NFL News:

• The big news is Patrick Mahomes agreeing to a 10-year, $450 million extension with the Chiefs.
  • It’s a total of $477.6 million over the next 12 seasons.
    • The injury guarantee is $140 million.
  • Mike Trout had previously held the record for the largest professional contract when he signed a 12-year, $426.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels in March 2019.
    • His is fully guaranteed; Mahomes would only get the payout.

• It’s a headline with at least three baffling statements: “Patriots QB Cam Newton: ‘I’m getting tired of being humble’.”

1. Up until a year ago, “Patriots QB Cam Newton” seemed an anachronism.

2. “Being humble”, yes – that’s what those fashion choices implied: humility.

3. “I’m getting tired of being humble”, said the man at the open mic.

• • These questions were all posited by the man in this new Instagram video:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCR6L3Zh0Kk/

• In what should be an interesting test of the new CA, the league has announced it will also begin testing players’ families and “cohabitants”.
  • The NFL feels, as emphasized in a conference call last Friday, that it must operate within an “ecosystem”, not a bubble.
    • A bubble negates the existence of outside vectors; an ecosystem would look at all the interactions a player could potentially have, and work from there.
  • This is apparently predicated on the NFL’s belief that they can get tests & results within a 24-hour turnaround.

• The Patriots have decided to offer free parking at Gillette Stadium for all season ticket holders.
  • This is to cut down on cash & human transactions.
    • Something Bill Belichick can heartily get behind.

• Of course there’s more news about the [Redacteds] looking into possibly changing their name:
  • FedEx CEO Frederick Smith, who owns 10% of the team, “betrayed” Snyder by having his company come out in favour of a name change.
    • In 1998 — the year before Snyder bought the [Redacteds] — FedEx struck a $205 million, 27-year deal for naming rights to the stadium.
  • On Saturday, prominent businessmen Robert Rothman, Dwight Schar and FedEx’s Frederick Smith, who combined have owned about 40% of the team since 2003, announced they have hired an investment banking firm to undergo a search for possible buyers for their minority stake in the team.
    • Dwight Schar owns NVR, Inc., a home construction & mortgage lending firm.
    • Robert Rothman is Chairman and CEO of Black Diamond Capital, a private investment company.
  • Nike recently told The Athletic that Nike “will not feature Washington gear until the team name is changed.”
    • FYI – if/when Washington does change their name, it means about 25% of all teams have undergone a form of name change since the league was founded.
      • This includes teams that changed cities & names, not simply cities.
        • The Colts don’t count; the Browns into the Ravens does.
  • The company that owns the Harlem Globetrotters has indicated they would sell their rights to the “Washington Generals” to the [Redacteds] if an offer was made.
    • The Generals name has been used by variations of the Globetrotters’ opponent since 1952.
      • The Generals have won three times in their history. They beat a Taiwanese National Team and a team from the Russian Army. The most famous win of all was in Martin, Tennessee, in 1971, when a 3-pointer at the buzzer beat the Globetrotters 100-99.

MXC Monday:

It’s “Hi Tech vs. Civil Service” – Brains versus Brilliance.

Of course, Cyberspace cadets Vic & Kenny have us all covered. Despite what they might be doing to someone’s copy of “Shaved Grannies”. There is a lot of gratuitous violence in this episode, which is always appreciated.

Tonight’s … entertainment?:

• Wrasslin’:
  • Monday Night Raw – 8:00PM | USA / Sportsnet360
    • It’s two weeks until “Exwtreme Rules”, so characters have to line up for events.
  • FYI – to conclude the [DFO] interest in #SpeakingOut, Stroud has been fired from Uproxx, and they have just decided to cancel all wrestling specialty content, preferring to cover it under “All Sports”.
    • In other words, they KSK’d With Spandex.
    • I caught Emily Pratt, ex-from Uproxx, on our local radio wrestling show last night, and she said she was fortunate that she already had one foot out the door and has landed on her feet at a couple of other sites – FanFyte & Deadlock – so she never missed a paycheque.
      • She did have guarded opinions on how everything was handled, including the “Friday Night Massacre” chicken-shit way of releasing the news.
        • But because they are a Warner Music subsidiary, there was at least a competent corporate HR investigation.
• The Titan Games –  8:00 PM | NBC
  • Action continues in the West Division, with Victor Cruz and stunt woman Jessie Graff as pro Titans waiting to take on this round’s winner on Mt. Olympus.
• Botched – 9:00PM | E!
  • Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Nassif look back at some of the patients that left them speechless, including a woman with pubic hair growing out of her cheek, another with a heart on her chest and one with three breasts.
• World Armwrestling League:
  • 2019 WAL 501 – Pittsburgh – 10:00 PM | FS1

Thanks to everyone who covered for me over the last five days. It’ll happen a few more times this summer, as WineWife has to burn off her vacation days before Labour Day, and I’ve got nine weeks to grow out my current hobo look. The ultimate goal?