Good morning, all and Merry Christmas Eve!

Are the New York Yankees on the market? They certainly are acting like a franchise paring payroll to make for an attractive sale. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts as I put out the cookies and hot chocolate for Santa:

* Always good to see people from my neck of the woods do well. The University of Hartford’s Brian Mik fed me the info early Tuesday morning that Hartford alum Sean Newcomb has signed with the Chicago White Sox. Good for Newcomb, who has pitched for several organizations but still has something left in the tank. When he was with the Red Sox organization, Newcomb pitched a game for their AA affiliate Portland against the Hartford Yard Goats. Jeff Dooley, “Voice of the Yard Goats,” and I caught up with Newcomb, during his visit and he could not have been more generous with his time. Here is hoping Newcomb helps the White Sox in their rejuvenation.

* Speaking of good people, the Cliburn twins, who just turned 69, are together again, this time teaming up in independent league baseball with the Chicago Dogs. The Dogs announced on Monday that Stan Cliburn would be the club’s new manager, uniting with his brother Stu, who is the team’s pitching coach. The Cliburns, who both played major league baseball, were once together as manager and pitching coach with the New Britian Rock Cats, when that franchise was the AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. You could not meet two better people. I am fully convinced. Chicago will be their kind of town.

* By the way, good for the Pirates to step up and give their fans some hope and pitcher supreme Paul Skenes some support. The Buccos have been active this off season with player moves and their latest was signing all-star free agent 1B/OF Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29M deal. Last week the Pirates traded for All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe.

* J.J. McCarthy will not be starting for the Vikings against the Lions on Christmas Day. He has a small hairline fracture in his right throwing hand, sustained in Sunday’s win over the Giants.

* Citing family reasons, professional golfer Brooks Koepka is parting ways with LIV golf. Both sides say his departure is amicable.

* Came across this picture of Game 1 of the 1961 World Series between the Yankees and Reds. Note the sign in the lower-right portion of the iconic outfield scoreboard:

* Now, some of this ballparks are planning on installing books. Not only can you bet on games and prop bets, involving games, soon you will be able to place those wagers at the ballpark.

* Incidentally, if you check that Yankees lineup from that historic 1961 season, you will note that part of the remarkable story that year with Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, was not in the lineup. Mantle missed most of the World Series with an abscess in his leg. The abscess was supposedly the result of a concoction of fluids assembled by quack doctor Max Jacobson, the same doctor who treated President John F. Kennedy with a similar concoction for JFK’s chronic back pain. Mantle was feeling ill near the end of the season, and the “Voice of the Yankees,” Mel Allen, recommended he go see Jacobson. The injection made Mantle worse, and the story goes Yankees co-owner Dan Topping never forgave Allen for referring Mantle to Jacobson and was one of the reasons Topping fired Allen, after the 1964 season.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for subscribing and enjoy your Christmas Eve.

DAN

Good morning, all! It’s the Friday!!!

Odds are in on the next coach of the New York Giants and you can place a wager too. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts as the sports world mourns:

* Tragedy in North Carolina, as NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, 55, and his family were among seven people who died in a plane crash at a suburban Charlotte, NC airport. Pray for all those who were impacted by this accident. At times like these and what transpired over the weekend, we are reminded of how fragile life is.

* Maybe the Bears build their dream stadium in northwest Indiana, maybe not. Meanwhile, The Athletic is reporting we could know as soon as Monday whether the Kansas City Chiefs are leaving Missouri and building a new domed stadium in Kansas. The Kansas Department of Commerce admitted on Thursday it is in “active discussions” with the Chiefs about such a stadium. A Kansas City sports station also reported the Chiefs move across state lines is imminent. The Chiefs lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires in January of 2031. My hunch? The Chiefs leave for Kansas!

* Get ready for a football weekend. The action starts tonight with the start of the College Football Playoffs. Oklahoma hosts Alabama at 8 EST on ABC and ESPN. The Sooners are 1.5-point favorites. The winner gets to play number one seed Indiana.

* There are Saturday NFL games with the big one in primetime, as the Indiana Bears host the Green Bay Packers. You have the usual compliment of Sunday NFL action and Monday Night Football to wrap up the weekend.

* For as strong as the MLBPA is, we are reminded of the disjointed NFLPA. There have been issues with the leadership of the association and now this: NFLPA lawyer Heather McPhee, the union’s associate counsel, has filed a federal lawsuit against the former executive director of the union and two current executives. She is alleging that the three conspired to prevent her from cooperating with a criminal investigation into the union’s finances. This is a story that will not go away, no matter how much the NFLPA tries to sweep it under the rug. This thing could get ugly. Stay tuned.

