This is an Odd Balls extra. Doesn’t cost anything. You’re welcome.
Sports headlines we won’t see this week:
Caitlin Clark Shuts Down Critics of Women’s Sports
No matter what happens in the women’s Final Four, Iowa superstar long-range shooter, passing savant Caitlin Clark is sure to accomplish two things. First, she will be the focus of attention on the court, and second, she will never succeed in shutting up critics of women’s sports. The naysayers (mostly men who seem threatened by anything they don’t understand) will always smirk at women’s hoops. As a father of two girls who played sports, I can’t understand why there are so many critics who try to take down women’s athletics. Just let the women do their thing, Poindexter. If you don’t like it, change the channel.Ohtani Betting Scandal Would Never Have Happened If Sportsbooks Were Legal in California
The MLB investigation into Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter/BFF has created a foggy blanket over the Dodgers and the sport early this season. I suspect Ohtani is being honest in his denials, and will be mostly exonerated. Maybe a fine is coming. The holier-than-thou preaching against sports betting that has emerged around this story ignores a big issue: regulation works. Allegedly, Ohtani’s former interpreter used an illegal sportsbook to place wagers. If California had regulated sports betting, that likely would have never occurred. The “see I told you so” folks are hypocrites. We regulate alcohol, drugs, and other “vices” in our society, all for the better. Prohibition isn’t the answer. Legal, regulated sports betting would have never permitted a hander-on like Ohtani’s pal to place so many bets and owe so much money. The best way to prevent gambling scandals in sports is to regulate the activity and use enforcement to punish any transgressors.NFL Mock Draft Is Really Interesting
From March 15 to April 3, ESPN ran 16 articles with NFL Mock Drafts. Can we start calling these stories what they really are? Nonsense. As in poppycock, balderdash. These stories are designed to serve ESPN’s NFL overlords. Don’t even get me started on how inaccurate they are. Is Chicago already sick of hearing about Caleb Williams?MLB Team Fields Best Talent
Heralded Baltimore Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday hit the baseball like the love child of Albert Pujols and Ted Williams all spring. He smacked the ball like it stole something. He hit a baseball so hard it landed on a beach in Cuba. Well, it seemed that way. So, what did the O’s do? They shipped him to Norfolk. Yes, the one in Virginia. THIS JUST IN: they don’t play major league baseball in Norfolk. You know what they do in Norfolk? They go down to the shipyards and listen to the Navy build a battleship. For some reason, Baltimore feel the 22 year old Holliday is not ready to face MLB pitching. He has a 700+ slugging percentage and 8 RBI in his first 6 games with Norfolk at Triple-A. Also this week, the Detroit Tigers called up Matt Manning from Triple-A, and he almost threw a no-hitter. Manning, the Tigers determined, was not quite good enough to pitch in their rotation this year. He was sent back down to the minors following his no-hit outing. Nightmare meet reality: your favorite MLB team is not concerned with fielding the most talented team. The analysts and accountants are making these decisions with an eye on free agency status. It’s a bad trend in a sport that desperately needs young stars.
The End.