IS TONY ROMO A PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAMER?
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo retired from pro football Tuesday to become an NFL analyst with CBS.
Is Romo a future Pro Football Hall of Famer? Maybe.
Romo was a very good regular-season QB (78-49 as a starter) who spent his entire career with America’s Team. It is impossible to be ambivalent about the Cowpokes. Love them or hate them. He had exceptional charisma and was easy to root for as an undrafted free agent who defied the odds.
Romo had some other impressive stats, including a 248/117 TD pass-to-interception ratio, a .653 completion percentage and a 97.1 passer rating. From 2006 through 2013, he had the NFL’s best QB rating in the fourth quarter.
The biggest knock on Romo is his 2-4 record as a post-season starter. He had better overall stats than Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman – the team’s two Hall of Fame quarterbacks – but that is a fair indication that they played in eras with less-optimum passing conditions.
If I were a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter, I would seriously consider Romo, but only after Jim Plunkett and/or Donovan McNabb were elected.
Plunkett, a Heisman Trophy winner out of Stanford and a No. 1 overall NFL draft pick, was a mediocre pro QB with some ugly stats, but he won two Super Bowls with the Raiders. That should count – a lot.
McNabb’s passing stats (37,276 yards passing; 234 TD passes, 117 INTs) were similar to Romo’s (34,183 s one of the best-ever running QBs (3,459 yards rushing, 5.6 yards per carry, 29 rushing TDs).
I believe Romo was slightly overrated and McNabb was slightly underrated.
WILL THE IL PLAYOFF FORMAT HURT THE RED WINGS AGAIN THIS SEASON?
The 2016 Rochester Red Wings got burned by the International League’s unfair format to qualify for the four-team Governors’ Cup playoffs and it could happen again this season.
The winner of each of the IL’s three divisions plus the team with the next-best record qualify for the playoffs.
The format is unfair to begin with because the North Division has six teams. The West and South each has four teams. Obviously, the fewer teams + the easier to win the division.
Last season was grossly unfair. The North was loaded. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (91-52) and Lehigh Valley (85-58) had the two best records in the 14-team league. Fellow IL North team Rochester had the fourth-best record (81-63). Columbus won the West with an 82-82 record. No problem.
But the fourth playoff team was a joke. Gwinnett won the South with a 65-78 record to “earn” a playoff berth. The Braves were 15 ½ games worse than Rochester – and The Red Wings played in the best division in an unbalanced schedule.
My suggestion: The teams with the three-best records plus the division winner with the next-best record make the playoffs. Sure, one division champion might be left out of the playoffs, but so what?” Did Gwinnett deserve to advance to the playoffs instead of the Red Wings last season?
Rochester has won the Governors’ Cup an IL-most 10 times. The Red Wings also lost in the Finals 11 times.
If the playoffs meant more to them, I suppose the front offices of the teams in the North would complain more and request a fairer format.
Last season has been described as a “fluke.”
I’m not buying that.
The North Division was loaded last season. The top four teams were a combined 331-241 (+90 runs).
The Red Wings will begin this season with another strong roster. But Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Lehigh Valley are expected to be strong again, too.
IS WINNING THE NHL PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY A BIG DEAL?
Since the Presidents’ Trophy began in the 1985-86 season, the hardware goes to the team with the most points in the regular season.
Then Washington Capitals won the Trophy last season band are closing in on a repeat.
It never is a bad thing to finish on top in any league. The Presidents’ Cup winner gets $350,000 to split between the team and its players, home-ice advantage for as long as it survives in the playoffs and the satisfaction of being the best team over the course of the entire regular season.
But it doesn’t mean a thing when the puck drops to start the playoffs.
The Presidents’ Trophy has been awarded 28 times to 15 different teams. Only 8 of those Trophy winners went on to win the Stanley Cup and 3 others lost in the Finals.
Washington lost in the second round last season to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Capitals also won the Presidents’ Trophy in the 2009-10 season and lost in the first round.
The Buffalo Sabres won the Presidents’ Trophy once – the 2006-07 season – and lost to Ottawa in the conference finals.
ANOTHER REASON I BELIEVE ESPN RECOGNIZING WWE AS A SPORT IS A JOKE
Tuesday on the Mike & Mike show on ESPN, viewers were asked to select the “most significant retirement – Tony Romo of The Undertaker?”
The Undertaker, real name Mark William Calaway, age 52, lost to Roman Reigns Sunday night in Wrestlemania 33. After the match, he left his coat, gloves and hat in the center of the ring.
Calaway’s main claim to pro grapplin’ fame was winning 21 straight Wrestlemania matches (from 1991 through 2013).
The Undertaker “defeated” Romo in a landslide in Tuesday’s poll. No shock. Pro wrestling continues to be extremely popular and grapplin’ fans are extremely loyal. Almost every pro wrestler is athletic. And I know the E in ESPN stands for “entertainment”, but no event is a true “sport” when scriptwriters determine the outcome. Right?
