Cleaning out the inbox

The cleaning of the inbox continues as I offer notes from the sports world in this segment and soon will sift through the non-sports notes later in the week.

Former "dirtiest player in the game" Conrad Dobler shares his battles with health issues from the game with 7220Sports.com, which is a site that covers Wyoming sports.
Wyoming was the alma mater of Dobler and the long article discusses Dobler's college and pro career, the tragic accident suffered by his recently deceased wife in 2001 and his current cognitive issues along with how it affects his family.
It's a really interesting read about how football can leave you impaired, yet still, be willing to go back and do it all over again.

Retrosimba.com writes something that I had never heard before as they write that the then St.Louis Cardinals were twice offered Jim Brown for their running back of the time John David Crow.
Crow, who won the Heisman at Texas A&M in 1957, had rushed for over 1,000 yards in 1960, but still finished 200 yards behind Brown for the rushing title.
The supposed discussions were noted by various newspapers at the time as mentioned in the article and one of them was the good old Hagerstown Herald-Mail, who talked to Bears quarterback Billy Wade ( I have no idea how or why Wade would be chatting with the Herald-Mail) for his thoughts on the proposed trade.
Wade was quoted as saying the Cardinals made the right choice in turning the trade down and keeping Crow, which might have been why Billy Wade never ran an NFL front office.

The San Francisco Chronicle writes of the story of Giants announcer Mike Krukow and his service dog Patriot.
I've written before of the Giants TV team of Krukow, Duane Kuiper, and Amy Gutierrez playing a key role in my Giants fandom starting because they are so good at what they do and I've written of Krukow's condition, inclusion-body myositis and his susceptibility to falling in the past, but I've never mentioned Patriot as Krukow's service dog.
The story is mainly about Krukow and why he needs the help that Patriot provides, but there is plenty about the service program, how Patriot was trained and his integration into the Krukow family.
As for Gutierrez, she recently did an interview with "Sportsastoldbyagirl" and discusses her entrance into television, the ups and downs of being a female in a male-dominated business and her top memories covering the Giants.

The New York Times writes of the pain and problems that catchers receive (no pun intended) from foul tips that are diverted and smack off the facemask.
When you consider how hard pitchers throw in today's game and then mix in the speed from a swinging bat, the Times equates the impact of those foul tips to taking a punch from a strong boxer.
An interesting point was comparing catchers to other sports players, who can return to the game if removed for an injury, while catchers cannot.
That's very true and the article mentioned that baseball had considered a rule that would allow a catcher to leave the game under those conditions and return later if the player would be judged to be fine after an evaluation.

ESPN writes of the continuing decline in fighting in the NHL.
Between the changes in the style of the game and players that were once kept on the roster to be an enforcer are no longer able to be kept on a roster because the luxury of a one-dimensional player doesn't exist in making a roster in today's game, fighting penalties have and will likely continue to fall over the next few years.
Fighting at the junior hockey level has decreased even more due to rules that lead to suspensions for players that fight more than a certain amount and perhaps that reason alone will continue to see fighting lessen as players learn to play hockey without having to fight.
I miss fighting, always enjoyed it, but it's not a mandatory part of the game and I can live without it, as it dries up as time goes by.

We wrap up with The Athletic's article on the 1994 Indians and how they lost a shot at a playoff run due to the strike that canceled the postseason and ended what would have been the Indians first playoff berth since 1959.
The Indians were almost sure to be the wild-card team and with only a one game deficit between the Indians and first place Chicago in the Central Division, the Indians could have easily won the division.
Still, the young players that led the 1994 Indians into contention, would be the same players that took Cleveland to the 1995 World Series and their development was the biggest part of that and the ensuing playoff contenders in the late 90s.

Lots of notes finished but plenty still to go and the next cleaning will be from the non-sports side!

Cleaning out the inbox: Passings

Part of going on trips and don't worry I'll be writing about those soon is accumulating items in the inbox.

In this edition of the inbox with some goodbyes to recent passings, this will be totally from the football world with four former stars passing away of late.