* The Chicago Cubs announced Thursday they had signed Tyler Austin to a contract. Austin, 34, had been playing baseball in Japan. He has not played in the majors, since 2019 with Milwaukee. Playing for the New York Yankees, Austin homered in his first MLB at bat on Aug. 13, 2016. His home run came with two outs in the last of the second inning against Tampa Bay. The next batter, Aaron Judge, homered in his first MLB at bat. Both home runs came off of Matt Andriese. Austin has 33 career homers in MLB. Judge, who turns 34 on April. 26, has 368.

* Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Penguins and Liverpool FC, is selling the NHL’s Penguins to a family-run Chicago-based investment firm. No sale price has been announced, but Forbes has valued the Penguins at $1.75B. Now the Sox will have enough money to sign free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.

* I thought this would be a busy week on the MLB free agent front, but I was wrong. There are still many big names on the board, including Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, Ryan O’Hearn, Bo Bichette, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and J.T. Realmuto.

* In case you’re wondering, each Los Angeles Dodger earned $485K for winning the World Series. Back in the day, when the perennial champion New York Yankees would acquire a new player, a veteran would approach that player and tell him, “Don’t mess with our money.” In other words, play hard to help the Yankees win another World Series. The players winning share back then might be $5,000. That’s when most players were making $25,000 per year.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a fantastic Friday!

DAN

Good morning, all and welcome to Thursday!

I am releasing my Picks for Kicks segment early this week, because of tonight’s big game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. I break it all down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts, as I contemplate the upcoming CFP:

* Is the NFL ready for the Indiana Bears? Stalled in their efforts to build a new stadium, the Chicago Bears just might look to northwest Indiana to construct their Taj Mahal. The Bears do not want to stay at Solder Field and apparently efforts to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights have also stalled. Bears president Kevin Warren sent a letter to season ticket holders, explaining the lack of cooperation the franchise is getting from state leaders and that building over the state line might be the alternative. Why not? Don’t the New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey?

* What in the name of Casey Stengel are the New York Mets up to? They snagged another former New York Yankee on Wednesday, inking free agent reliever Luke Weaver. Supposedly the Yankees never made Weaver an offer.

* Brian Mik, who I wrote about last week for correctly predicting Pete Alonso would go to the Orioles, makes a great point. The Yankees were forced to trade for three relievers at the trade deadline last year, because (Devin) Williams and Weaver were not doing the job. Now both are Mets. In his words: “So the NY Mets spent $73M on the back end of the NY Yankees bullpen that GM Brian Cashman had to trade for three relievers for at the end of the trade deadline this past season.” Well put.

* The New York Knicks, playing in the mecca of basketball, have not won a world title since the 1972-73 season. So you can forgive them for not hanging the banner they just won for capturing the NBA Cup. Commissioner Adam Silver might not like this, but the NBA Cup is a contrived in-season tournament manufactured to create interest in a much-too-long regular season. Good for the Knicks to keep their eye on the real ball: the league championship. Something tells me, though, we have not heard the end of this and the commissioner will force them to place the banner along side their two World Championship flags.

* Speaking of the NBA, the commissioner says it is now time to start thinking about adding two more teams. The league will start discussions on expansion early in the new year.

* The Heisman Trophy award ceremony was a television hit on Saturday. 4.3M viewers tuned in to ABC to watch QB Fernando Mendoza of Indiana win the award. That is the highest rated Heisman rating since 2012.

* I frequently write about sports switching from legacy television to streaming. How about this one? Starting in 2029, the Academy Awards are moving from broadcast TV to You Tube. YT will have exclusive rights to the event. The times continue to change.

* Speaking of which, it would not surprise me to hear that before the year is out, more daily newspapers will drop their print editions to go strictly digital or at the very least reduce the number of days per week they publish a hardcopy edition. Many newspapers have done so already. Expect others to follow suit.

* I’m thinking QB Tua Tagovailoa’s days as a Miami Dolphin are numbered now that coach Mike McDaniel announced he is benching him for the season’s remaining three games in favor of seventh-round draft pick Quinn Ewers. Then again, you wonder if it will be Tagovailoa or McDaniel who is shown the door first.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific day.

