Some of you may know that my athletic claim to fame is that I played D3 basketball at Pomona College for the GOAT, Gregg Popovich. It was Pop’s first head coaching job after being an assistant coach at the Air Force Academy. In fact, Pop has only had two head coaching jobs in his life: Pomona College and the San Antonio Spurs. Over the years, I have enjoyed watching Pop’s cantankerous relationship with the press. I remember his sarcasm from the days I played for him, but the past year has been especially tough for the San Antonio legend. Pop lost his beloved wife Erin, and saw the pillars of his legacy, Ginóbili, Parker, and Duncan retire or move on. His comments with the press seem to sound a little more bitter these days. He recently went off about how the three-point line has ruined the game and that it has made things more “circus-like” in the NBA (it’s been around since 1979). He complained that three-point shooting percentage is the only stat that matters — and surmised that “it’s just not basketball anymore”. That doesn’t sound like the Pop that I knew who’s love for the game had no rival. Whether Pop retires after this season or not, I just hope he does it on his terms. Nobody ever deserved it more.
The NFL markets its brand as well as any enterprise in the world. I heard a comedian once say that the NFL is so popular, it has its own day. NFL football is huge. Each NFL franchise brings in approximately $400M a year in revenue; almost double the annual revenue of NBA teams and 2 ½ times as much as MLB clubs.