Goodbye to Keith Lincoln at the age of 80.
Lincoln, who composed the AFL's first great running back combination with Paul Lowe, set the AFL record for yards from scrimmage with 329 in the 1963 championship game in which the Chargers crushed the Boston Patriots 51-10.
Lincoln's performance is even more impressive considering that he touched the ball only twenty times in the game (13 rushes, 7 catches) and ranked with the top of the big-play threats in the AFL's history.
Some will also remember Lincoln for taking the biggest hit in the AFL era as he was crushed by Buffalo's Mike Stratton in the 1965 title game as Lincoln ran out of the backfield on a swing pattern and was driven from the game from a ferocious tackle.
That hit took all the air from the slightly favored Chargers and Buffalo would cruise to victory.

Goodbye to Cliff Branch at the age of 71.
Branch was arguably the top deep threat of the 1970s and with the Raiders style of believing in the downfield pass, it was Branch more than any other Raider that the defense had to plan for and was a player on all three Raider world championship team.
Branch finished his career with an average of over seventeen yards a catch and 67 touchdowns along with leading the league in receiving yards in 1974.
Branch was such a threat that it was his deep speed that scared the Steelers so much that in an urban legend, the Steelers grounds crew allegedly froze the Three Rivers Stadium turf to keep the Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler from throwing the deep pass to Branch.

Goodbye to Jack Dolbin at the age of 70.
Dolbin, who was the steady possession receiver on the first Denver Broncos team to make the playoffs in 1977 as well as the following season, also played in the World Football League for the Chicago Fire as well as his hometown Pottstown Firebirds in the Atlantic Coast Football League in the Firebirds final season of 1970 in which the famous NFL Films special on Pottstown was based on.
Dolbin became a chiropractor after leaving the Broncos near Pottstown and had a small part in NFL Films Lost Treasures programs on both the Firebirds and the WFL.

Goodbye to Dave Parks at the age off 77.
Parks was the first pick of the 1964 draft by San Francisco and in 1965, Parks led the league in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for the 49ers.
Parks is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame from his years at Texas Tech, where he still holds the defensive record for longest interception return-98 years.
Parks was also one of the few players of that time to play both wide receiver and tight end as there were not a lot of receivers that were fast enough to play wideout, yet be strong enough to play tight end with the game being far more ground-oriented than it is today.
Parks also was one of the rare players to switch teams in pre-free agency era as Parks elected to play out his option after the 1967 season and would sign with the New Orleans Saints.
In those days, commissioner Pete Rozelle would decide on the compensation that would be given to the team that lost a player and Rozelle crushed the Saints, who had played only one season at that point and handed the 49ers the Saints first-round selections in 1968 and 1969 for signing away Parks.
Parks was a solid player in his five seasons as a Saint, but, due to more factors than Parks, never approached the brilliant level that he played at as a Niner.
Parks played one more season with the Houston Oilers and one with the WFL's Southern California Sun before hanging the cleats up for good.

Boxing Challenge: Ortiz outslugs Orozco

In the latest step up in the career of elite welterweight prospect Vergil Ortiz, Ortiz won a minor title, but more importantly, showed patience and power as he knocked out Antonio Orozco in the sixth round in Grand Prarie, Texas.

The title may be almost meaningless, but the performance certainly was not as Ortiz nearly finished the fight in the first round as he drove Orozco into the ropes, badly stunning and I wouldn't have argued had the referee ruled that a knockdown.
Ortiz then settled into a groove and even though Orozco continued to throw punches with occasional success, Ortiz was showing the type of patience that future champions possess as he entered the sixth round for the first time in his career.
Ortiz landed a huge uppercut early in the sixth that really was the end of the fight as Orozco hit the floor.
Orozco showed a massive heart in rising, but soon was dropped again and could have packed the evening in right there. but lifted himself up one more time and attempted to hold on, but a screaming Ortiz left hook sent Orozco to the floor once more and there was no need to see anything further as the fight was called off.
For Ortiz, it was a solid win over a world-class level fighter, although Orozco had proven himself at junior welterweight, not at welterweight and showed that he can be more than a one-dimensional hitter as he moves higher up the welterweight rankings.
The biggest problem for Ortiz might be similar to that of Terence Crawford in the welterweight division- his promoter/media presenter just doesn't have anyone for him to fight.
The only DAZN (and not even Golden Boy Promotions) fighter in the division in the top ten is Jessie Vargas, so that fight would make sense as something to pursue, but other than Vargas there is next to nothing available in the division at this time.
Vergil Ortiz might be the next star welterweight, let's hope he gets the chance to prove it.

