“Who’s on First?”
Many of you might be familiar with the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The popular duo was popular in movies and television in the late 1940’s and 1950’s. They originated a comedy skit that became so renowned it’s now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. The brief explanation straight man Bud Abbott is attempting to explain a teams’ lineup to partner Lou Costello. Player names are the basis of the routine, one player is named “who”, another “what” and a third “I don’t know.” Of course with those types of names Costello couldn’t figure out who was playing what position.  Copy and paste the link below and enjoy, some might believe it’s aged by today‘s comedy routines.  Costello couldn’t figure out “Who’s on First” and we can’t figure out “Who’s in Charge" of the Clippers.   

Initially Shirley Sterling issues a press release claiming “she’d reached an agreement to sale the Clippers to Steve Ballmer.” Later Ballmer issues a release confirming the sale. Much later Donald Sterling’s attorneys claim no such agreement has been reached. Rather than “who’s on first” the line might be changed to “who’s in charge“?  As this account was being completed comes word Donald Sterling has been declared “mentally incompetent to dispute the sale.” I believe all of us could question at what point was it determined Sterling wasn’t competent. To continue this soap opera Friday afternoon it was reported Donald Sterling would sue the NBA for are you ready for this----- $1 billion dollars. The drama is not complete there is still far more story forthcoming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=airT-m9LcoY

Andrew Wiggins
It’s my belief most sports arguments are never fully resolved. They are not resolved due to the parties seeing an issue or issues from two (or three) perspectives. I’ll give you an example of a recent discussion. One of the barbers (who claims he is a Kansas fan) said; “Andrew Wiggins played to not get hurt.” He went on to state; “Wiggins was looking out for his NBA future.” I didn’t argue with him over his observation however I didn’t agree. The issue with this type of disagreement neither of us could provide the other any proof of who is correct. Oh well, glass half empty half full.

A televised event
If you are a certain age this next statement might not surprise you. CBS Sports was telecasting college basketball long before ESPN ever came into existence. Because CBS was a broadcast network the number of games was always limited. I believe the growth of ESPN can be directly attributed to the fact it was a cable network, ESPN had no network broadcast responsibilities. CBS launched its own cable sports network increasing their telecast footprint substantially. The network announced the CBS Sports Classic will debut this winter; inaugural teams are Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.

In other television news
Jeff Van Gundy’s name has been mentioned once again as a potential NBA head coach. I seriously doubt if he takes any coaching job, why do I come to this conclusion? Van Gundy has been an analyst for ESPN since 2007. It is far easier (and less pressure) for him to provide commentary rather than drawing up plays. Van Gundy is following the lead provided by other coaches. I’d written awhile back a number of young adults don’t realize Dick Vitale once served as coach of the University of Detroit and the NBA Pistons. He’s been employed by ESPN/ABC since the early ‘80’s.

We could make the same statement for ESPN’s Digger Phelps. Phelps hasn’t coach a game since he left Notre Dame in 1991. There exist a number of former collegiate and NBA coaches serving in a television role. They are not included due my belief they might one day return as a head coach. Former coaches as analyst extend to the NFL and other sports as well. Those who follow the NFL believed Jon Gruden and Bill Cower would return to the sidelines one day. Although their names have been mentioned too neither has made it known they desire to become an NFL coach again.

NFL versus the NBA
Commissioner Adam Silver in a radio interview indicated he’d like the NBA to one day rival the NFL. Members of the media questioned his sanity for the statement, they said; “it was ridiculous to suggest the NBA could rival the NFL for fans."  The NFL has one clear advantage 16 games played mostly on Sunday, on the other hand the NBA plays 82 games scheduled seven days of the week. Mike Wilbon of ESPN was the only member of the media I observed appeared to view Silver’s proposal in a positive light.

As for Wilbon he believed it might be difficult to pass the NFL but he provided us food for thought. I’m paraphrasing most of his commentary; “the NFL reins supreme now with fans but that’s not always been the case. 40 years ago major league baseball and championship boxing were on a higher scale with fans than the NFL.” There is no argument with anyone claiming NFL football is the most popular American sport. I believe any sport NFL included must adapt and make changes to how the game is played otherwise they too will lose fans.