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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Our 2018 ACC Player of the Year

By
Stephen Patrick
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AJ Dillon / Photo Courtesy of: Michael Dwyer (APSI)

Now that the 4th of July fireworks have been lit and the barbecue is off the grill, our attention turns to football as teams begin to take the field for summer workouts as the season draws near. Team success is always the primary goal, but there are special players who are just a level above everyone else. These college football players have the opportunity to stand out as the most important contributors in their conferences. 

While being player of the year in their conference doesn’t automatically put them in contention for the Heisman Trophy, the best players from all the leagues garner national attention. Most conferences award top honors to one offensive and one defensive player. Every game in the ACC will be a battle as few teams in the conference are cupcakes. As the ACC has grown to one of the top football conferences in the country, it’s only fitting they have NFL-level talent. To prepare for the upcoming season, SportsRadioAmerica.com looks at the athletes who could hold the crown as ACC Player of the Year at the end of the season. 

Top Candidates  

AJ Dillon, RB, Boston College: Sophomore AJ Dillon could develop into one of the best running backs in the country. During the first six games of his freshman season, Dillon managed 333 rushing yards and two touchdowns. After adapting to the game, he accumulated 1,256 yards and 12 scores in the second half of the season. If he puts in a full year of that level of production, he’ll gain national attention.  

Clelin Ferrell, Weak-side DE, Clemson: Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence are returning as first-team, All-ACC lineman, but Ferrell is the most explosive lineman and he’ll have great numbers with that talent on the line. Ferrell will still likely emerge, once again, as the best defensive lineman on his team. He led Clemson with 18 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks last season, also forcing two fumbles. Additionally, he’s a beast in the against the run of play category. 

Jaquan Johnson, S, Miami: Jaquan Johnson has been ranked the nation’s third-best safety by a number of media outlets. Johnson was the reason for the “Turnover Chain” being sighted on the Hurricanes’ sideline. He had four interceptions and forced three fumbles. He was also the U’s most feared tackler with 96 tackles, serving as a heavy-hitter and playmaking force in the secondary. 

One to Watch 

Cam Akers, RB, Florida State: With the uncertainty at quarterback, FSU will rely heavy on the running game. Usually, the Seminoles are guaranteed to compete with Clemson, but that’s not the case in 2018. With a new-look FSU team and new head coach, Akers could provide a wonderful boost. He cracked approximately 1,000 yards while sharing carries as a true freshman. 

Predicted Winner 

Dillon’s output behind a seasoned blocking unit gives him an early edge, but any of the Clemson stars could have a major claim to the award. It’s going to be tough for Dillon while others compete for the ACC title. But, as long as Boston College isn’t terrible and posts numbers like the latter part of last year, Dillon will win the award. 

Sex, lies and money: WNBA to NBA is apples and oranges

By
J.T. Clifton
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A'ja Wilson / (AP Photo)

LeBron James recently signed a four-year, $154 million contract and just surpassed $1 billion in career earnings. Those are insane numbers. No one denies that. What is surely an even more insane number is the amount of money he’s brought Nike, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. 

WNBA star A’ja Wilson recently reacted to the signing on Twitter by saying, “154M….Must.be.nice. We over here looking for a M 😊 but Lord, let me get back in my lane.”

This has sparked a debate on Twitter that shouldn’t be a debate, but here we are. It’s sparked a gender pay gap debate, but that’s frankly not what this is at all. And it makes the WNBA players who defend the controversy sound uneducated. 

Most WNBA player’s salaries start out at $50,000 a year and have a median salary of $76,000. That’s about 20% of the league minimum for an NBA player. 

Wilson also commented on the talent of NBA players saying, “lolololol ohh it’s about skill set? Because I heard a bench player gets paid more than … nvm.” If she’s asserting salaries should be based on who’s more talented, then a bench player in the NBA would beat a WNBA player 21-0 in a one-on-one game. It’s biology. The male athletes are bigger, faster, stronger, jump higher, etc. 

Serena Williams once played one of the least-ranked, male tennis players in the world. He was ranked 203rd and was described by one journalist as, “a man whose training regime centered around a pack of cigarettes and more than a couple bottles of ice cold lager”. He beat Serena 6-1 after leading 5-0. He added after the match he played like someone ranked 600 to keep the game fun. 

