Thoughts on some sports issues of the day…

THE NBA SEASON RESUMES:

Most of the specifics have been released through various media outlets. Walt Disney World Resort, 22 teams, no fans, eight regular-season games, then playoffs, the whole shebang beginning July 31 and ending as late as October 12.

What hasn’t been revealed, though, is the eight-game regular-season schedule that will determine whether or not the Trail Blazers make the playoffs.

Portland was 29-37 with 16 games remaining when play was suspended on March 16. The Blazers were percentage points ahead of New Orleans and Sacramento (both 28-36), all 3 1/2 games behind No. 8 Memphis (32-33) in the NBA’s Western Conference.

We know that the No. 8 and No. 9 teams will face each other in the postseason if the No. 9 team is within four games. That means the Blazers would have to at least not lose ground and stay ahead of the Pelicans, Kings, and Spurs (27-36) by the end of the regular season. If Portland were to finish ninth and within four games of the Grizzlies, the Blazers would then have to beat Memphis twice to advance to the 16-team playoffs.

The NBA says it wants to adhere largely to the schedule that remains for each of the 22 teams. But the eight teams that won’t advance will not play out the season, so that means any games having them as an opponent will be eliminated.

Memphis, remarkably, had only one remaining game against a bottom-eight club, so virtually every game will be a challenge. Portland had five of 16 games against bottom-dwellers, so the new schedule will be significantly more difficult than it would have been, and its advantage over the Grizzlies more slight.

Of its 18 remaining games, New Orleans had three against eliminated teams, but also eight against the likes of Sacramento, Washington, and San Antonio (twice apiece), Orlando and Phoenix. If the league should decide to include a majority of those games in what will be the schedule beginning July 31, the Pelicans might be in business — which is exactly what many suspicious pundits believe the powers-that-be desire, with rookie Zion Williamson on the scene.

Regardless of the schedule, though, I believe the Blazers will be the team with the greatest upside among the bottom feeders. A healthy motivated Damian Lillard will be joined by Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins. The potential for something meaningful and exciting is there.

MLB AT IMPASSE:

Major league players want a 114-game schedule and a regular season that would stretch into October. Last week, owners proposed an 82-game schedule, and now one report has them desiring to cut down to a 48-game slate.

It’s hard to feel sorry here for the owners, who in March agreed to pay the players on a pro-rated scale over 114 games, which only seems fair. Now the owners are saying even an 82-game season is unlikely. A 48-game schedule would result in players receiving about 30 percent of their full salaries. That’s a pretty severe cut.

To be fair, owners gave players $170 million in salary advances in the March deal along with a guaranteed that if the season is scrapped, each player gets 2020 service time matching what the player accrued in 2019. And without fans for at least a portion of the season, the owners will incur financial losses that won’t be pretty.

But the game truly suffers if an entire season is lost. Neither the owners or players can let that happen.

Meet somewhere in the middle — 81 games would make sense — and let’s play ball.

NON-REVENUE COACHES EXPRESS CONCERN OVER ATHLETE COMPENSATION:

Pay-for-play has become a popular theme in recent years. It’s a great idea until you consider the ramifications.

Now more than a dozen national associations in “Olympic” sports — golf, tennis, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, and the likes — have signed a memo outlining their concerns about the effects of allowing student-athletes to profit from the use of their names, images, and likenesses (NILs).

The concerns include reduced resources for lower-profile programs, another avenue for boosters to cheat by helping to buy talent, increased influence by agents, and whether schools can effectively monitor for compliance.

The NCAA has already moved ahead with a plan for athletes to profit from NIL deals through third parties.

“Legislation like this, if it goes wrong, could be incredibly catastrophic to Olympic sports,” Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, told the AP.

Nobody argues that it would be nice to allow student-athletes a bigger slice of the NCAA revenue pie. As I’ve written before, obscene salaries to coaches of the major sports are a large part of the problem. Last season, for instance, Alabama’s salary pool for the football coaching staff was more than $16 million — $8.86 million for head coach Nick Saban and a collective $7.5 million for his assistants. University of Alabama System chancellor Finis St. John IV — how’s that for a name? — made $730,000 with an annual performance incentive of $105,000.

I’d love to see head coaching salaries cut in half, with the remainder going to other areas of need within an athletic department. Like that will ever happen.

Major-college athletes on full scholarship are taken care of pretty well. The tuition and fees at Oregon is estimated at nearly $38,000 a year for an out-of-state student, with the cost of attendance estimated at $52,000. A non-resident who spends five seasons playing football can get $260,000 of education paid for — and a degree if he works at it at all.

Then there is the cost-of-attendance stipend that was instituted in 2015 at the Power Five schools to help the student-athlete with incidentals. That averages between $2,000 and $4,000 per athlete. Not a lot of money, but a nice perk that helps.

If the NIL deal were there primarily to help the non-revenue sport athletes — the baseball players, track and field athletes, gymnasts — I’d be all for it. But the beneficiaries are more likely to be football and basketball players who are already profiting the most. And cheating from the schools that have the most to give could be even more rampant.

Just another headache to watch for in college athletics.

OREGON STATE LAYOFFS:

OSU athletic director Scott Barnes announced this week several budget-saving measures, including reduction of 23 positions, primarily through layoffs.

None of the names have been released, so I’m not going to blow their cover. I’ve heard a partial list, and I’m deeply disappointed for some professionals who have given their all to make the Oregon State athletic department a better place.

This wouldn’t have happened without the coronavirus pandemic. I’m not blaming Barnes. He had very difficult decisions to make. I’m sure it’s the worst part of a job that is becoming increasingly stressful as the years go on. It’s just a shame to see some very good people go out this way.

I’d love to hear your opinions on any of these subjects. Thanks for reading!

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