Sports Notes

A few sports notes before we head to Bloomington in a couple hours…

Colts

Welp, it’s official: the Colts are a disaster.

Tuesday they named Daniel Jones as the starter for the coming season. Which means Anthony Richardson must have been really, really bad in camp, because Jones is about as mid as you can get in an NFL quarterback. Even in 2022, when the Giants made a surprise run to the playoffs, his stats were remarkably pedestrian. He’s not a difference maker. All he does is eliminate the dumb plays that Richardson has routinely made in his two, injury plagued seasons.[1]

Honestly, I’m not sure why GM Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen haven’t already been fired. They are the ones who messed this whole process up. They are the ones who drafted Richardson, a player with immeasurable raw talent but who barely played in college and was the ultimate project coming into the NFL. They are the ones who have seemed lukewarm on Richardson since he arrived. They are the ones who brought in older quarterbacks to mentor Richardson, but neither was interested in actually mentoring him when they got to the Colts. They are the ones who have jerked Richardson around. I guess the firings will come in January, baring a miracle season.

If the Colts had a chance to be good I would understand this move. They are firmly locked into a 6–7–8–9 win range, though. Richardson might be a genuine bust. Given his pedigree coming in and injuries since being drafted, I do not understand why a mediocre team isn’t giving him another shot. Maybe he would just get hurt again, or continue to complete less than 50% of his passes and commit horrific turnovers. But maybe this is the year he stays healthy and figures it out. He’s a lottery ticket that the franchise has given up on.

I guess the Colts are more interested in a best case scenario of them lucking into nine wins and then losing in the first round of the playoffs.

Fever

Man, it is getting bleak for the Fever. Sophie Cunningham wrecked her knee Sunday, confirmed Tuesday to be an MCL tear that knocks her out for the rest of the year. That’s three season ending injuries in 10 days. And still no word on when Caitlin Clark will return.

Not sure what the team did to the Hoops Gods but they obviously pissed them off. Please say a prayer that they don’t mess with Kelsey Mitchell! She’s been balling out and if the Fever can somehow stay in the playoff hunt, deserves MVP votes.

US Open

Tuesday afternoon I accidentally came across the new US Open mixed doubles tournament. I knew it had been moved forward this year, but didn’t realize matches would be during the day, at least for the first two rounds.

In effort to make the tournament more interesting, and let’s be honest, sell more tickets and TV ads, the format was revamped this year. Rather than running during the traditional two weeks of the Open, it is instead a two-day mini tournament. Prize money was cranked up, the winners getting over five times what last year’s winners received. How teams qualified was adjusted so that some of the biggest names in men’s and women’s tennis were eligible to play.[2] And instead of a 32 team field, just 16 are included. Two rounds on day one, two rounds on day two and there will be a champion.

The actual game format was also adjusted. Sets are first to four games, tiebreakers at 4–4. If there’s a third set, it is a first-to-ten tiebreak.[3] Within a game, at 40–40, whoever wins that point wins the game, eliminating advantages. And service on these deuce points is made to the same gendered player as the server. In the matches I watched I couldn’t tell if there was a faster service clock or if the players were naturally playing quicker, but there was no futzing around between points. Grab the ball, bounce it, serve. One match ends, the next two teams roll onto the court. In some cases winning teams got a 10–15 minute break before their second match. Almost like winners keeping the court in pickup basketball.

It was entertaining, brisk, and fun. The players seemed relaxed and enjoying themselves. I think it helped that most of these duos were brand new partnerships, so it took on the feeling of a casual match at the club rather than a Grand Slam event. My only complaint was the matches, at least when I was watching, were only on ESPN, so there was a lot of split-screening and then missing of big points in one match when attention was on the other. This is fine in the early rounds of the singles tournament. But when you are already in the quarterfinals, throw the games on ESPN and ESPN2 so I can switch back and forth on my own.[4]

That is, naturally, the rub. Some of the best mixed doubles teams didn’t make the event because of the new eligibility rules and are missing out on the bigger prize pool. That casualness can come off as not worthy of one of the biggest trophies on the tennis calendar. There have been complaints from some doubles purists about the limited field and cheapening of the championship given the adjustments.

I understand that but I really enjoyed the hour or so I was able to watch. I will be tuning in tonight to see who wins. It was a nice, laid-back appetizer for the big tournament which kicks off Sunday.