Lebron James signs with LA Lakers / (Clutch Sports)

So, this is why it’s not a gender pay gap issue, as many believe. It’s a different product and the WNBA players are barking up the wrong tree. It’s strictly a business issue. The average attendance for a WNBA game is 7,716 and the average for an NBA game is 17,987. Across the three major networks for 2017-18, the viewership in millions for the NBA was an average of 2.39 (ABC, TNT and ESPN). The average viewership for WNBA is 171,000 in 2017, which is an all-time low. So, there it is. There’s where the money comes from and why males are paid so much more once sponsors are added in. 

Gender pay gap occurs when a male and female do the same job for similar companies and the female gets paid a lower wage than the male for no apparent reason. The NBA and WNBA are not similar companies and the products they produce are not similar. 

WNBA players need to lobby for more people to watch. They need to advocate to get more people in the seats and more people to turn on their televisions if they desire a higher wage. They shouldn’t even make NBA comparisons because it’s apples and oranges and will get them nowhere. They need to get out in communities, get more girls interested in basketball, become their favorite players and make them want to watch. That’s how to generate more revenue. 

The women of the WNBA are very talented at what they do. Indeed, they’re some of the best athletes in the world but biologically, comparing themselves to NBA players gives them an impossible standard to live up to. 

The X Factor: Will Dez Bryant hit the Music City?

By
Stephen Patrick
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Dez Bryant / (AP Photo)

The Dallas Cowboys made a big decision to release former Pro Bowl WR Dez Bryant, so will Bryant throw up the X in the Music City? The 29-year-old receiver was due $16.5 million, forcing the Cowboys to move on since he hasn’t lived to the contract he signed. So now, Dez plays the waiting game. As the season nears, the market has been awful for Bryant. After he was first released, he turned down an offer from the Ravens. Dez now appears ready to pounce on the best situation to become available. 

The Titans’ receiver situation isn’t the greatest as training camps are nearly upon us. Corey Davis and Rishard Matthews have dealt with injuries since organized team activities. It was strange the Titans didn’t sign more WR’s to bring to camp. With the WR position compromised, would the team add such a big personality to the locker room? This is not 2014, Mr. X. This is an average receiver at the moment  

The Tennessee Titans took a big step forward in 2017 by making the postseason and winning a playoff game. But, if the team is going to take the next step and become a serious contender in the AFC this year, Marcus Mariota could use more help. After inheriting a dumpster fire in his first year, Mariota’s gone 18-14 as a starter, including last year’s playoffs.  

In yet another down year for Bryant, he had more receiving yards and receiving touchdowns than any Tennessee Titans receiver this past season. The Titans had 15 receiving touchdowns over 16 games. Take out the tight end production and that drops to nine. Eliminate the running back touchdowns and now it’s at six. To understand what Bryant would bring to the Titans, let’s look at some statistics. Bryant had six receiving touchdowns last season. From a pure position standpoint, Bryant had as many touchdowns as all of the Titans’ receivers combined in 2017. 

To some, he’s unemployable despite having talent that cannot be ignored. If a team believes in him, he could find new inspiration to throw up his signature X after scoring. Bryant’s antics have many teams conflicted with adding the former Pro Bowl receiver. He’s been labeled a “locker room distraction” as some believe he physically hasn’t recovered from injuries and the media storm that surrounds them. Still, the Titans have emerged as a team for Bryant. In Nashville the media firestorm won’t be such a force compared to larger markets. The Titans could make a splash move by bringing Bryant to the Music City. 

Three Keys to Sustained Success in Entertainment, Media and Sports

By
Jeremy Evans
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With recent news that a handful of European television and media networks are joining forces to take on their American Netflix and Amazon counterparts to better compete, the first thought that came to mind was innovation is the key to sustained success, not scale. In that light, consider the following three keys to sustained success in the entertainment, media and sports industries. 

