News : Axios Sports: Cowboy Joe — Battle of L.A. (or not)

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Axios Sports: Cowboy Joe — Battle of L.A. (or not) — Terminal takeover

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Axios Sports

By Kendall Baker ·May 26, 2021

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day.

🍔 Stat du jour: Guy Fieri's new contract with Food Network will pay him $26.7 million annually, which would make the "Mayor of Flavortown" the 15th-highest paid player in the NFL. Holy moly, Stromboli!

Today's word count: 1,651 words (6 minutes).

Let's sports...

1 big thing: ⚾️ Congrats, Cowboy Joe

Photo: Ron Vesely/Getty Images

Joe West umpired his 5,376th regular-season game Tuesday night in Chicago, breaking an MLB record held by Bill Klem since 1941.

The big picture: Klem (1905–41), Bruce Froemming (1971–2007) and West (1976–present) are the only three umpires to surpass 5,000 MLB games.

Add in Al Barlick, hired in 1940 to replace Klem, and you can tell nearly the entire history of baseball through just those four umpires.
What he's saying: "I know what Lou Gehrig said about being the luckiest guy in the world, but that's me," said West. "It was tough to hold back a tear or two, but Tom Hanks said there's no crying in baseball."

Bio: West began umpiring during his time at Elon University, where he was the star QB but umped local high school games on the side. He then studied at the Umpire Development Academy.

After graduating first in his class at the academy, he worked a couple years in the minors before making his MLB debut in 1976. He used to work only NL games, but has covered both leagues since 2002.
West has been on the field for countless milestones, including Willie McCovey's 500th home run, Nolan Ryan's record-breaking fifth no-hitter and Félix Hernández's perfect game. He's also worked six World Series and three All-Star Games.

Between the lines: West, who garnered the nickname "Cowboy Joe" from his days as a country musician, comports himself in such a way that players often can't decide whether they love him or hate him.

He'll hold up the game if you don't greet him before your first at-bat and he'll eject you for looking at him wrong, but how many other umpires would get an All-Star Game photo request from Nelson Cruz?
He simply has an aura of authority that most players and managers can't help but respect. As then-Royals reliever Peter Moylan told SI in 2017, "There's umpires, and there's Joe West."

Of note: West was instrumental in the formation of the MLB Umpires Association, which has made umpires nearly impossible to fire once they reach three years of service time. He's currently president.

The last word, via The Athletic's Jayson Stark (subscription):

With 5,376 games (not counting that game in "The Naked Gun"), West has appeared in more big-league games than Derek Jeter and Ozzie Smith combined. He's been part of as many big-league seasons (41) as Cal Ripken Jr. and Bartolo Colon combined.

He's worked games in 51 ballparks, and games involving 67 Hall of Famers. When West debuted in the big leagues, Henry Aaron was still playing. He umpired over 2,000 games before Fernando Tatís Jr. debuted on planet Earth. And love him or hate him, on Tuesday, he set a record more unbreakable than Ripken's.

2. 🏀 Will we ever get the Battle of L.A.?

Los Angeles skyline. Photo: Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images

The Lakers and Clippers have never gone head-to-head in the playoffs. At this rate, perhaps they never will.

The drought was poised to end last season, but then the Clippers blew a 3-1 lead against the Nuggets in the bubble.
It looked like they might play in the first or second round this season, but then the Clippers (intentionally) lost their final two games to defer a potential matchup until the conference finals.

And now, with the Clippers losing their first two home games to the Mavericks, the chances of the drought continuing are quite good.

Only 31 teams in NBA history have lost the first two games of a best-of-seven series at home — and only four have come back to win. Long odds for the Clippers, who had no answer for Luka Dončić on Tuesday.
"Will the tantalizing battle of LA — which seemed so inevitable after the teams tussled over Kawhi Leonard in free agency two summers ago — ever happen?" — Ramona Shelburne, ESPN

Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Tuesday scoreboard:

Lakers 109, Suns 102 (Tied 1-1)
Mavericks 127, Clippers 121 (DAL leads 2-0)
Nets 130, Celtics 108 (BKN leads 2-0)

📆 Tonight ... Wizards at 76ers, 7pm ET (PHI leads 1-0); Hawks at Knicks, 7:30pm (ATL leads 1-0); Grizzlies at Jazz, 10pm (MEM leads 1-0)

3. 🏒 NHL playoffs: Canes win in OT, Leafs roll

Photo: Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images

Hurricanes 3, Predators, 2 (OT) (CAR leads 3-2): For the third straight game in this series, overtime was needed. And for the first time, Carolina emerged victorious, with captain Jordan Staal scoring the game-winner.

Photo: Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images

Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 0 (TOR leads 3-1): Toronto is now just one victory away from winning its first playoff series since 2004. Hopefully I didn't just jinx it for them.