DAN

Good morning, all! I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

We are at Week 15 of the NFL season and my weekly Picks For Kicks highlights the above video. Perhaps the biggest game on the docket will be the Buffalo Bills at the New England Patriots, and weather will be a factor. In the video, meteorologist Brad Field, with whom I co-host a weather podcast, gives his prediction on the weather for the game.

Here are some other thoughts on a big Saturday in sports:

* Army is at Navy today. Air time is at 3 p.m. EST from M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. CBS has the coverage. Navy is a 6.5-point favorite

* The No. 1 ranked and defending national champion UConn Huskies are at No. 16 Southern California in what should be a fun women’s college basketball game this afternoon. Air time is at 5:30 p.m. EST on Fox.

* The story coming out of Michigan, involving ex-football coach Sherrone Moore, is sad in so many ways. However, I am reading more and more that Warde Manuel’s seat is getting hot by the moment. For now, Manuel’s job is safe. Manuel, who played football at Michigan, is the athletic director. He also was AD at Buffalo and UConn.

* By the way, Moore was charged with stalking and home invasion on Friday, after spending two nights in jail.

* Money continues to flow into collegiate sports. Word is the Big 12 is about to get an influx of a half billion dollars from Collegiate Athletic Solutions. This is a fund backed by RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital. The times, they are a changin’.

* The drumbeat grows louder that the Detroit Tigers will trade two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. I say the Mets will be a major player in trying to acquire the talented southpaw.

* More and more the conversation grows that the steroids-era players, i.e. Bonds, Clemens, McGuire, Sosa, Rodriguez, etc. should come clean as a first step toward contrition and entry into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I will have a commentary on this next week.

That is going to do it for this morning’s newsletter. Enjoy your Saturday and thank you for being a subscriber!

DAN

Good morning, all! I hope your Thursday is off to a great start!

It was not a good baseball winter meeting for the New York Mets, who lost both free agents Edwin Diaz and Pete Alonso. Now what do they do? I break it down in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts as I ponder grabbing a first basemen’s mitt and trying out for the Mets. Hey, Phillip Rivers is making a comeback!

* Kudos to Brian Mik, the Senior Associate Athletic Director of the University of Hartford. Mik is as baseball savvy a person as I know, and as I walked out of the Chase Family Arena on the campus of the University of Hartford Tuesday night, Mik turned to my broadcast partner Jeff Dooley and me and said: “Alonso is going to the Orioles tomorrow!” He was right.

* And while I am at it, let me put in a plug for the University of Hartford’s athletic programs. The school had to adjust to Division 3 and they have done it in a superb way, led by new university president Lawrence P. Ward, new Director of Athletics and Recreation Alicia Queally, Mik and their staff.

Jeff and I broadcast the Hartford men’s and women’s basketball home games and if you have never been to a game and are a basketball fan, you are in for quite a treat, when you attend. I am so impressed with Division 3 basketball. These are tremendous athletes, playing a quick-paced style of hoops.

The university is easy to get to, the arena is first class, the games are affordable and the entertainment is first rate. Trust me. If you attend a University of Hartford basketball game, you will enjoy the experience. This is college sports the way it was meant to be. And starting in January, the men and women play doubleheaders. It is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon or weeknight evening. Two games and you are in and out in under four hours.

Here are the links to the men and women basketball schedules. And when you come to the games, drop by and say hello to Jeff and me.

* Shocker in Ann Arbor as former UConn athletic director Warde Manuel, now the AD at Michigan, announced that football coach Sherrone Moore was fired for cause. Michigan would only say that he was dismissed for an “inappropriate relationship with a staffer,” which violates school policy. Expect some big names to chase one of the most prestigious positions in college football coaching. Already names such as Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman are being bantied about.

* By the way, just because the baseball winter meetings did not produce mega player movements, other than Edwin Diaz, Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, does not mean there will not be any activity soon. Sometimes the groundwork is laid at these gatherings, with big signings announced within days. You could see some activity between now and Christmas.

* Each NFL owner is kicking in a million dollars, totaling $32M in all, to start a National Flag Football League. The idea is to be prepared for flag football, when it becomes a sport in the 2028 Olympics. I used to love to play flag football and I think I still have the bruises to prove it.

* Things have gone south so quickly for the Colts, word is 44-year-old Phillip Rivers may even start at QB at Seattle on Sunday. Rivers is already being nicknamed “Grandpa,” as he has one grandchild. The Seahawks are 13.5-point favorites.