  1. Be on Time (and right!)

Success in life and business is always about timing. Many successful and unsuccessful people have uttered some variation of the phrase that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, which was first attributed to Roman philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Being at the right place and right time always requires some build-up to being at the place you need to be, even if you think it was by a chance meeting. In other words, work always precedes the luck. 

We can imagine if consumers were polled at the time before some innovation occurred, whether the taxi driver, passenger, movie-goer, movie-maker, distributor or consumer, a majority would have been hoping for the next big thing that was more efficient, cheaper and user-friendly. However, being innovative is as much about being ahead of the competition as it is being right about what consumer wants or may want and how that coincides with government regulators. In some sense, you are creating the disruption by being first, but also being flexible enough to change with the times and regulations as you were before the disruption. Sometimes being too early or wrong creates issues with regulators (e.g., lack of approval) and/or consumers (e.g., lack of interest). In addition, sometimes having the negotiation leverage to push back for a fairer compromise is just as important. 

  1. Be Innovative 

Paraphrasing, there is a quote about recent innovators and it goes something like this: Uber did not cause the taxi industry to fail; it was the taxi industry’s inability to change. Netflix did not cause the movie and television industry to slump, it was Netflix’s innovation, direct to consumer platform, efficiency and lower pricing. It has been proven again and again, the history of economic change is based on innovation. 

In the current market, we see entertainment, tech, mobile and media companies combining for scale in the name of competition (AT&T-Time Warner, CBS-Viacom, the Disney-Fox-Comcast negotiation, etc.), but companies should be wary of such moves because buying the competition or vertical industries only goes as far as the innovation goes. For example, as successful as Uber and Lyft have been at revolutionizing the transportation of people in a shared economy, it is also their ability to work with governments around the globe on regulations, and investing in the future of people transportation. Innovation is about an idea as much as it is about the next idea, the idea after that and the execution of that idea or ideas. 

  1. Be Techy 

This section might as well be titled “do not be scared.” The point here is you should always strive to be the person or company that is using, inventing or teaching the new thing scaring everyone else because new means change. Uber and Lyft’s executives thought, “why not cut out the middle-man (the dispatcher), create an app or platform to hail a ride and make the experience better than the original?” Netflix basically did the same thing by cutting out the distributors, creating a platform and going straight to the consumer. 

However, all successful companies started as something smaller, but changed and grew with the times. Netflix started as a mailbox movie delivery service. Uber started as a service for the elite. Myspace existed before Facebook. Twitter existed before Snapchat and Instagram. 

Innovation builds on the original, but offers change; some slight, sometimes disruptive. Disney’s new streaming platform challenging Netflix, while simultaneously purchasing Fox’s movie and television content, is really the perfect example of the above. Like Clint Eastwood once said, “improvise, adapt and overcome.” Companies must be willing to accept, learn and grow with the new and improved. 

Remember, be on time (and right), be innovative and be techy. 

One-hit blunder: Will Kentucky ever get over the hump?

By
J.T. Clifton
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Ken Weaver (APSI)

It seems like every year under Mike Stoops, Kentucky football is billed to be the surprise of the Southeastern Conference. They’re always supposed to have a lot of firepower on offense and Stoops is always “improving their defense.” The bad thing for their fans (or at least the teasing part) is, the Wildcats always start out well, but flounder at the end of the season.  

So, is this year the year?  According to Las Vegas, it’s not. Kentucky has 300/1 odds to win the SEC. They’re tied for third-to-last odds with Arkansas, only in front of Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, which isn’t eligible. Think that’s a good thing for Kentucky? Doubtful.  

Kentucky returns star running back Benny Snell, who ran for 1,333 and 19 touchdowns last year. The huge question is at the quarterback position. They’ll look to JUCO transfer Terry Wilson, who is the No. 3 dual-threat JUCO quarterback in rankings by 247Sports. 

The Wildcats return ten starters on defense, while losing second-leading tackler Courtney Love. Obviously, their defense should be improved and needs to be based on assets they have at quarterback and wide receiver. So, how do they get over the hump?  

It’s not an easy answer, because they haven’t gotten over the hump with Tennessee and Florida, both down by their respective standards. Even though Florida won the East in the recent past, they’ve still struggled. Kentucky clearly has not taken advantage of this. 