In the other fight in the challenge, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr knocked out Evert Bravo in the first round after landing a body shot.
Chavez looked strong in his first fight at 175 pounds, but Bravo had been knocked out in three of his previous four fights, so let's see him in his next outing.

In the boxing challenge, I scored three points to Ramon Malpica's two to extend my lead to 203-176.

Finally, on the ESPN card that I watched, despite not placing any fights for the boxing challenge, one of those fights that you love to see, but rarely occur took place in Philadelphia as the highly-touted prospect lost against the fighter brought in as an enhancement talent.
This one was even bigger than just a touted prospect as two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez was shocked by 5-2-2 Adan Gonzales in a split decision that should have been unanimous.
Ramirez suffered a flash knockdown in the first round when a Gonzales left hand knocked Ramirez off balance and when Ramirez's glove steadied him on the floor, it was correctly ruled a knockdown.
With a 10-8 first-round against him, Ramirez would have to sweep the next three rounds to win the fight and all things considered, it was still considered likely, but instead, Gonzales continued to win the exchanges as Ramirez looked stuck in the amateur style, didn't work off his jab as the taller and longer fighter and most importantly was outworked throughout the fight as I scored Gonzales a 39-36 victor.
To no one's surprise, there is always the house judge as somehow David Braslow scored Ramirez a 38-37 winner, meaning that on his card, Ramirez did win the final three rounds.
The bigger surprise, which says a lot for boxing, is that the other two judges didn't find a way to score the fight for the house fighter and gave Gonzales a split decision win.
We'll see if this win is the highlight of the career for Adan Gonzales or if he has a future ahead of him, but for one night Gonzales was as good as he had to be to pull a huge and unexpected upset.

Browns trade Duke Johnson to Houston

The Cleveland Browns were forced into a corner from various moves from the off-season and finally had to end the game as the Browns traded running back Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans.

Johnson had been requesting a trade ever since the Browns signed Kareem Hunt and after Hunt would potentially return from his NFL-enforced suspension, Johnson's role would likely dwindle to that of a situational pass receiving back, which would not thrill the former Miami Hurricane.

Johnson ran for 201 yards last season on 40 carries and caught 47 passes for 429 yards with three of those catches resulting in touchdowns, but as Nick Chubb established himself as a feature running back and Baker Mayfield throwing the ball more to downfield receivers, Johnson's statistics took the largest hit of all the Browns weapons.
Johnson was irked by the signing of Kareem Hunt in the off-season and demanded a trade, despite the teams' assurances to him that even upon Hunt's return from a suspension that Johnson would see plenty of touches.
Johnson was a reluctant participant in mini-camp and the writing appeared on the wall for his departure as Johnson again expressed a wish for a trade and was criticized to the media by Baker Mayfield for not buying into the program.

Johnson's final stats with the Browns showed him rushing for just under 1,300 yards, grabbing 235 passes for close to 2,300 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns as a Brown.
The 2015 third-round choice heads to Houston, where he should become a larger part of a Texans offense that he should step in immediately as the top non-Demetrius Hopkins pass-catching threat in quantity and is likely to see more carries as the second back (Behind Lamar Miller) than he would have behind Nick Chubb (and later Kareem Hunt) in Cleveland.

As for the Browns, sending Johnson to Houston, who has been a common trading partner during recent years, they picked up pretty good value for a running back that they were able to use for four seasons as Cleveland added the Texans 2020 fourth-round draft pick, that will become a third-rounder, if Johnson plays in ten games for Houston, which unless Johnson suffers a severe injury early in the season is a standard that Johnson should easily exceed.
Adding a more than likely third-rounder for a player that you picked in the third and were able to use for four seasons, is quite a solid return and frankly, a higher return than I expected in a trade for Johnson.

I think both teams did well here.
Houston may have paid a little more than I would have for Johnson, but they will have plenty of things that they can do with the versatile Johnson, who will see plenty of snaps.
The Browns gain another pick in the 2020 draft (they have Arizona's sixth for Jamal Taylor and Buffalo's seventh for Corey Coleman) and remove an unhappy player that could have caused a problem in the locker room as the season moved by.

