Eagles disinvited to White House, Sixers’ Colangelo in Twitter flap
Trump withdraws invitation to Eagles, says players should put hand over heart for anthem
When NFL Commish Roger Goodell announced a new policy on respecting the national anthem, he thought he was giving President Trump exactly what he wanted. No longer would his vice president look out upon a football field desecrated by uniformed players kneeling while the anthem is played to honor Americans in military uniforms. Goodell will fine any teams violating The Policy. Respectful of players’ rights of expression, he said they can remain in their locker rooms until the last note fades. That did not satisfy Trump, who said: “Staying in the locker room for the playing of the national anthem is as disrespectful to our country as kneeling.” Eagles players felt he was intentionally distorting their message, and they did not want to be a stage prop for the nation’s most popular television show, the multi-network Reality Presidency. When the eternal star of the show heard that fewer than ten Eagles were willing to be his guests as Super Bowl champs, he disinvited the entire team. In something close to an executive order, he said players must “proudly stand for the national anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.” Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the disinvite “proves our president is not a true patriot, but a fragile egomaniac.”
Between the Lines: Talk about a political football. Refusing an invitation from the White House seems like the worst possible etiquette. But NFL players, muzzled by their bosses’ rules, see this as sensible resistance to policies imposed upon them.
76ers boss Bryan Colangelo accused of using Twitter accounts to criticize his players
The Philadelphia 76ers hired cybersecurity expert Theresa Payton to investigate their president and general manager, Bryan Colangelo, for possible involvement in tweets that criticized players on the team and executives for other teams and revealed injury information that was supposed to be confidential. Some reports have linked Colangelo’s wife, Barbara Bottini, to troublesome postings. Five Burner Twitter accounts have been linked to the team, and the investigation will try to determine if Colangelo was involved in setting up the accounts or in using them. Among those treated harshly by tweets attributed to Colangelo are Sixers players Joel Embiid and Markelle Fultz and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri. Colangelo acknowledged using one of the suspicious accounts for monitoring NBA news.
Between the Lines: In some states cyberspace harassment is treated as a felony. There may be enough smoke already to get Colangelo fired.
Steve Adams blames his ‘fat fingers’ for ‘liking’ an anti-Carmelo post
Steven Adams made a typo that’s caused him considerable embarrassment. When an Instagram post showed four Oklahoma City players (Adams, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Paul George), the caption was: “Who’s more valuable to OKC?” Adams clicked “Like” on the option of “All of them but Melo.” Later he insisted he pressed the wrong space, and he blamed “fat fingers.”
Steelers’ top stars skip OTAs, Reggie Bush says ‘players aren’t responding to the coach’
The Pittsburgh Steelers have developed a habit of postseason disappointment and a reputation for not being very focused on their profession. Recently retired NFL star Reggie Bush said on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football that head coach Mike Tomlin should be held accountable, that “maybe the players aren’t responding to the coach. Or maybe there needs to be some form of a culture shift that I believe Tomlin can get done.” This does not seem to be the most dedicated of pro football teams. Steelers All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown recently criticized his All-Pro teammate Le’Veon Bell for not appearing for the “voluntary” Organized Team Activities, but then began skipping out himself. QB Ben Roethlisberger, designated leader of the team, also missed some OTAs.
Dear Coach: In 11 seasons as head coach you’ve never had a loser. Players respect your organizational skills, your affability and candor. But you’ve lost 6 of your past 9 postseason games. You need to figure out how to get your guys up for the playoffs.
Darvish thinks Cubs fans hate him
Published and posted reports out of Chicago are that the Cubs’ major free-agency acquisition, Yu Darvish, has lost his confidence and is miserable because he thinks the fans hate him and some teammates aren’t all that fond. Chris Gimenez, who catches Darvish, told the Sun-Times: “He thinks Chicago hates him for going on the DL a couple of times. He reads Twitter, he reads all that stuff. We all do, honestly. . . “ Besides physical issues (sore triceps but no structural damage), Darvish apparently has not recovered from his World Series meltdown (0-2, 21.60 ERA). In 8 starts for the Cubs he’s 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA.
Dear Yu: One thing America has is sports psychologists. John Smoltz wouldn’t have made the Hall of Fame without one. There’s probably one in Chicago who can speak Japanese.
Arrieta calls out his shortstop, doesn’t like manager’s defensive shifts
Jake Arrieta has had a very good season for the Philadelphia Phillies (5-3, 2.66 ERA), but he was in a sour mood after his team was swept by the San Francisco Giants. One problem: “We had bad defensive shifts. . . . We’re the worst in the league with shifts, so we need to change that.” Arrieta himself has suffered from manager Gabe Kaplan’s extreme infield switches. Against shifted defenses, Arrieta is allowing a weighted on-base average of .283 batting average, compared to .256 against conventional alignment. Arrieta also criticized shortstop Scott Kingery for not flipping to second base for a possible force-out: “Kingery should have gone to second on that play.” Why the personal attacks? “We need some accountability from everybody, top to bottom.”
Dear Jake: Reporters always appreciate candor, but you’re not being a good teammate to publicly criticize any of yours.