The Wildcats finished 30th in recruiting last year and 26th in 2017, which isn’t going to cut it when it comes to winning the SEC. While Kentucky isn’t a hotbed of recruiting, they have to go into Ohio and south of Tennessee to get top recruits. As big as their basketball program is, they should be recruiting better. 

The Wildcats ponied up the money for John Calipari and got a National Championship out of it. They’re also nationally relevant every year in basketball. It’s time for Stoops’ seat to get very, very hot. He’s hasn’t won more than seven games in his five seasons at Kentucky and it doesn’t look like they’ll improve that number this year. It’s time for Kentucky brass to quit giving Stoops a pass because they’re a “basketball school.” Have they watched Duke lately?  

The Wildcats need to bring in someone who wins. They need to bring in someone who’s going to shake things up in the recruiting trail. They need to bring in someone like Lane Kiffin of Florida Atlantic University. That’s when Kentucky will get over the hump and be in contention to win the SEC. 

Strength in Christ…

    By
    Julian Shipp
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    Who will reign supreme? Our NFC North preview

    By
    Stephen Patrick
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    Mitchell Trubisky / Matt Marton (USATSI)

    Sportsradioamerica.com continues its series of previewing each division for the upcoming 2018 NFL season. The NFC North has some major quarterback questions that need to be answered for the top contenders. Aaron Rodgers returns to the Green Bay Packers. The Minnesota Vikings, who were in the NFC Championship game, felt they needed to upgrade to become even better than last year. 

    Chicago Bears 

    The Bears are still in rebuilding mode and nowhere ready to topple the Vikings or the Packers. There is some buzz in the Windy City, though, with the hiring of new head coach Matt Nagy. Young QB Mitchell Trubisky showed flashes from the Bears’ trading up in the draft last year as he enters his second season. His pass-catchers in Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton are an upgrade from a season ago. The Bears ranked 10th overall in total defense, per usual for the Monsters of the Midway to have play on that side of the ball. The home schedule is difficult as Rams, Patriots and Seahawks come to town. The new-look offense appears better, but Aaron Rodgers isn’t ready for the Bears to come up just yet. 

    Detroit Lions 

    The Lions are in a tough position. With the Packers and Vikings looking to battle for the NFC North crown, it’s going to be tough for the Motor City team to make the playoffs. Especially with the offensive line missing key pieces from last year. The signing of LeGarrette Blount isn’t the answer at running back, as he’s a power back, not a game-breaker. The team finished tied for last at 3.4 yards-per-carry. Matthew Stafford could also use help from a pass catching running out the backfield. New head coach Matt Patricia will need some time to put his scheme in place. 

    Green Bay Packers 

    Aaron Rodgers / (USATSI)

    A certain top three QB in the league returns from injury. Aaron Rodgers missed nine contests due to a broken collarbone. With Rodgers returning, it’s almost certain a return to the playoffs are in order. With Green Bay having a subpar defense, it’s usually up to Rodgers to push the team to greatness. Green Bay splurged on the draft and added Jimmy Graham and Muhammad Wilkerson through free agency. Graham will be Rodgers’ favorite target since the Packers released wide receiver Jordy Nelson. 

    Minnesota Vikings 

    The Vikings went 13-3 last year on the strength of an elite defense and an offense that was effective, but not high-octane. On paper, both sides should be better. Can new QB Kirk Cousins open up the offense? Cousins enters the fray after three, straight, 4,000-plus yard campaigns in the nation’s capital. He’ll be distributing the ball to a talented receiving core. A top five defense added one of the best 3-technique defensive lineman in Sheldon Richardson. Tune into a week four match-up on Thursday Night Football when the Vikings go on the road to take on the high-powered Rams. 

    Three-Point Stance: Fixing Drug Testing and Investigative Programs in Sports

    By
    Jeremy Evans
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    Drug Testing / (Getty Images)

    Whether it was the infamous Ryan Braun incident, Tom Brady and Deflategate or Julian Edelman’s appeal, disputed disciplinary enforcements or lost contract value and reputation based on allegations, it is clear that when it comes to athletes, their unions, and the league offices, there have been three, consistent gripes and problems with investigations. The three being allegations of lack of due process, failure in chain of evidence procedures and arbitrators who lack the necessary neutral thought process to decide important cases. Regardless of how fans or invested parties feel personally, these three issues in private and public matters before the courts (whether civil or criminal) are clearly delineated principles of law and fairness. Those three issues are rarely disputed in trials and deliberations when conducted in a professional manner. 

