By Nunnie Robinson, Westside Gazette Sports Editor
Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson is a gifted athlete and Super Bowl winning quarterback who has come under derisive scrutiny by the sports pundits since being traded from Seattle to Denver. After signing a multi-year 30 million dollar contract, the results failed to meet expectations. The Broncos brass then hired SB winning coach Sean Payton, hoping to change the team’s fortunes. However, Russell’s playing style didn’t mesh with Payton’s philosophy, thus the trade to the Steelers. The image of Coach Payton berating Wilson on the sideline still grates me. You see, Russell has won as many SBs as Payton – one. Might I also remind you that had the Seahawks OC handed the ball to the “Beast” Marshawn Lynch, Russell would have two. Russell has to accept some responsibility because as a veteran qb he could have audibled. Failure by both Coach Carroll and Russell signaled the demise of a really great football team.
From my perspective many would like to see Russell lose the starting qb job to Bears castoff Justin Fields. I’m certain Coach Tomlin will make the right decision, but I believe Russell Wilson’s regression as a top tier NFL qb is greatly exaggerated and premature.
The press attempted to bait Tua into additional criticism of Brian Flores, presently the DC of the Minnesota Vikings. Tua recently vilified Flores for his despicable, disgusting treatment of him when Flores was the Dolphins head coach. Flores, when questioned about Tua’s comments, basically took the high road, admitting that he had made some mistakes and learned from them. Good- no useless and unnecessary fodder for the press. A more pertinent question begging an answer: Was Flores fired because of his disdain for Tua the NFL quarterback or because the owner’s racism proved intolerable as we were led to believe? That entire situation has quietly been swept under the rug. If the latter is true, then hopefully Flores was compensated mightily. Think about it.
The Dodgers and Yankees very well could be headed toward a World Series matchup with Shohei Ohtani chasing a 50 homer, 50 stolen base season and Aaron Judge positioned to hit 64 or more homers.
Baseball is the most statistically driven sport, replete with anomalies and records. Case in point:
MLB catcher Danny Jansen became the 1st player in league history to play for both teams in the same game. How this occurred is unique and historical. Jansen was batting for the Toronto Blue Jays, fouled the first pitch for a strike when torrential rain caused the game to be suspended. During the suspension Jansen was actually traded to the Red Sox, a period of at least one month before the game’s rescheduling on August 6. After being apprised of the situation and its significance, Red Sox manager Alex Cora put Jansen in as the catcher when the game resumed marking a first in MLB history. To top it off he also became a dad for a second time. Only in MLB
