Your “First Day of Summer School” Tuesday Evening Open Thread

Today was the first unofficial day. My job is intake assessment & academic advising. Classes actually start next week; by then I’m on vacation & don’t care what Chainsaw does to their teacher.

NFL News:

• Because it’s the 100th NFL season, the Hall of Fame is on the verge of announcing plans for a special centennial class of 20 enshrinees.
  • Up from the usual maximum of eight.
    • They will make it official / have a charade of a vote on August 2nd.
  • Here’s your early preview of the marketing slogan: 20 for 2020.

• Ezekiel Elliott issued an apology after meeting with Roger Goodell about his May incident in Las Vegas.
  • Back in May, he had a confrontation with a security guard at a Las Vegas music festival.
    • Elliott was briefly detained but never arrested after the guard fell after being “nudged” by the running back.
  • Here’s the money quote:

I need to work harder to ensure I do not put myself in compromised situations in the future. I am rededicating myself to use all of the resources that the league has made available. But in the end, it is up to me and I am determined not to be in this position again.

Finally, the biggest highlight on a very slow day is news that the NFL & NFLPA have decided on bargaining dates in July.

• July 17-19, if you are scoring at home.
• They are trying to get a deal done before the start of the 2019 season.
  • The current agreement expires after the 2020 season, but to avoid an offseason of misery for all sides, they are trying to seal it up now.

• One issue sure to cause misery is what Florio is calling “stadium credits”.
  • The league wants to divert some of the “gross revenues” into a fund for stadium construction & maintenance.
  • The problem becomes that:
    1. The NFLPA currently gets about 47% of gross revenues. The league’s plan would lessen that.
    2. How much say would the players have in influencing the dispensation of those funds?
    3. Should workers be expected to contribute to the maintenance & upkeep of their place of employment?
  • There’s no word yet on whether Roger Goodell found Paul Tagliabue’s leash, and whether that will impact the negotiations with the NFLPA.

Tonight’s sports:

• MLB:
  • Red Sox at Blue Jays – 7:00PM | Sportsnet
  • Yankees at Mets – 7:00PM | MLBN
• Fútbol:
  • Copa América Brasil 2019:
    • Brasil vs. Argentina – 8:00PM | TELMUN / TSN3
  • CONCACAF Gold Cup Soccer 2019:
    • Haiti vs. Mexico – 10:30PM | FS1 / TSN
• NBA Summer League Basketball:
  • Lakers vs. Warriors – 9:00PM | ESPN2
    • Will Kawhi be there?!
• WWE:
  • Smackdown – 8:00PM | USA / Smackdown
    • The first episode of the new Eric Bischoff era.
    • I’m certain Redshirt will agree that last night’s RAW was the best episode in months. Paul Heyman is now in charge of Raw. Total coincidence.

I’m out selling beer tonight. It was a very profitable weekend.