nude. Well if you’re looking at men as if you’re looking at women or vice versa, how are those guys to receive that? I don’t know. I don’t know how they will receive that.”
Well, as Ellis is retired, he won’t know the answer to that unless his private life is less private than we think. As for ESPN, well, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting on that next call, Greg.
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San Francisco State University President Les Wong said he is “about 90 percent sure” the school is going to change its 80-year-old mascot, the Gators, which suggests three questions:
1. What 17 people voted in that poll?
2. Who asked for the mascot to be changed, and what possible monetary benefit could there be?
3. Is he really that bored?
Your answers? Probably nobody at all. Nobody, and none. And absolutely.
Wong is hoping for something more futuristic for the more sports-oriented university he envisions. He is also hoping that unlike most schools who have thrown a lot of money into athletics wishing to hit the big time, his school won’t be converted into a gigantic JiffyLube.
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And finally, Bovada has set NFL Combine lines that include fastest 40, most bench press reps and highest vertical leap. See you in Hell, kids.