Russell Varner

@whyalwaysrv.bsky.social

652 Followers 616 Following

I used to know sports stats for a living. Now I know them for no good reason. 2x Elon University alum. Dad. Charlotte (and Dodgers) sports fan. Ex-Opta stat guy. Animal lover. Overall nerd.

Allan Saint-Maximin saying “(at) Charlotte, you have everything to achieve because everything is new. I really want to be part of the legacy of the club.”
Map of the various MLS and USL teams and their locations in the United States
In the short term, as a Dodgers fan, the Kyle Tucker signing is obviously great. No team flexes its financial and overall muscle better than the Dodgers, and have now proven themselves as the premier destination in the sport. This is for all the years the crap the team was given; for having not one, but two World Series lost to teams found guilty of stealing signs illegally and, when caught, the commissioner of baseball basically did nothing and called the World Series trophy a “piece of metal”. I’m not going to apologize for the behemoth the team has become. Also, it may be worth reminding people just how close the Dodgers came to losing in the World Series last season. Would the team still be ruining baseball if Toronto won? I’ll always be curious what that narrative would’ve looked it. Additionally, spending money does not always guarantee success, particularly in baseball. That all said, spending money DEFINITELY helps, and now I worry about the long-term repercussions to the league from this. If there wasn’t going to be a lockout before, there ABSOLUTELY is going to be one now. The baseball fan in me will not deny for a second that the Dodgers have broken baseball and change is needed - change that the players’ union would never agree to. This lockout is going to historic - for better or worse. And it will come at a terrible time for the game, as baseball has the most momentum it’s had in…years? Decades? I think it goes without saying that an extended lockout would kill most, if not all, of that. For all the talk of a salary cap, I hope people do not think it will be an automatic fix for everything. My fear is as a salary cap, which just means that owners would pay the best players less while the cheap owners who sit on their wallets and just rake in the profits continue to do so and cry poor. I truly believe that salary floor is as important, if not more so, than a salary cap. A limit or elimination of deferrals on contracts might not be the worst idea eith…
Tweet one: On NFL Network, NFL officiating spokesman Walt Anderson admitted that the controversial OPI call in Panthers-Bucs may have been incorrect. Tweet two: Walt Anderson did not address the erroneous administration after the mistake made by the officials regarding the backward pass. The Panthers should have been permitted to re-do the play. They weren't.