Still have much more to write, so back with more soon!

Boxing Challenge

Ok, ok, it's been almost a week, but stay tuned as I'll be back with a vengeance as I was on the road for five days, so I'll eventually have plenty of road and autographing stories from five ballpark visits and the wackiness that comes with being on the road with your friends.
I'll also have thoughts on the Browns trading of Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans and maybe some thoughts on the pre-season game against Washington, if I have time to pull it off the DVR with plenty of inbox cleaning still to do as well.

A light week in the boxing challenge became lighter with the "large ornament" in the Philadelphia hotel lobby that was knocked over and broke the hand of Carl Frampton, which therefore ended Frampton's scheduled return from his loss to Josh Warrington against Emmanuel Dominguez.
Since the main event on ESPN+ lacks some interest now, there are only two fights for the challenge this week.

Golden Boy Promotions is having a bad week with issues with Canelo Alvarez, but they hope to rebound with their Texas card on DAZN with the best prospect that the company has in welterweight Vergil Ortiz facing his toughest test in Antonio Orozco for one of those WBA minor titles that we love so much.
Ortiz knocked out durable veteran Mauricio Herrera, who had never been previously stopped before, in his last fight and takes another step up against Orozco, who has lost only once and that unanimous decision loss to Jose Ramirez for the then WBC junior welterweight title (Ramirez has since added the WBO title) in a good action fight that looks even better after Ramirez's win over Maurice Hooker.
Ortiz has stopped all 13 of his foes against little resistance, so the interest here is what happens when Orozco, a good puncher at 140, hits the young prospect.
I'm looking forward to this one.

The other challenge fight is more of a novelty act as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr returns in Mexico in a ten rounder with Chavez moving up to the light heavyweights against Evert Bravo.
Chavez Jr has not fought in over two years after taking a pounding against Canelo Alvarez and needs a win that he needs to look impressive against Bravo, who won his last fight against an 0-1 boxer but was knocked out in each of his three previous fights.
If Chavez allows Bravo to see the final bell, that might be almost considered a loss.

In the boxing challenge, I lead the boxing challenge over Ramon Malpica 200-174.

Welterweights. 12 Rds
Vergil Ortiz vs Antonio Orozco
R.L: Ortiz KO 5
TRS: Ortiz KO 10

Light Heavyweights. 10 Rds
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs Evert Bravo
R.L: Chavez Unanimous Decision
TRS: Chavez KO 6

Boxing Challenge: Kowacki outworks Arreola, Pascal stuns Browne

The largest part of the boxing weekend was brought to you by PBC on Fox from their unofficial home base at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, and entering the evening, the card looked very much like a less than stellar set of fights.
Instead, PBC provided a pretty strong evening of fun boxing and left me wishing that they would offer more nights like this in the future.

In the main event, heavyweight Adam Kownacki took a unanimous decision over Chris Arreola to continue his movement towards what might eventually see Kownacki face Deontay Wilder for Wilder's WBC title.
The fight was filled with more action in the first half of the fight than in the latter, but each fighter landed plenty in a fight that the Fox broadcast stated that records were set for punches thrown and landed for a heavyweight fight.
Neither fighter used a lot of movement, but it was Kownacki landing the bigger shots and forced the veteran Arreola backward for most of the fights.
There were no knockdowns scored and the first seven to eight rounds had toe to toe exchanges that had the crowd roaring with approval.
I wouldn't rate this as an all-time classic, but it was an excellent fight and any fight fan had to enjoy this one with a possible rematch being worth signing.
With that said, I wouldn't be against this fight standing alone either as PBC is building Kownacki as a future opponent for Wilder, yet his limitations could get him defeated in any fight and possibly blow a big crowd in Brooklyn for Kownacki, who lives in the area.
At the same time, as well as Arreola fought, it is also possible that this was the last stand for the veteran from California and a rematch could see a lopsided win for Kownacki.

