Quinn’s Quickies: London Jetlag? Summer Sports Talk; Hurley Stays; more

A Friday Quinn’s Quickies:

·       My best guess is we won’t know the effects of the Phillies trip to London for a while, if ever. Injuries to Brandon Marsh and especially JT Realmuto could cloud the picture too much. The Phils split with the Mets overseas and came back to drop 2 of 3 games in Boston against a Red Sox team hovering around .500. Aaron Nola got hit around last night and the bullpen has struggled a bit. Does it matter with a 9-game lead in the NL East? Not yet.

·       It’s that time of year where sports talk doesn’t have much too actually talk about, so they make up topics. Last night, I heard Jon Marks talking about the fact that WIP hosts were talking about the “Eagles Mount Rushmore.” I was going to give mine, but it is mid-June and I might be able to milk that for another post.

·       Dan Hurley turning down millions of dollars to become the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers to remain at the University of Connecticut has to be the sports story of the year so far. I have zero connection to UConn . . . except for winning $500 on them taking the Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship earlier in the year . . . but I love this! Someone said “no” to the franchise that is a media darling no matter how bad they are and wants to stay right where they are to build a dynasty.

·       National media members managed to milk the Caitlin Clark conversation because . . . gasp . . . she didn’t make the Women’s Olympic Basketball Team. I don’t think Clark even cared. Just one thought for all the WNBA analysts offering a snarky “welcome to the league” because people are actually paying attention for a minute because of the cheap shot Clark got not long ago. Stop. No, your league wasn’t built on that type of “tough” play that we just have to get used to from women. If it was, it would have been defunct years ago. The league still doesn’t turn a profit. It was essentially a goodwill mission by former NBA commissioner David Stern to create the league. The NBA carries it. Clark’s shooting from the outside is what excites viewers. Both men and women can watch and think, pretty good; I can’t shoot like that. The WNBA isn’t going to build an audience on low post play with women shooting from close range. Sorry.