“American Pie” by Don McLean

A long, long time ago,

I can still remember, how Julian Strawther used to make Calvin Booth smile…

Woah! That’s got a nice ring. For those in the know, KMARK launched on the day the music died in Denver (Mike Malone and Calvin Booth got fired, everyone still very much alive). Malone’s aversion to playing Young Man Julian Strawther caused an irreparable rift between him and Booth that cost both their jobs. After 15 Big Ones from Strawther, 29 from Jokic, and a real life Jamaal Murray sighting, the Nuggets are one game away from the Conference Finals. Game 7 Sunday (at 12:30?).

PGA Championship will not be taking questions until someone in the World Rankings top 10 climbs the leaderboard. Not a great start in Charlotte. Ryan Gerard (you know Ryan Gerard) raced to an early one shot lead (-5) before Jhonattan Vegas goes ballistic to post -7. Yikes.

Chelsea vs Man United today at 12:15pm. I’ve heard of those teams. In bigger news, second place Swiss side Servette takes down FC Lugano 4-1. A beautiful 70 degree day in Geneva yields a W for the home club. Sounds fun.

The NFL schedule release is a micro glimpse into your future. Where will you be for the week 2 Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl rematch? Does Falcons-Colts Week 9 in Berlin prompt you to cash in your Lufthansa points? Obviously, the NFL schedule is at its heart a transparent glimpse into how the NFL believes it can generate the most eyeballs (revenue) on screen. Let’s see how they feed us Football.

Amazon puts together a really strong football product. I don’t know how (yes I do, money), but they saved Thursday Night Football. What was once the NFL Network’s darling, is now Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and a super strong studio staff including Ryan Fitzpatrick, Richard Sherman and more. Gone are the days of infinite Titans, Browns, and Cardinal games on TNF. Next year’s slate will feature at least one appearance from all 14 of last year’s playoff squads. The games surely suffer from asking humans to play two football games in a 5 day span, but the matchups are stronger, the production 100x better, and Thursday Football is no longer worth missing. As a Football Eater, I love this weekly appetizer.

Highlights

- Week 2: Commanders vs Packers

- Week 5: 49ers vs Rams

- Week 12: Bills vs Texans

Netflix should be juuuuuust fine if they don’t face any of the technical difficulties exposed in the Paul-Tyson fight. Traditionally, Christmas is an NBA holiday. ESPN and NBC are the unique broadcasters of both leagues. They each pony up for premier football spots (MNF and SNF). In an effort to Diversify The Portfolio, the NFL tapped Netflix for Christmas games. Roger Goodell isn’t gunna sit around and watch another league monopolize a Religious Experience. Netflix is now the broadcaster of choice for Santa Day. Netflix averaged 24 million viewers across its two games last year. That’s 5x what a normal Xmas NBA game draws (Adam Silver sad). This year, they get Cowboys vs Commanders and Vikings vs Lions. Not one to share a spotlight, Bezos Broadcasting airs Broncos/Chiefs to close the night. Shove the brussels sprouts (NBA) aside, Xmas feast is now heavy on the football.

The NFL’s prevailing themes:

- Make every game a spectacle (7 international games, deliciouso!)

- National games reserved for the best teams (11 Chiefs games, getting tired of this food)

- Added flex opportunities to get bad food off your plate (expect plenty of Steelers games flexed out of the national schedule)

Altogether, the menu is full of tasty treats. Start workin on that body, because come September, it’s time to Eat.