In the same week that the NCAA reported that they don’t really have a plan if something goes wrong in your Indiana NCAA tournament, and Les Miles and Jeff Long showed what kind of person is actually in charge, the state of Michigan may have taken the cake. That is, if the cake was sponsored by Betty Crocker.
Let’s leave them Tell you:
“Michigan State Athletics could not compete at the highest levels without the support of our corporate partners like Rocket Mortgage,” said Bill Beekman, Michigan State Athletics Director. “We appreciate Rocket’s continued commitment to the Spartans and their unwavering support for our programs.”
Under the new five-year deal, Rocket Mortgage, based in Detroit, will sponsor the famous men’s basketball team, which will now be known throughout the Breslin Center as “MSU Spartans presented by Rocket Mortgage. ”The team is a perennial powerhouse, making eight appearances in the Final Four at the NCAA Tournament since the head coach Tom Izzo took over in 1995.
The new partnership also guarantees a sizable brand for Rocket Mortgage across the Breslin Center and Spartan Stadium, which will be highly visible to the TV audience. Integrations include multiple static and digital placements across all university sports facilities, bench marks and clipboards from MSU men’s and women’s basketball teams and logos displayed prominently on the football coach Mel Tuckerheadset – making the company synonymous with Spartan athletics.
He writes himself. Here is a basketball program delivering everything to a sponsor, to the point that “Rocket Mortgage” is in the real name when the Spartans are playing at home. Children across Michigan certainly dreamed of running under a banner adorned with Rocket Mortgage logos and hearing that they are just vehicles to promote that name. Oh, and a mortgage company that would probably suffer a huge collective brain bubble if it ever provided a mortgage in the neighborhood where most of these players come from.
However, players, who make the show what it is, will not see a dime of it. Tom Izzo will. AD will do it. The school goes. But who’s really doing the job? They can be stuffed, apparently. Again.
G / O Media can receive a commission
And what does Tom Izzo have to say?
“As a sponsor for the presentation of our season, their presence will be an asset as we compete for championships.”
Is that it, Tom? This could very well give Tom a raise someday. Perhaps some better facilities. But anything else? This will help Tom interferes in sexual assault investigations within your team? Maybe that will give you more money to cover up, and in a way that can help the state of Michigan compete. Not that they didn’t find additional methods of looking the other way, should they need it. But never piss off your corporate lords. The first thing they teach in college, I think.
At least we’re not pretending anymore. This is so blatantly naked that there is no way to dispute what college sports are. Here are some hired servants, brought to you by a giant corporation that has enriched some people who have nothing to do with education. You have to appreciate the clear relief that this brings to everything. Why still try to hide it? And the MSU will probably not be the last.
With MLB taking control of the minor leagues, the only thing they can do is try things out of them for future use in the MLB game. And apparently, that’s exactly what they’re going to do.
What will put the ears of most fans on alert is the use of an automated attack zone. This is the one whose time has come and the MLB needs to speed it up. The referees have been trying to guess the hitting zone throughout the history of the game, and this gets more and more difficult with the greater speed and movement of the pitchers. The idea that the zone will not change from game to game because of who is behind the plate that night is exactly how the game should be arbitrated. And it will relieve us all from the torture of watching Angel Hernandez making the show of himself in one out of four games in any city.
The most original rule is the limitation of pick-off pitches and step-offs that a pitcher can employ during an AB. The idea is to promote stolen attempts and bases. Pitchers would be limited to two pick-offs or jumping from the mound, which means that they would really only get one. If a pitcher were to use both before finishing an AB, there would be nothing to stop the next pitch being a trail run. It’s a little artificial, and the problem with the game is not that there aren’t enough stolen bases, but at least it’s something new.
There is also the limitation of turns, first keeping all the internal players on the internal field. MLB has not said it will maintain two indoor fields on either side of second base yet, but it is on the table. Again, this became a solution in search of a problem. Because of the change, the hitters tried to lift the ball over it. Launch angle, as you’ve probably heard. Reducing the change will not prevent hitters from trying the most profitable approach, which is to hit the ball hard, up and out of the field. It is unlikely that any hitter would choose to try to push the grounders through the hole again. Maybe a few more grounders will become hits, but enough?
Limiting the change also does nothing about increasing the speed of the pitchers and the acceptance of strokes by the hitters. The game needs more contact, not positioning.
But, hey, it’s better than doing nothing and just waiting for things to get better.