Former India players Chetan Sharma, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Nayan Mongia and the Mumbai duo of Abey Kuruvilla and Ajit Agarkar have applied for two positions in the Indian men's selection committee after the board invited applications last week. PTI reported that two others, the former India and Madhya Pradesh duo of Rajesh Chauhan and Amay Khurasiya, have also thrown their hat into the ring.

The BCCI had earlier announced January 24 as the cut-off date to receive applications. They are yet to release an update on the number of applicants and the interview date. It's also unclear as to when the new set of selectors, which also includes a new women's selection panel and a couple of junior men's selectors, would be appointed.

The position of chairman in the men's committee is up for grabs with MSK Prasad, the former India wicketkeeper, finishing his four-year term last November. Since then, he has been on an extension along with former India and Rajasthan batsman Gagan Khoda.

Sivaramakrishnan is the oldest among the list of people ESPNcricinfo confirmed to have applied, while Mongia, the former wicketkeeper, has the most Test caps (44). Agarkar, meanwhile, was the last of the lot to retire, in 2013.

As per the rules of the constitution, the person with the most Test caps will be the chairman of the selection committee.

Sivaramakrishanan headed the Tamil Nadu Under-19 selection committee in the early years of this decade. That aside, he has been a broadcaster for two decades and even sat on the ICC Cricket Committee. Mongia was part of Baroda selection committee in both senior and junior men's categories while Kuruvilla (2012 to 2015) and Agarkar (2017 to 2019) were the chairman of Mumbai selection committee.

It is unclear yet as to who would conduct the interviews. As per the BCCI constitution the men's selectors need to be appointed by a cricket advisory committee (CAC). However, the CAC has been defunct since last November.

Although, as reported recently, three former India players comprising Gautam Gambhir, Madan Lal and Sulakhshana Naik were in the running for the CAC. But the BCCI has not made that decision public yet.

What is also not clear is whether the BCCI would pick the selectors purely on merit and not on the zonal basis, a criteria that was applied for long till it was discarded in 2017 when the board conducted interview for the first time to pick the selection committees.

Additional reporting by Shashank Kishore

Ben Stokes could be in trouble with the match referee after an angry exchange with a spectator on the first day of England's final Test against South Africa.

Stokes paused as he left the field following his dismissal and, in response to comments from a spectator, appeared to say: "Come say that to me outside the ground, you f***ing four-eyed c***."

Stokes' words were picked up by broadcasters and, though not shown live, were broadcast shortly after his dismissal. They were soon shared multiple times on social media. The spectator's comments were not broadcast, though it is understood that the spectator involved, who is middle-aged, suggested Stokes looked like the singer, Ed Sheeran.

Use of an audible obscenity during an International Match is considered a Level One offence - the least serious - and carries a penalty of one demerit point. Stokes does not have any active demerit points, so the penalty - and any accompanying fine - would amount to little more than a slap on the wrist.

In the unlikely event his words are considered a threat of assault, however, then he could be charged with a Level Three offence. If that charge was upheld, Stokes would be hit with five or six demerit points and would be facing a suspension.

It is also possible his words will be considered 'conduct that brings the game into disrepute' which would leave him open to anything from a Level One to a Level Four offence. Level Four offences are the most serious.

The match referee may well take several factors into mitigation. For one thing, the gravity of the comments aimed at Stokes may be considered, while there will also be some thought to Stokes' state of mind as he deals with the ongoing illness of his father, Ged, who remains in hospital in the city having fallen ill at the start of the tour.

The ECB may also be underwhelmed with the incident. The sponsors of Test cricket in England are Specsavers, while it is not so long since Stokes helped England win the Leeds Test in partnership with the bespectacled Jack Leach.

Roger Federer's championship mettle was tested in the third round of the Australian Open, as the No. 3 seed survived in five sets against John Millman.

Federer, a six-time winner in Melbourne, came back from down 8-4 in the fifth-set tiebreak to win 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (8).

"All of a sudden you turn the whole thing around within, like, two minutes and it was so worthwhile, you know, everything that I have gone through," Federer said.

"I think if I do play tennis, it's because of winning titles, trying to win as many matches as possible, [enjoying] myself out on court," he added, "but also being in epic matches like this."

The entertaining, back-and-forth contest lasted a tad more than four hours, beginning on Friday and concluding at nearly 1 a.m. Saturday, with roars after each point during the first-to-10 tiebreaker in the fifth set.

Millman was two points away from victory, but the 30-year-old Brisbane, Australia, native saw Federer rattle off six straight points to win the match.

"It came down to the wire at the end. A bit of luck, maybe. I had to stay so focused," Federer said of staring down the man who knocked him out of the 2018 US Open. "He kept on coming up with the goods. ... I was getting ready to explain myself in the press conference."