* Tonight’s NFL contest has the slumping Bucs as 4.5-point favorites against the disappointing Falcons.

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific day!

DAN

Thank you to everyone who tuned into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.

Pete Alonso is no longer a New York Met, signing a 5-year, $155M deal with the Baltimore Orioles. I wrote in the Dec. 2 newsletter how Alonso and the O’s would be a good fit. And in this video, I detail the signing.

Good morning, all and happy Tuesday!

Either you love Notre Dame or hate Notre Dame. Apparently there is no in between, following the eruption of controversy, when the Fighting Irish were left out of the CFP. However, if you take a dispassionate look at why this 10-2 team was not part of the field, you come to the realization the college football landscape is seriously broken. For that matter, high level collegiate sports is broken. I break it all down in the commentary above.

Here are some other thoughts as I wait for the first big move to drop at the baseball winter meetings:

* Supposedly the Mets still want their all-time home run hitter, Pete Alonso to return. The Red Sox and Orioles are also expected to sit down with the free agent first baseman, who drove to the meetings in Orlando to meet with these clubs.

* Hold that popcorn purchase. Netflix, the supposed winner of the bidding war for WBD, which includes all of its sports properties, is being challenged by Paramount, which claims it made a better offer to purchase the financially beleaguered media company. Now Paramount is preparing a hostile takeover, claiming it is offering WBD shareholders more money. Netflex president Ted Sarandos says the company expected this move by Paramount, but that Netflix intends to win the takeover. Watching this battle is more fun than watching the Jets play.

* Sportico is claiming Paramount’s bid for the WBD is being backed by Saudi, Qatari and UAE money.

* More NFL viewing records continue to be set. Last Thursday night’s Detroit Lions-Dallas Cowboys game on Prime attracted 19.4M viewers. That is a record for TNF, amazing, when you consider the game was streamed and not on linear TV.

* Here are your four Heisman Trophy finalists: Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, Ohio St. QB Julian Sayin, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia and Notre Dame RB Jeremiya Love.

* Turns out Colts QB Daniel Jones did tear his right Achilles. His season is over, as he prepares to undergo surgery.

* ESPN is reporting the Colts will work out retired QB Phillip Rivers in an effort to save their season

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific day.

DAN

Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start!

The week did not start well for the Notre Dame football team. The Fighting Irish were left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff by the selection committee on Sunday, despite a 10-2 record. So upset was Notre Dame, the school announced it will snub all bowl game invites. I explain it all in the above video.

Here are some other thoughts, as I feel for Don Mattingly not making the Hall of Fame:

* Jeff Kent, who played for six MLB clubs and hit more home runs than any second baseman in history, has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Kent was named on 14 of 16 ballots. Twelve votes were needed to gain enshrinement.

* Kent was very gracious in his comments, during his interview on MLB-TV, crediting manager Dusty Baker for turning around his career, when he played for the Giants.

* I’ll be honest, I thought Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy would get in, but they were only named on six ballots. Carlos Delgado came in second with nine votes. Steroids-era players Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Gary Sheffield each received less than five votes, as did Fernando Valenzuela.

* Some players just cannot catch a break. QB Daniel Jones, run out of New York by the Giants and their fans, seemingly turned his career around this season, leading the Indianapolis Colts to an 8-4 start. However, Jones injured his Achilles in the Colts loss to Jacksonville on Sunday and it is feared he is done for the season.

* Also a tough day for Washington QB Jayden Daniels. Out since Week 9 with a dislocated left elbow, Daniels injured the same elbow, when he fell on it in the third quarter. The Commanders were shutout by the Vikings, 31-0.

* UConn introduces its new football coach today. Jason Candle, who had considerable success at the University of Toledo, gets a six-year deal.

* By the way, UConn will play in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl for the second straight season, going up against Army on Dec. 27 at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN.

* Speaking of the Hall of Fame and UConn, the Huskies honored Hall of Famer Sue Bird on Sunday, retiring her uniform number 10.

* I am hearing and reading how we view sports within the next few years will be totally different than how we watch events today. The technology is making such tremendous strides, for example, we will be taken right inside a quarterback’s helmet and have the same view he does, when scrambling, dropping back for a pass, getting sacked, etc. Our world is changing.

* The rumors are in full swing at the baseball winter meetings. Love the headlines. This team is interested in a certain player, etc. My favorite is “The Mets are interested in Tarik Skubal.” Who isn’t interested in Tarik Skubal?

That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a marvelous Monday!

DAN