Hello readers, welcome to the latest issue of O For 4. Thank you if you are a repeat reader. In this week’s edition, I am going to discuss the new NCAA rules regarding the transfer windows, the doping allegations against ATP #1 Jannik Sinner, the unretiring of retired numbers, and I will share my predictions for the College Football Playoff of the 2024 season. Football season is officially underway, and I could not be any happier. Let’s get to this week’s topics, and as always, please leave your comments at the end.
1. The NCAA Proposes Plan To Eliminate Football Spring Transfer Window!
I have gone on the record numerous times to criticize the NCAA and their continuous assault on the industry of college sports. But then a news story came out just a couple days ago that made me double-take. I was in near-shock as I considered the possibility that the governing body of college athletics actually made a decision that could, in theory, have a positive effect on its constituents.
If this rule proposal goes through, it would be the first time in a long time that I have seen the NCAA do something to address a grievance of the majority of the sports-watching population.
Let’s look at this new rule being suggested. Currently, there are two periods of time when college football players can declare that they are entering the transfer portal, a 30-day period beginning in December right after the conclusion of the regular season and a 15-day period in April that coincides with programs’ spring games. The new proposal calls for eliminating the April window.
Yeah, I am all for this. The spirit of that spring window was to allow players to move schools after they have had a chance to see where they are on their team’s depth chart through spring practices and, if they are not content with their standing, to try finding playing time elsewhere. Basically, so much for a commitment, so much for being a teammate, and so much for handling adversity. Nope, just pack up and leave. It’s not a good lesson to be teaching our young adults. So congratulations to the NCAA on making a wise decision for the first time in a long time. Hopefully this goes into effect and you do something to better your product for a change.
2. Jannik Sinner Avoids Consequences For Positive Steroid Test!
This topic definitely needs a high level of care and probably should be checked by my legal team. But I’m not going through all that. Here is what you need to know. Back in March of this year, while competing in the BNP Paribas Open (better known as Indian Wells), Jannik Sinner tested positive for a banned substance. A second test administered after the conclusion of the tournament also came back positive. The substance is Clostebol, which is an anabolic steroid mentioned on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.
As a result of these positive tests, Sinner, who just so happened to be the #3 ranked player on the ATP Tour at that time and is now #1, was stripped of the prize money and tour points which he earned at Indian Wells. And that seems fair enough… until you consider the fates of other players not ranked #1 who have also tested positive for substances on the prohibited list.
Now when the test results came out, the tour wanted to suspend Sinner as that is standard protocol, but he immediately appealed, which allowed him to continue playing in tour events while the appeal was conducted. In his appeal, his team argued that it was administered inadvertently because it was an unknown ingredient in a healing spray which his physical therapist used as treatments on Sinner during the tournament. They also contended that the trace amounts of the substance found in the samples would have given him no competitive advantage. In the end, Sinner’s appeals won out as the tribunal overseeing the case ruled that Sinner was not at fault. And thus, he avoided any sort of real punishment, which can, by the rules of the professional tennis tour, be a years’ long suspension.
Now back to other players who have been found with banned substances in their blood samples. The other famous case recently was that of women’s player, Simona Halep, herself a former world #1. Halep had a positive test in October 2022, and she was immediately slapped with a four-year ban, the standard punishment, and that was upheld by a tribunal. Halep appealed, won the appeal, and was allowed to return to the tour after missing over a year of play. There are other cases of players of lesser fame who were unable to appeal suspensions successfully, probably due to not having the same financial resources of higher ranked players, and have had to endure the full suspensions. For those players, it is basically a career-killer.
I am not here to say Jannik Sinner should still be suspended. I also am not here to say he should not. Maybe he should be. There are certainly people, even those on the ATP Tour, who believe he should be. I am here to say that there needs to be some uniformity to this process. There needs to be one regulating body which oversees all levels of pro tennis, the top level players as well as those on the lower challenger levels, men and women. There needs to be definitive levels of banned substances which, if found in a blood sample, results in a suspension of a defined period of time. And that should be that. The onus needs to be on the player and his team of coaches and trainers. There should not be appeals processes for these things, as that creates a system of disparity between the haves and have-nots. Take more than one sample to make sure no errors in testing occurred, but if both samples show the same thing, then the punishment needs to be enforced. But also, four year suspensions are excessive. The punishments, especially for a first-time offender, only need to be long enough to make sure the player is more careful with what ingredients are in the treatments and supplements they choose to use (or that they don’t intentionally cheat), say a few months. Hopefully knowing that appealing is not an option to them will make them be more careful to begin with.