Federer's biggest issue was his forehand, for so long one of the secrets to his success. It deserted him for stretches, and he finished with a whopping 48 of his 82 unforced errors from that shot.

But that shot also helped him deliver the final winner he would need on match point.

"He pushed me to go for more. You know me: I'm not going to hold back and just rally all the time," Federer said. "I will always try to make plays, and for that I will miss some."

Moments earlier, three consecutive amazing shots -- a backhand stop volley, followed by a pair of forehand passing winners -- by Millman pushed him ahead 8-4 in the final tiebreaker.

It wasn't enough.

"That's what the best players, I guess, do," Millman said of Federer's comeback. "I'll have to go back and watch it."

Federer will next face Marton Fucsovics, a 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 winner over American Tommy Paul on Friday.

Novak Djokovic had a much easier time at Rod Laver Arena.

In the match following Serena Williams' upset loss to China's Wang Qiang, the second-seeded Djokovic easily defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to move on to the fourth round.

Djokovic, a seven-time Australian Open champion, needed only 85 minutes to beat Nishioka. He had 17 aces and won 43 of 46 points (93.5%) on his first serve, his highest percentage of first-serve points won in a completed major match. At one point, he won 34 consecutive points on his serve.

The win marked the 50th time Djokovic has reached the round of 16 at a major, second among men in the Open era after Federer. He will next face No. 14 Diego Schwartzman, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over Dusan Lajovic.

Also on the men's side, Marin Cilic finally has a win over Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open after two losses to the Spaniard at Melbourne Park.

Cilic, who won the 2014 US Open and was an Australian Open finalist in 2018, defeated ninth-seeded Bautista Agut 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 to advance to the fourth round.

Bautista Agut beat Cilic in Melbourne last year in the fourth round and also won in 2016 in the third round.

The 39th-ranked Cilic is unseeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2014 Australian Open. He will next play Milos Raonic, who authored a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over sixth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Raonic, a 2016 Wimbledon finalist, had five match points in the third-set tiebreaker and converted his second with a booming forehand winner for the victory at Margaret Court Arena.

Seeded 32nd, Raonic finished with 19 aces and 55 winners in a dominating performance against Tsitsipas, who beat Federer in Melbourne last year on the way to the semifinals.

Raonic's best run in Australia was to the last four in 2016, when he became the first Canadian man to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park. He lost that match and the Wimbledon final later that year to Andy Murray.

Raonic missed the French and US Open tournaments last year with injuries, but he said he is feeling better after an offseason in which he could focus on recovery.

"It's fun to be healthy, to be playing well," Raonic told the crowd. "I can really take a lot of pleasure in that."

The other matchup with a quarterfinal berth at stake on the bottom half of the men's draw is 100th-ranked Tennys Sandgren against No. 12 Fabio Fognini.

Sandgren, whose best Grand Slam showing was a quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open in 2018, topped Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in an all-U.S. matchup.

Fognini beat No. 22 Guido Pella 7-6 (0), 6-2, 6-3.

"He's a character, man," Sandgren said about Fognini. "What you see is what you get."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints are going to court to keep the public from seeing hundreds of emails that allegedly show team executives doing public relations damage control for the area's Roman Catholic archdiocese to help it contain the fallout from a burgeoning sexual abuse crisis.

Attorneys for about two dozen men suing the church say in court filings that the 276 documents they obtained through discovery show that the NFL team, whose owner is devoutly Catholic, aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its "pattern and practice of concealing its crimes."

"Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints' public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia," the attorneys wrote in a court filing. "The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself."

Saints attorneys, in court papers, disputed any suggestion that the team helped the church cover up crimes, calling such claims "outrageous." They further said that the emails, exchanged in 2018 and 2019, were intended to be private and should not be "fodder for the public." The archdiocese is also fighting the release of the emails.

The NFL, which was advised of the matter by plaintiffs' attorneys because the Saints' emails used the team's nfl.com domain, has not commented on the case. NFL policy says everyone who is a part of the league must refrain from "conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in" the NFL.

A court-appointed special master is expected to hear arguments in the coming weeks on whether the communications should remain confidential.

The Associated Press, which has extensively covered clergy sexual abuse in a series of stories over the past year, filed a motion with the court supporting the release of the documents as a matter of public interest.

"This case does not involve intensely private individuals who are dragged into the spotlight," the AP argued, "but well-known mega-institutions that collect millions of dollars from local residents to support their activities."

Ties between local church leaders and the Saints include a close friendship between New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond and Gayle Benson, who inherited the Saints and New Orleans Pelicans when her husband, Tom Benson, died in 2018. The archbishop was at Gayle Benson's side as she walked in the funeral procession.