    As a matter of fact, in private and public legal matters before the courts, where due process is violated, evidence is lost or manufactured or where a judge or juror is found to have violated the rules of ethics or impartiality, what follows is a mistrial, retrial, and/or dismissal of evidence, judge or juror. Understandably, administrative matters are less formal where the focus is on privacy and efficiency, but it is possible to have justice, privacy, and efficiency. 

    Unfortunately, when it comes to sports leagues, there have been issues with implementation and enforcement. At the very least, all can agree that the process has been a large part of the contention between management, the players, and the viewing public. If sports leagues want to implement a process that is fair to themselves, the players and pass muster with the general public (their profit center and fan base), they would be wise to implement a better system to protect the process. Here are three ways all parties can benefit immediately: 

    1. Due Process Protections

    The 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution state no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law and shall be afforded equal protection under the law. This means each citizen shall be given notice of the rules, and consequences for violating the rules, access to fair process, implementation and enforcement of the rules of law and policy. Any league policy going forward should start from the foundation of the 5th and 14th Amendments. Furthermore, where there are gray areas, the next two points, like our government process, will check and balance the first.

    1. Chain of Evidence Guarantees 

    Leagues should be hiring, with the input and consent from players and their unions, an independent company that handles all investigations, chain of evidence logs and security. The same standards and violations should be implemented as with the courts. If a ball or drug test is lost, damaged or questioned, it must be thrown out. Remember, standards of proof are different from standards of maintaining evidence. The lower level of proof is acceptable in civil and administrative matters where money is at stake, but the level of evidence handling should never be lowered or compromised from its highest level, which is perfection. 

    Additionally, like our government, legal and policy processes work well in threes.  . In the court process, sheriffs and police investigate, lawyers litigate, while judge and jury adjudicate. Sports leagues would be wise to implement a similar equally independent and fair process to prevent the bad publicity and bad blood that ultimately provides for easier collective bargaining negotiations down the road. 

    1. Unbiased and Independent Neutrals 

    As important as fair process, notice and a valid chain of evidence, having the best decision-maker to apply the law and rules to the facts is essential to a fair outcome. Having an unbiased, neutral arbitrator deciding the best outcome on what is presented is what the process is about. Trusting the process requires trusting the system. If the system is compromised or stacked against the parties, the process is useless as tainted. 

    The frustration with leagues implementing a policy, the players abiding by a policy and the public having a front row seat can be solved when the process is fixed to be fair. This is no knock on any particular league, but it is a call to action to have policies that are known, adhered to and enforced independently and equally for all. In our present age of information, social media, and instantaneous content everywhere, there is no better time than now to usher in a new era. All invested parties would be wise to protect the process by starting a new era of fairness so that the truth is determined through the process and the outcome accepted as the end of things devoid of excuses from the players, unions or leagues. 

    The Kings of the ACC

    By
    Stephen Patrick
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    Photo Courtesy of: Getty Images

    College football is nearly upon us and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) boasts some of the best coaches in the country. As the season approaches, Sportsradioamerica.com examines the top coaches in the conference.  

    Dabo Swinney, Clemson 

    Swinney was promoted to interim coach in 2008 after Tommy Bowden was released. He posted a 4-3 mark in the final seven games of that season. The next season, Swinney guided the Tigers to a 9-5 record in 2009 and the Atlantic Division title. Now, as a regular national championship contender, he’s posted ten games in each of the last six years. The Tigers are now the kings of the ACC and have claimed three, consecutive ACC titles, won the 2016 ACC National Championship and have taken a trip to the ACC College Football Playoffs yearly. Swinney is 101-30 since taking over in Death Valley and once again the national championship contender. 