3. Malik Nabers Given Retired Jersey Number!
This one really gets my blood boiling. In 1935, the New York Giants retired the jersey of Ray Flaherty. Flaherty was a defensive end and also a wide receiver. He was a part of the 1934 NFL Championship team. Flaherty’s jersey number was #1, and when the Giants retired that number after Flaherty stopped playing, it became the first retired jersey in NFL history.
Now fast forward 89 years. New York drafts Malik Nabers in the first round with the sixth pick. Nabers, a wide receiver from LSU, wanted to have a jersey number with a single digit. Many of those numbers were already taken, including the #8, his college number, which belongs to the Giants’ starting quarterback, Daniel Jones. Nabers’ solution, rather than taking one of the few single digit numbers that were available or even a number in the 80s as is traditional for wide receivers, was to ask management if he could get the long-retired #1.
And here is where the story gets even more cringeful. The request went all the way up to the team’s owner, John Mara, who inexplicably thought it would be appropriate to ask the family of the now-deceased Ray Flaherty if they would be okay with someone else wearing the number. The Flaherty family concluded that they would allow it, which I guess is their prerogative, though I do not know what the behind-the-scenes conversations amongst themselves or with the Giants organization looked like.
What I do know is that it was classless of the Giants to seek out the permission from the Flaherty family. It was classless of them to consider the possibility of giving Nabers the #1. And it was particularly classless of Nabers to even ask for it. Aside from the fact that he never wore that number at any other point, he is just a rookie who has done absolutely nothing in the NFL. Chances are, he will be a fine wide receiver and will put up big numbers. But at this point, he has accomplished nothing to warrant asking for such a special honor. I am sure he put many people into an awkward position with the conversations that were had following his request. I find it to be an insult to Ray Flaherty, not to mention his family. I find it to be an insult to the history of the NY Giants. And I find it to be an insult to the history of the NFL, too.
There are very few players and teams in the realm of sports who I outwardly cheer against (except when they are playing my teams). Now, the NY Giants and Malik Nabers are on that exclusive list. Shameful!
4. O’s Predictions For The College Football Playoff
For the 2024 college football season, the champion-determining playoff after the season grows from a four-team field to a twelve-team one. Personally, I think it is a bit much, but here we are. So let’s make some predictions for how this will play out in its inaugural season.
Here’s how the new format works, in case you are not up to speed. The top four conference champions, according to the selection committee’s rankings, will be seeded 1-4 and given a first-round bye. These four teams will presumably be the champs of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC, though it is possible that a champion from a Group-of-Five conference takes one of these slots. After the top four, a fifth champion will be in the field as the Group-of-Five was given assurances that they will get at least one team in the playoff and there will be seven at-large spots given to the next highest ranked teams in the committee’s rankings.
The first round of games will be contested at the home of the higher seeded team (5 hosts 12, 6 hosts 11, 7 hosts 10, and 8 hosts 9). The winners of those four games then go to play teams 1 through 4 at predetermined bowl game locations and a standard eight-team playoff ensues.
Here are my predictions for the twelve teams who will qualify and how the full playoff will transpire.
12. Penn State
11. Boise State (Group of Five representative)
10. Notre Dame
9. LSU
8. Clemson
7. Oregon
6. Georgia
5. Texas
4. Utah
3. Miami
2. Alabama
1. Ohio State
Round 1:
#5 Texas over #12 Penn State
#6 Georgia over #11 Boise State
#7 Oregon over #10 Notre Dame
#9 LSU over #8 Clemson
Quarterfinals:
#1 Ohio State over #9 LSU
#2 Alabama over #7 Oregon
#6 Georgia over #3 Miami
#5 Texas over #4 Utah
Semifinals:
#1 Ohio State over #5 Texas
#2 Alabama over #6 Georgia
Championship:
#2 Alabama over #1 Ohio State
That’s it. In the first year of the new expanded playoff, I am predicting the team that was most dominant in the four-team playoff era to raise the trophy. Even after the departure of legendary head coach Nick Saban, Alabama football will still reign supreme. Roll Tide!
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