Axios Sports: Transfer era — GOP and sports — No-hitter

1 big thing: 🎓 The transfer era is here | Thursday, April 15, 2021

Open in app View in browser     Axios Sports By Kendall Baker ·Apr 15, 2021 👋 Good morning! Let's sports. 🏀 Draft night: Texas junior Charli Collier remains the projected No. 1 pick ahead of tonight's WNBA draft (7pm ET, ESPN) Today's word count: 1,852 words (7 minutes).     1 big thing: 🎓 The transfer era is here Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios   The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to grant all athletes the ability to transfer once and be immediately eligible, AP reports. Why it matters: This will fundamentally alter the landscape of major college football and basketball, two sports where the transfer rate is already skyrocketing. It will also transform recruiting, as teams build out college scouting departments in addition to their high school recruiting operations. Some even suggest a "sign-and-place" system could develop where teams without roster spots "place" recruits at smaller schools to later add them as transfers. Of note: Most NCAA sports already allow transfers to play immediately. Now, the five remaining sports — football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and men's hockey — will join them. By the numbers: Nearly 4,000 football and basketball players (men and women) are currently in the transfer portal. This new rule will open the floodgates even further. Football: Of 12,000 FBS football players, 14.7% transferred in 2019, per the NCAA. Basketball: The four-year transfer rate in men's hoops has risen from 10% in 2010 to 16% last year. In women's hoops, the rate was 12% last year. The big picture: Transfers have been part of the fabric of college sports for years. Look no further than Baylor, which got 54% of its points from transfers en route to winning this year's national championship. Yes, but: As transferring becomes frictionless and even more common, college sports could start to look like professional sports, where rosters are assembled year-to-year and the offseason is full of player movement. "It's not [about] developing players anymore," Todd Berry, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, told SI. "It's about assimilating a team for next year that can win." What's next: The new rule is expected to be approved by the NCAA Board of Directors this month and could take effect immediately. Go deeper: Rule change prompts game of musical chairs (NYT)     2. 🇺🇸 MLB falls out favor with Republicans Data: Morning Consult; Chart: Will Chase/Axios MLB is the latest sports league to fall out of favor with Republicans following its decision to pull the All-Star Game out of Atlanta. In mid-March, MLB's net favorability rating among Republicans was 47%, the highest of the four major U.S. sports leagues. Since then, it has plummeted to 12%, dropping the league below the NFL and NHL, according to new data from Morning Consult. The big picture: "Baseball isn't the first sport to see its net favorability among Republicans significantly decrease as a result of ... embracing social justice issues," writes Morning Consult's Alex Silverman. "The NFL's popularity among Republicans took a major hit in 2017 after then-President Donald Trump rebuked NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem." "The NBA's stock hit new lows among Republicans last summer for its embrace of the Black Lives Matter movement." Data: FiveThirtyEight/ESPN; Chart: Axios Visuals Of note ... Republicans may be down on MLB, but baseball's billionaire owners certainly aren't down on them. Over the past three election cycles, MLB owners donated roughly $20.4 million to campaigns and super PACs. $15.2 million (74.5%) went to Republicans, while $5.2 million (25.5%) went to Democrats, per FiveThirtyEight and ESPN research.     3. ⚾️ Carlos Rodón throws no-hitter Photo: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images   White Sox lefty Carlos Rodón tossed a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over the Indians on Wednesday night. So close ... Rodón came two outs away from MLB's 24th perfect game, which was spoiled when he hit Roberto Pérez's foot in an 0-2 count. The current nine-year perfect game drought (Félix Hernández in 2012) is the second longest in MLB history, trailing only the 13-year layoff between Catfish Hunter in 1968 and Len Barker in 1981. Wild stat: There have been just six no-hitters since 1901 with the only baserunner coming on a hit by pitch. Two have come in the past week, with Rodón joining San Diego's Joe Musgrove. Photo: Ron Vesely/Getty Images The backdrop: Rodón, 26, has been with the White Sox ever since they chose him with the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft. But his baseball journey has been