Your “Death From Above; Baltimore Monday” Evening Open Thread

NFL News:

• ESPN had someone follow future broadcaster Tony Romo around a golf course during his US Open qualifier.
  • I don’t think they cut back enough.
• Future broadcaster & futurer GM Jay Cutler advises the Bears to not play Mitch Trubisky if the season goes into the shitter.
  • “If it’s going downhill, there’s no way I’m playing him. For what? So he can go out there and take a beating and he can get off to a rough start as an NFL quarterback?” said a man familiar with John Fox’s handiwork.
• ¡Hola Crimebeat! Second-year Jets WR Robby Anderson was arrested in Miami for scuffling with security & then resisting arrest. Because why go half-assed?!
• ESPN dropped Jerome Bettis today, probably because Trent Dilfer can’t even get laid off without taking a quality running back with him.

• Not cut by ESPN? Tim Tebow, who had his contract extended today.
  • Wait – he’s not Roy Hobbs?

Finally, the NFL has purchased a 3% stake in Fanatics, the sports retailer that also runs its official online shop.

• This way, they make money off both the licencing of trademarks and the profits the company makes off of sales.
• Fanatics is the “master licencee” for the NFL, meaning that companies go through Fanatics in order to make branded products.
  • allowing a sub-licencing fee to be collected

• FYI:
  • MLB also has a 1.5% stake in Fanatics.
  • Fanatics just bought Majestic Athletic, which produces jerseys for MLB.

On a quest for science videos of birds of prey today, I stumbled across a fantastic livestream of a Peregrine Falcon nest on a Baltimore rooftop, which became extremely interesting once the mother brought a rat up to feed to the chicks.

It looks like I now have an educational distraction to keep open on my desktop, one that knows to finish the Patriots its prey before celebrating feeding it to its young.

Anyway, the top of the Transamerica tower has never looked lovelier, or poop-strewn.

Enjoy!

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL:
  • Capitals at Penguins – 7:30PM | NBCSN / CBC / Sportsnet
    • Game 6 – Pens up 3-2
• NBA:
  • Warriors at Jazz – 9:00PM | TNT / TSN
    • Game 4 – Warriors up 3-0
• MLB:
  • Giants at Mets – 7:00PM | ESPN / TSN2
  • Cleveland at Blue Jays – 7:00PM | Sportsnet1

LeBron & company beat the Raptors into the ground, so now Toronto is out of sports teams to follow. OH, SO SAD!