    Mark Richt, Miami 

    The Hurricanes are 19-7 with Mark Richt at the helm and 12-4 in the ACC. Miami won the ACC Coastal Division title last season for the first time since joining the league. Richt arrived in South Beach after leading Georgia to a 145-51 record. Georgia won two SEC titles and recorded several double-digit victories in nine seasons. His only problem was coaching the same time as Urban Meyer and Nick Saban. Richt has already made a difference in just two years at Miami. The Hurricanes look to take the next step this season. 

    Bobby Petrino, Louisville 

    Petrino has averaged nine wins per year in his 13 seasons as a head coach. The Cardinals are 34-18 since joining the ACC in 2014, finishing at least .500 or better in all four years. Even so, his record was markedly better during his tenure with the Cardinals in the Big East. From 2003 to 2006 Petrino compiled a 41-9 record and two finishes in the top ten of the final Associated Press poll at Louisville. He is an offensive wizard. The 2016 season was the high point of Petrino’s second stint at Louisville. The Cardinals won nine games, finished 7-1 in ACC play and quarterback Lamar Jackson won the Heisman Trophy. Petrino is 117-48 overall as a head coach in the collegiate ranks. 

    Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech 

    The transition from Frank Beamer to Fuente makes one think Beamer never left Blacksburg. The Hokies are 19-8 under Fuente’s two seasons and claimed the 2016 ACC Coastal Division title. The Hokies have finished in the top 25 in back-to-back years and going onto the season, they’re ranked again. Fuente brought improvement to Memphis before coming to Virginia Tech. The Tigers won five games in the three years prior to Fuente’s hiring. Then, Memphis went on to win 19 games over the next two seasons and finished No. 24 nationally in the final Associated Press poll while contending for an at-large bid for the mid-majors. Fuente is one of college football’s top offensive minds and has a strong track record of developing quarterbacks. 

    What the NBA Draft told us about the SEC

    By
    J.T. Clifton
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    Collin Sexton / Photo courtesy of: AP Sports Images

    The 2018 NBA Draft featured a handful of Southeastern Conference (SEC) picks and not all of them were from Kentucky. Actually, not even the first one off the board hailed from the Bluegrass State. Collin Sexton was the first SEC player selected at number eight by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kentucky did have four total selections in the draft, with Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander going in the first 11 picks. So, lets dive into what some of this means for the SEC. 

    The SEC has vastly improved in basketball in the last few years and it’s because of the coaches they’re bringing in. Avery Johnson has done a good job with Alabama, starting with getting five-star guard Collin Sexton, who seems to have changed the culture of Alabama basketball. Alabama had a couple of huge wins during the season and made it interesting in the NCAA tournament until they ran into eventual champs Villanova. Sexton is also my favorite pick in the entire draft. 

    We also learned how important college basketball is to the NBA. Spoiler alert! It’s not Michael Porter Jr. who hardly played at all yet was still drafted 14th overall. The only reason he slipped that low is due to concerns over his back. It would have been interesting to see what Cuonzo Martin could have done with Porter. He underachieved at Cal with Ivan Rabb and Jalen Brown and at Tennessee with Josh Richardson and Jarnell Stokes.  

     

    Freshmen are still the main thing in the NBA draft and it’s not even close. Eight out of the first ten picks were freshman and the other two were 19-year-old Luka Dončić and junior. Mikal Bridges out of Villanova. This is not surprising, though, considering Tennessee won the SEC and were one of the youngest teams in the country. There are no excuses not to win with young talent, which brings me to the biggest thing revealed about the SEC during the draft. 

    We discovered Kentucky Coach John Calipari continually underachieves. I say underachieves by the standards of a coach who gets seven, new, five-star recruits each year. He had four players drafted this year and two in the top 11 picks. The only other teams with four draft picks were Villanova and Duke. The latter went to the Elite 8 and Villanova won the NCAA Championship. 

    Coach Cal has won one championship at Kentucky in 2012. On that team, he had six draft picks, including No.1 pick Anthony Davis and No. 2 pick Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. So, is that what it takes for him to win a championship? He has multiple draft picks every single year and doesn’t even play for the championship. That’s how I define “overrated.” Talent-wise, Calipari has a top three team every year, yet he never finishes in the top three. 

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