filled with injuries and disappointment. A sprained wrist in 2016, biceps bursitis in 2017, shoulder inflammation in 2017 and 2018, then Tommy John surgery that ended his 2019 season after seven starts. Four months ago, he was non-tendered by Chicago after pitching just 7.2 innings in 2020. He eventually signed a one-year deal. Giphy Game notes ... A key play came on the leadoff batter in the ninth inning when José Abreu fielded a slow ground ball and slid into first base just in time to beat Josh Naylor and preserve the no-hitter. White Sox pitchers have now recorded 20 no-hitters. Only the Dodgers (23) have more. Tony La Russa is the first manager to oversee two no-hitters in the AL and two in the NL, having been in the dugout with Dave Stewart in 1990, José Jiménez in 1999 and Bud Smith in 2001. 🎥 Go deeper: Watch every out (Twitter)     A message from Axios Join your neighbors reading Axios Local     We're helping you stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting your hometown — including sports — with Axios Local. See what cities are available now.     4. ⚽️ Champions League: Final Four Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   The Champions League semifinals are set, with Real Madrid facing off with Chelsea and PSG set to clash with Manchester City. 🇪🇸 Real Madrid has won a record 13 Champions League titles, including four last decade (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chelsea reached the semis for the first time since 2014. Can Christian Pulisic become the first American to score a semifinal goal? 🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain got some revenge in the quarterfinals by knocking off Bayern Munich, who beat them in last year's final. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City finally reached the semifinals under Pep Guardiola after losing in the quarterfinals four straight times. 📆 Schedule: The first legs will be played in two weeks (April 27/28), with the second legs the following week (May 4/5).     5. 🥍 PLL expands, returns to tour model Map: Danielle Alberti/Axios The Premier Lacrosse League has released the schedule for its third season, which will return to a tour-based format after the pandemic forced last year's campaign into a bubble, Jeff writes. The tour: The season (June 4–Sept. 19) features stops in 11 cities, with San Jose hosting the All-Star Game and Washington, D.C. hosting the championship. All games will be broadcast on NBC networks. June 4–6: Boston (Gillette Stadium) June 11–13: Atlanta (Fifth Third Bank Stadium at Kennesaw State University) June 25–27: Baltimore (Homewood Field) July 2–4: Long Island, New York (Shuart Stadium) July 9–11: Minneapolis (TCO Stadium) July 18: San Jose (PayPal Park) July 30–Aug. 1: Colorado Springs (Weidner Field) Aug. 13–15: Albany, New York (Tom & Mary Casey Stadium) Aug. 20–21: Salt Lake City (Rio Tinto Stadium) Sept. 10: Philadelphia (Subaru Park) Sept. 19: Washington, D.C. (Audi Field) Between the lines: The PLL merged with Major League Lacrosse in December, a move that consolidated outdoor lacrosse into a single entity. The PLL will expand to eight teams as a result, adding the MLL's Boston Cannons and rebranding them as Cannons Lacrosse Club. The upstart league has also added the MLL's top remaining talent, which includes Lyle Thompson, arguably the world's best player. Of note: Part of the PLL's mission is to honor lacrosse's Native American roots, and they're taking it a step further this year by tying each tour stop to nearby Native lands with an official "Land Acknowledgement."     6. ⚡️ Lightning round Photo: Justin Ford/Getty Images   🚨 Buzzer-beater: Luka Dončić downed the Grizzlies on Wednesday with a one-handed, three-point runner at the buzzer. ⚾ Moving the mound: The independent Atlantic League, which has become MLB's testing ground, will move its mounds back by a foot for the second half of this season. 🏀 Coaching carousel: Arizona is hiring Gonzaga coach-in-waiting Tommy Lloyd, and Cincinnati is hiring UNC Greensboro's Wes Miller. ⏱ 2:59:54: Des Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon winner, shattered the women's 50K world record by more than seven minutes in her first attempt at the race. She's the first woman to break the three-hour mark. 👑 Best thing I read: The NBA's GM kingmaker (Yaron Weitzman, The Ringer) "Owners looking to change the fates of their billion-dollar basketball franchises are increasingly turning to one former English Premier League executive who lives in the Connecticut suburbs for help."     7. 