EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Happy Saturday… Saturday is usually the comedy day here. I mean, we are “where sports meets funny” – or something like that – and Saturday is when Short Matt breaks out the mic and does a stand-up routine. Unfortunately (or fortunately), his royal shortness is busy helping out our sister site, Rugby Wrap Up. I am not a good comedian so you will just get a pure letter from the editor type piece from me. With that said, the topics for today are: Novaxx Djokovic, Hawks-Knicks Trade, NFL Coaching Vacanies And Representation.
Novaxx Djokovic
I am pro-vaxxer but that is not why I am upset with this guy. I am upset because you don’t get to flaunt a law then demand special treatment. There is a restaurant in Texas that is anti-mask so if you wear a mask in you have to take it off for the whole time your there or kindly leave. I am a masker so I would avoid this restaurant, or leave immediately, if I found out the rule, no matter how good their ribs are. This guy (said with the kind of subtlety your granny uses to this “insult” guy in her native tongue), wants to be anti-vax, cool go for it. But then, he demands he be allowed to live his life irrespective of the laws. He is the top player in tennis world so he wants to play the Australian open so Tennis Australia allows some made up special exemption, then the rest of the world finds out and lose their minds. Australia has an incredible tough immigration policy and they are far from nice. So now there is this battle as Immigration Australia is finding holes in the application for Djokovic. This guy doesn’t have the decency to just accept that Australia says no. Nope he wants to have his cake and eat it too and I am sorry you can’t. You want to be the Spartacus of Anti-vaxxers (according to his daddy), well remember Spartacus died in battle. And shame on Tennis Australia and the tournament organizers for trying to give him a made up exemption while denying others.
Hawks-Knicks Trade
The Knicks acquired Cam Reddish, Solomon Hill and a second-round pick, while they sent the Hawks; Kevin Knox and a first-round pick that the team acquired from the Charlotte Hornets. The Knicks have another 1st round draft pick so it is not the end of the world. Kevin Knox never seemed like a good fit for Knicks. The Knicks have too much depth in the small and power forward positions for Knox to really get any significant minutes without being outstanding and though he left college young in 2018 and is still young, no one is sure he will get the minutes he needs to develop. Atlanta is happy getting a number one pick for Reddish and shedding Hill’s contract. Hill is a one of those character guys. He takes pride in his defense which Knick head coach Tom Thibideau will love and has became a handcuff to Reddish as an adviser and whisperer. Reddish brings instant buckets, he can fill it and he has chemistry with his former college teammate RJ Barrett to change things and put some venom back in the Knick attack. The Knicks are playing .500 ball as we near the midway point in the season, hopefully, they can kick on and get back into the playoffs.
NFL Coaching Vacancies And Representation
I know its wild card weekend and I do like the extra playoff game but I will cover the results on Monday. Right now, lets discuss that the NFL now has 8 coaching vacancies. The list is as follows
Houston
Las Vegas
Jacksonville
Denver
Minnesota
Chicago
Miami
New York Giants
The Giants finally fired Joe Judge… Angry Ward’s Vikings finally got rid of Mike Zimmner so hopefully the can get a better coach and find a way to trade Kirk Cousins. Rich Bisaccia will likely have the interim tag removed from his name as the head coach of Las Vegas. There is plenty of time to speculate about all the other positions, but I want to talk about who won’t get hired from this group. That is the black coaches of course. The league is down to Mike Tomlin as the only black coach but I am sure they will try and blow past that and talk about diversity but it is shocking though not surprising. This league every off-season finds new ways to disrespect black coaches. They say you have to work your way up then they hire a college coach. They want young and fresh ideas so they hire a rethread. They want experience but then hire some wonder kid. I wonder if Jim Caldwell’s phone is gonna ring as an experienced coach. What about Eric Bienemy as the Offensive coordinator of the most dynamic offense in the league the for last 2-3 seasons. The say Bienemy doesn’t do his own play call but then he can do that with a good OC or have the OC call the plays. Jacksonville broke the bank to get Urban Meyer back but wouldn’t to try and get Tony Dungy out of retirement. That sounds crazy but teams have pursued the long time retired Bill Cowher. If you are looking for experience campaigners that may not get you a title but more polished approach, you got Marvin Lewis or even Mike Singletary. When will Leslie Frazier, the Bills defensive guy gate a call again or cause Black coaching rethreads happen at lower the rate, not to mention Super Bowl winning DC and former Jets coach Todd Bowled. The list goes on but the song says the same. The league avidly discriminates and then down plays it because it is easier to do that than resolve the real problem.
Thanks for reading, comment below and come back tomorrow for our Axe Man Hines, who will probably wish he had today’s piece so he could predict today’s games.