📆 Tonight ... Penguins at Islanders, 6:30pm (NYI leads 3-2); Panthers at Lightning, 8pm (TB leads 3-2); Golden Knights at Wild, 9pm (VGS leads 3-2)

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4. 💵 Scoop: NYT in talks to buy The Athletic

Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

The New York Times is looking into a potential acquisition of The Athletic, three sources familiar with the matter tell Axios' Sara Fischer.

The backdrop: Sources say the Times approached The Athletic following a WSJ report in March about a potential deal between The Athletic and Axios — discussions that are no longer active, per WSJ.
By the numbers: Sources say The Athletic has about 1.2 million subscribers, some on discounted rate plans. The company did ~$80 million in revenue last year and employs about 600 people full-time.

Data: New York Times earning reports; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

The big picture: The deal would help bolster the Times' subscription strategy, especially if it were to one day bundle its existing subscription offerings.

The Times has nearly 8 million total paid subscribers, with nearly 7 million paying for just digital products. It's on pace to meet its goal of 10 million digital subscribers by 2025.
The Times sells subscriptions around its core news product, games, cooking and audio. It's currently testing subscription offerings for its consumer reviews site, Wirecutter, as well as NYT Kids.

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5. ⚽️ USWNT unveils 23-woman roster

Photo: Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images

A day after the USMNT unveiled its roster ahead of the CONCACAF Nations League Final Four, the USWNT did the same ahead of next month's 2021 Summer Series in Texas.

The squad: The roster features 19 NWSL players and four from European clubs. The average age is 28, with Carli Lloyd (38) the oldest player and Sophia Smith (20) the youngest.

Goalies (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
Defenders (8): Alana Cook (PSG), Abby Dahlkemper (Man City), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns), Kelley O'Hara (Washington Spirit), Margaret Purce (Gotham FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit)
Midfielders (6): Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Catarina Macario (Lyon), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (N.C. Courage), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
Forwards (6): Carli Lloyd (Gotham FC), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Man United), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Lynn Williams (N.C. Courage)

📆 Coming up: The three-game Summer Series begins two weeks from tomorrow and will mark the final games before head coach Vlatko Andonovski chooses the Olympic roster.

June 10: Portugal (Houston)
June 13: Jamaica (Houston)
June 16: Nigeria (Austin)

Go deeper: Catarina Macario is just getting started (NYT)

6. 🛹 In photos: "Terminal Takeover"

Photo: Justen Williams/Red Bull Content Pool

Skateboarders from all over the South traveled to New Orleans this month to shred through Louis Armstrong International Airport's now-abandoned terminal.

Photo: Jonathan Mehring/Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull project, dubbed "Terminal Takeover," gave five teams access to the airport for the ultimate skate and content capture session.

Photo: Jonathan Mehring/Red Bull Content Pool

Teams just released their two-minute videos, and voting is now open to determine which crew will receive $5,000 toward their local skate scene.

Watch the videos and vote.

7. ⚡️ Lightning round

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

📺 Gretzky to TNT: The Great One will be a lead analyst on Turner's premier studio show when TNT takes over NHL coverage next season, per N.Y. Post's Andrew Marchand. He'll be paid ~$3 million per year.

💵 100 highest-paid athletes: Naomi Osaka scored a female-athlete record $55.1 million in total earnings, but she and Serena Williams are the only women to crack Sportico's top 100 list. See the full list.

⚾️ Not over the Hill: Rays starter Rich Hill on Tuesday became the fourth pitcher over the last 30 seasons with multiple 10-K games at age 41 or older, joining Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Nolan Ryan.

🏈 Watson update: The Deshaun Watson case has entered into discovery, which could play out well into the 2021 season, and the Texans QB isn't scheduled to be deposed until early 2022.

🥍 Lax in Vegas: Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai, who played lacrosse at Yale, has reached an agreement to bring a National Lacrosse League franchise (indoor lacrosse) to Sin City.

8. 📆 May 26, 1894: Lasker's reign begins

Photo: John Graudenz/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images

127 years ago today, German philosopher, mathematician and chess player Emanuel Lasker beat Wilhelm Steinitz to become the undisputed World Chess Champion.

Why it matters: Lasker's 27-year reign as champion (1894–1921) remains the longest ever.

The big picture: It was more than just Lasker's superior play that helped him become champion, though his unique style — in which he played less "by the book" than his contemporaries — certainly buoyed his success.

When Steinitz died poor in 1900, despite having spent the past couple decades as one of the world's top players, Lasker made it his mission to change the profession.
As the champion of a sport with no governing body, Lasker set the terms for any challenge, and he routinely required players to raise large sums if they wanted a shot at the throne.
That practice remained through 1946, when then-reigning champ Alexander Alekhine died and the FIDE (International Chess Federation) took over.

What to watch: Current world champion Magnus Carlsen (2013–present) is two years away from joining Lasker and Anatoly Karpov (1975–85) as the only champions with reigns of at least 10 years.

Go deeper ... Emanuel Lasker: Jack of all trades, master of some (ChessBase)