🎤 Meet the panelist: Aleshia Ocasio Courtesy: National Pro Fastpitch   Axios Sports has partnered with The Aspen Institute on a series called "Future of Sports." Our next virtual event is tomorrow 12–1pm ET. Topic: Women Reimagining Pro Sports. Aleshia Ocasio, a softball star, is one of our three panelists tomorrow, joining Julie Foudy and Angela Ruggiero, Jeff writes. Ocasio's career got off to a blazing start at the University of Florida, where she won the College World Series as a freshman and ended her career with a school record 25 combined shutouts. After graduating, she was drafted by the Chicago Bandits of National Pro Fastpitch before joining Athletes Unlimited last summer, where she was a breakout star during the inaugural season. Off the field, she's committed to social justice initiatives and is among the coalition members of "More than a Vote." She's married to Washington Mystics star Natasha Cloud. The big picture: Athletes Unlimited is trying to rethink pro sports with a new format that includes weekly redrafts and fantasy-style scoring. It launched last summer with softball (Ocasio finished 11th out of 57 players) and continued with volleyball, which ended two weeks ago. Next up: Athletes Unlimited will launch lacrosse on July 19, with all games taking place at Maureen Hendricks Field in Boyds, Maryland. ✍️ Wanna come to Friday's event? Register here.     8. 📆 April 15, 1947: Breaking the color barrier Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images   74 years ago today, Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers, changing baseball — and America — forever. "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." — Jackie Robinson     9. 🏈 NFL trivia Photo: Bob Levey/Getty Images   Four defensive ends have been No. 1 overall picks this century. Two of them — Jadeveon Clowney and Myles Garrett — are now on the Browns. Question: Who were the other two defensive ends? Hint: 2000 and 2006 drafts. Answer at the bottom.     10. ❤️ Why we love sports Jackie Robinson in 1956. Photo: MLB Photos via Getty Images Rob S. (New York native) writes: I was too young to remember the details surrounding my brush with history, but my father wrote an account of it in a letter to the New York Times shortly after Jackie Robinson died in October 1972. The clipping helps refresh my memory. It was 1956. I had just turned seven and was recovering from mononucleosis. To celebrate, my father took me to my first baseball game, a Brooklyn-Cincinnati double-header at Ebbets Field. My mother wrote a letter to Jackie explaining how much it would mean to me if he stopped by our section and say hello. My father told her that ballplayers couldn't possibly respond to such requests, but he did bring his camera, just in case. "We got to the park early," my father wrote in the Times. "Maybe 10 or 15 minutes before game time, I saw Jackie pigeon-toeing his way out toward right field. He was playing left field quite often in those days, but there was no reason for him to come to right. No reason except one. I reached for the camera." "'Is there a boy named Rob Slocum up there?' Jackie called out. According to my father, I "leaped" out of my seat and "made the few steps to the rail without touching the ground." A young Rob talking with Jackie Robinson. Photo: Rob S. Jackie had a baseball in his hand and said he'd bring it back once he got his teammates to sign it, which is exactly what he did. A few days later, my mother wrote him a thank you note, and he replied with a note of his own. "I am sure that most feel as I that we are only ballplayers and don't quite understand what meeting us may mean to young boys," he wrote. "To get such a nice letter makes me aware of how much more it should be done. Thanks for making me realize this fact. Sincerely, Jackie Robinson." I saved that letter and make sure to re-read Jackie's words every now and then. And needless to say, I still have the ball. ✍️ This wonderful story was part of our "Why we love sports" anthology that ran last summer, with stories submitted by readers like you. Good news: We're bringing it back this year! More to come.     A message from Axios Join your neighbors reading Axios Local     We're helping you stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting your hometown — including sports — with Axios Local. See what cities are available now.   Talk tomorrow, Kendall "Would have gotten a hit" Baker Trivia answer: Courtney Brown (Browns, 2000) and Mario Williams (Texans, 2006) Invite friends to follow Axios Sports Use your personal link to track how many readers you bring into the community You currently have 00 referrals. Share with a friend or use your personal referral link https://www.axios.com/referral/sports?code=BbTjEdwGLRoN For questions email referralsupport@axios.com. Participation in the Axios Sports Referral Program constitutes your acceptance of the Axios Terms and Conditions of Use, which can be viewed here.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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