June 6, 1944-DDay. Today is the 79th anniversary of D-Day, when troops from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada landed on the beaches of France. The day was momentous because Allied soldiers infiltrated occupied Western Europe, entering through the beaches of Normandy, which were held by Nazi Germany. Nearly 5,000 allied forces lost their lives that day. However, less than 90 days later, Allied forces liberated Paris from German control signaling the near end of the war in Europe. We can never forget. See my Video of the Day.
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All parties interested in the fast-changing world of college sports will be watching proposed legislation in California. Per the Wall Street Journal, California lawmakers have moved onto the next big battleground in the convulsive world of college sports: sharing the industry’s wealth with athletes.
California’s state Assembly on Thursday passed a bill to require universities in the state to use all new athletic revenue generated by sports such as football and basketball to pay players. It could give athletes a slice of tens of millions of dollars each year and has already set off alarm bells for college sports officials.
The California bill is intended to share the rapidly expanding revenue pool generated by college sports as it grows in the future. Beginning in the 2023-24 school year, revenue generated that exceeds their school’s 2021-22 revenue will be shared among athletes.
That could include a windfall for University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles football players after their schools move in 2024 to the Big Ten, as they would benefit from the conference’s $7.5 billion seven-year media rights deal. It could also mean a boost for San Diego State players after its bracket-busting men’s basketball team made it to the final of the 2023 NCAA tournament.
Payments to players would be based on a formula in which half of the money is set aside for male athletes and half for female athletes every year, and then apportioned equally among players in programs that generate revenue over the 2021-22 baseline, after the cost of players’ scholarships has been deducted.
Who knows where all this is going, but I know that Bo and Woody are turning over in the graves.
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When I think about forest fires I think about California and the west coast. Michigan is not on my radar. It is now.
On Saturday, I was out on my bike, and I felt like I had small particles of dust caught in my throat that were causing me to cough. When I got out of the wooded area and into an open area, I noticed a haze in the air that had previously been clear. When I finished my ride, I said something to Leah, who then told me about the forest fire in Grayling less than an hour from Petoskey. I am not sure if the haze was from the Grayling fire or the Canadian fires. Regardless, it did not feel good. We still have not had any rain for over 10 days and there is no rain in the near forecast.
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Then there is this in the NY Times tonight. Smoke from the hundreds of wildfires blazing in eastern Canada has drifted south, casting a hazy pall over New York City and triggering air alerts from Minnesota to Massachusetts. More than 400 active wildfires were burning in Canada on Tuesday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, exacerbating an already active wildfire season that is only expected to worsen. More than 200 of the fires were burning out of control, the agency said.
Bands of smoke from the wildfires shifted southward across the border on Tuesday, creating hazy skies and prompting the U.S. National Weather Service to issue air quality alerts for parts of the Northeast and upper Great Lakes regions.
It is always something.
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How times have changed. The former president’s vice president and the former president’s campaign consultant are now running against him in the 2024 Republican primary. Pence and Christie, two previously close allies of the former president, now want to move the party away from him. The 2024 lead up to the Republican nomination is going to be very interesting. The only thing that could make it more interesting is for Giuliani to announce his candidacy.
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Quote of the Day: I didn’t see this one coming. “A women is like a small mouth bass, catching them is easy, but once you tug on the line they fight like hell.” One of the bag drop ladies at Boyne Mountain’s Alpine Golf Course
Orchid of the Day: The Detroit Pistons for hiring Monty Williams as their new head coach. Williams is going to make a difference.
Onion of the Day: The Tigers’ bats. They are in a slump of epic proportions.
Question of the Day: This from one of the subscribers after reading yesterday’s blog. “Tom, have you ever known anyone from Michigan that had a summer home in Ohio?”
Video of the Day: D-Day