RED WINGS IS A PERFECTLY FINE NAME FOR OUR BASEBALL TEAM, THANK YOU
Some minor-league baseball teams use catchy names to gain attention and boost merchandise sales. Some of the names are clever. Others seem silly.
We’re fortunate that Rochester Community Baseball Inc., has $5 million-plus in the bank and doesn’t need to resort to a gimmicky team name to pad the coffers. Rochester has had the Red Wings since 1928 and that name figures to last for a long time (though Pioneers wouldn’t be terrible as long as the team called Frontier Field home).
Here are some of the unique names for minor-league teams this season: Akron RubberDucks…Albuquerque Isotopes…Bakersfield Train Robbers…Batavia Muckdogs…Binghamton Rumble Ponies…Bowling Green Hot Rods…Charlotte Stone Crabs…Columbia Fire Flies…Daytona Tortugas…Down East Wood Ducks…El Paso Chihuahuas…Florida Fire Frogs…Great Lakes Loons…Greensboro Grasshoppers…Hartford Yard Goats…Hickory Crawdads…Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp…
and the Kannapolis Intimidators…Kansas City T-Bones…Lansing Lugnuts…Lehigh Valley IronPigs…New Orleans Baby Cakes…Omaha Storm Chasers…Orem Owlz…Richmond Flying Squirrels…Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders…Sioux City Canaries…Texas AirHogs…Traverse City Beach Bums…Wichita Wingnuts…Williamsport Crosscutters.
DETROIT RED WINGS ARE THE NHL’S SHOOTOUT KINGS
The Detroit Red Wings will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 1989-90 season.
That makes it all the more remarkable that Detroit is this NHL season’s best team in shootouts.
The Red Wings beat Ottawa 5-4 in a shootout Monday night. Evegni Svechnikov scored the only goal of the shootout in the seventh round. Naturally, it was his NHL debut.
Detroit is 9-0 in shootouts this seasons. The Red Wing are 15-for-37 (40.5 percent) in shootout shots and opponents are 6-for-39 (15.4 percent).
DEFENDING MASTERS CHAMPION WILLETT IS 125-TO-1 LONG SHOT TO REPEAT
England’s Danny Willett shocked the golf world by winning The Masters in 2016.
He hasn’t won since – on the PGA Tour or the European Tour – and is 125-to-1 to win this week at Augusta National (odds courtesy of Sportsbook.ag).
Here is how Williett has fared since winning The Masters last year:
PGA Tour –Missed cut in THE PLAYERS Championship, t37th in U.S. Open, t53rd The Open Championship, t79th PGA Championship, 75th WGC-HSBC Champions, missed cut in The Honda Classic, 69th WGC-Mexico Championship, t39th WGC-Dell Match Play.
In 31 career starts on the PGA Tour, Willett has one win (The Masters in 2016) and 3 thirds…five Top-10 finishes and 9 Top-25 finishes…23 cuts made…missed 8 cuts. His PGA Tour career earnings are $2,713,938 (of which $1,938,132 were for winning The Masters in 2016).
European Tour -- t23rd, 3rd, t37th, t72nd, t80th, t53rd, t79th, t37th, t12th, 2nd (2016 Italian Open), t143rd. 75th, t68th, t11th, t50th, t39th, 69th, t5th, t54th, t121st, 6th.
The favorites to win the 2017 Masters: Dustin Johnson 5-to-1…Jordan Spieth 13-to-2, Rory McIlroy 8-to-1, Jason Day 31-to-2…Phil Mickelson 17-to-1.
SHORT SHOTS
Patrick Ewing was a great choice for head basketball coach at Georgetown. He definitely has paid his dues to prepare for this job at his alma mater and is one guy Hoyas legend John Thompson Jr. can’t complain about replacing his fired son John Thompson III.
Latest Bovada odds on the top matches for the much-anticipated UFC 210 Saturday night at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center: Anthony Johnson (-115) vs. Daniel Cormier (-115)…Gegard Mousasi (-130) vs. Chris Weidman (+100)…Cynthia Calvillo (-260) vs. Pearl Gonzales (+200)…Patrick Cote (-170) vs. Thiago Alves (+140).
With the number of college underclassmen entering the 2017 NBA draft increasing, Syracuse sophomore Tyler Lydon has dropped out of ESPN analyst Chad Ford’s NBA Mock Draft 4.0. That doesn’t mean he won’t be very wealthy quite soon.
Four more NBA teams will add affiliates in the D-League next season – Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee and New Orleans. That will make 26 of the 30 NBA teams with D-League affiliates. Will Rochester ever have a D-League team? My outlook is very doubtful.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO…
Wednesday, April 5 – Justin Holiday (28)…Charlotte Flair (31)…Cris Carpenter (52)…Rennie Stennett (66). Colin Powell (80) is invited to the birthday party.
Thursday, April 6 – Julie Johnston (25)…Clarke MacArthur (32)…Olaf Kolzig (47)…Bret Boone (478)…Bill Brooks (53)…Janet Lynn (64)…Bert Blyleven (66). Billy Dee Williams (80) is invited to the birthday party.