The semi-main event between Marcus Browne and Jean Pascal for one of those pesky minor WBA belts looked to be all in the corner of Browne, who dominated the 36-year-old former champion for five of the completed seven rounds and looked the part of the best PBC light heavyweight as he fought for the first time since dominating Badou Jack earlier this year.
The problem was that Browne's chin considered a question since being knocked down twice by Radivoje Kalajdzic in an even more questionable split decision win, couldn't hold up as Pascal knocked Browne down in the fourth and twice more in the seventh with the bell perhaps saving Browne.
With the bout even on my card, Pascal jumped on Browne to start the eighth round and during that flurry, a clash of heads opened a horrendous cut over Browne's left eye and resulted in the fight being stopped shortly thereafter.
The decision by Pascal to attack resulted in his winning the fight, as the partially completed round still had to be scored and with Pascal winning that round on all cards, resulted in his winning the fight via the unanimous decision.
The fight screams for a rematch and with the dearth of PBC contenders in the division makes it likely to happen.
For Browne, it not only was his first loss, but it also showed his vulnerability to right hands as Pascal isn't known as a big puncher as he had never scored a knockout over a top ten contender in his career and makes one wonder how Browne would fare against a really big hitter.
For Pascal, who fought surprisingly well, the win should give him another payday or two as his career winds down and with luck, perhaps a few more.

The opening fight saw another upset as middleweight Wale Omotoso crushed former middleweight title challenger Curtis Stevens in three rounds.
Stevens, who has made his career in beating fringe contenders outside the top ten, attacked in his normal manner, but was knocked down once in the first and twice in the second, appearing to be in big trouble in round two.
Stevens came out strong in the third and seemed to be Omotoso hurt and prepared for a come from behind victory before Omotoso dropped Stevens to end the fight after Stevens just barely rose and the referee ended the fight.
Stevens should likely retire and Omotoso will remain a fringe contender in the middleweights.
Considering the spectacular win, I would not be at all surprised to see Omotoso in against WBC champion Jermall Charlo, with the weak condition of 160 pounders on the PBC side.

The other challenge fight is one that I have not seen yet as featherweight prospect Michael Conlan stopped Diego Antonio Ruiz in the ninth round.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica 2 to 1 to move my lead to 200-174

Boxing Challenge

A very soft weekend in the boxing challenge with three fights from Fox and another from ESPN+ with none being exactly compelling.

Fox's evening card has a top of the page fight that could be interesting, if not overly important.
Heavyweight Adam Kownacki has been pushed to the upper end of the PBC heavyweight clan and he'll gain exposure for an eventual title shot against WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Kownacki's opponent is shopworn Chris Arreola, who has challenged for that same title three times, but other than entertaining post-fight interviews doesn't seem to have a lot remaining in his career.
Arreola does have a chance here as he won't have to chase Kownacki, so this could be fun to watch for a bit, especially if Arreola has anything at all left to offer.

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne, who looked very strong in his January win over Badou Jack faces veteran Jean Pascal in the co-feature.
Browne, a former Olympian, has been dealing with out of the ring problems since defeating Jack, so he could be distracted entering this fight.
If Browne is on his game, the aging Pascal should be an opponent that Browne shines against.

The opener will have Curtis Stevens, a former middleweight title challenger, facing another veteran in Wale Omotoso.
Stevens, an action fighter who is capable over steamrolling a B or C level fighter, but has come up short against the upper-division level boxers, should have a chance to look like a steamroller against Omotoso, who has never defeated a top 10 fighter,but isn't a pushover either.

Featherweight prospect Michael Conlan leads an ESPN+ card from Belfast Northern Ireland.
Conlan faces late replacement Diego Alberto Ruiz as Conlan continues his way up the ladder from prospect to a possible contender.
Conlan has not been overly impressive to me as a professional thus far and something (for now at least) makes me think that he could be a disappointment in the future.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 198-173

Heavyweights.12 Rds
Adam Kownacki vs Chris Arreola
R.L: Arreola KO 6
TRS: Kownacki KO 4

Light Heavyweights 12 Rds
Marcus Browne vs Jean Pascal
Both: Browne Unanimous Decision

Middleweights. 10 Rds
Curtis Stevens vs Wale Omotoso
R.L: Stevens KO 9
TRS: Stevens KO 7

Featherweights 10 Rds
Michael Conlan vs Diego Antonio Ruiz
Both: Conlan Unanimous Decision