Gayle Benson has given millions of dollars to Catholic institutions in the New Orleans area, and the archbishop is a regular guest of hers at games and charitable events for the church.

Attorneys for the men suing the church say multiple Saints personnel, including senior vice president of communications Greg Bensel, used their team emails to advise church officials on "messaging" and how to soften the impact of the archdiocese's release of a list of clergy members "credibly accused" of sexual abuse.

"The information at issue bears a relationship to these crimes because it is a continuation of the Archdiocese's pattern and practice of concealing its crimes so that the public does not discover its criminal behavior," the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote. "And the Saints joined in."

A Saints spokeswoman Friday said team officials had no comment.

Attorneys for the Saints acknowledged in a court filing that the team assisted the archdiocese in its publishing of the credibly accused clergy list but said that was an act of disclosure -- "the opposite of concealment."

A handful of Saints emails that emerged last year in the clergy abuse litigation included an October 2018 exchange in which Bensel asked an archdiocese spokeswoman whether there might be "a benefit to saying we support a victims right to pursue a remedy through the courts."

"I don't think we want to say we 'support' victims going to the courts," Sarah McDonald, the archdiocese's communications director, replied, "but we certainly encourage them to come forward."

The fight over the emails is part of a flurry of claims filed against the archdiocese over its employment of George F. Brignac, a longtime schoolteacher and deacon who was removed from the ministry in 1988 after a 7-year-old boy accused him of fondling him at a Christmas party. That accusation followed claims that Brignac abused several other boys, including one case that led to his acquittal in 1978 on three counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Church officials permitted Brignac, 85, to act as a lay minister until local news accounts of his service in 2018 prompted his ouster and an apology from the archdiocese. The AP last year reported that Brignac, despite his supposed defrocking, maintained access to schoolchildren and held leadership roles as recently as 2018 in the Knights of Columbus.

Following a new wave of publicity -- in which Brignac told a reporter he had touched boys but never for "immoral purposes" -- Brignac was indicted last month on a rape charge that could land him behind bars for the rest of his life. The prosecution came more than a year after a former altar boy told police that Brignac repeatedly raped him beginning in the late 1970s. Police said the abuse began when the boy was 7 and continued until he was 11.

The archdiocese has settled several lawsuits against Brignac and included the former deacon in the list of more than 50 names it released in late 2018 of "credibly accused" clergy.

A lawyer for the archdiocese said earlier this month that the plaintiffs' attorneys seeking the release of the Saints emails were engaged in a "proverbial witch hunt with respect to decades-old abuse."

The attorney, E. Dirk Wegmann, told the special master that the plaintiffs only want the Saints emails released so they can give them to the media and "unfairly try to tar and feather the archdiocese."

Coach Ed Orgeron and LSU have agreed to a six-year contract extension through the 2026 season that is valued at more than $42 million, the school announced Friday.

The agreement, pending approval of the LSU board of supervisors, includes a base annual salary of $6 million. In addition, Orgeron will receive a $5 million split-dollar life-insurance policy paid out over the first two years of the deal.

Orgeron, a Louisiana native who called LSU his dream job, led the Tigers (15-0) to a 42-25 win over Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship earlier this month for the school's first title since 2007. He was named the winner of the 2019 Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award last week.

Since Orgeron took over as coach in 2016, LSU is 40-9, including an 11-1 record in its past 12 games against top-10 opponents.

"Coach O has set a new standard at LSU," athletic director Scott Woodward said in a statement. "He has proven that he is not only a championship coach, but also a leader of a program committed to doing things the right way. He has represented our institution and our state with great pride, on and off the field of play. He is well-deserving of this new contract, which should make clear our commitment to Coach O and the direction of our football program."

The new deal represents a significant raise for Orgeron, who was making $4 million per year in base salary going into the 2019 season. He still will rank behind Alabama's Nick Saban, Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Auburn's Gus Malzahn in base salary among SEC coaches.

Orgeron will have work to do this offseason, with passing coordinator Joe Brady leaving to become the offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers less than 24 hours after helping the Tigers win the title. Defensive coordinator Dave Aranda also left to become the head coach at Baylor.

Orgeron knows the type of coaches he needs to help his team, but he also knows the types of players he needs. Those were hard lessons learned after years of doubts about whether he could successfully lead a program.

All those doubts went away in 2019, as LSU rolled to one victory after another behind Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, who threw for 5,671 yards and set an FBS single-season record with 60 touchdown passes. Brady had a large role in that, teaming with co-offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger to help the Tigers' offense reach new heights.

"I'm very appreciative of Scott Woodward, the LSU Board of Supervisors and the state of Louisiana," Orgeron said in a statement. "I'm happy to represent LSU and this great state. My family and I are very grateful, and I look forward to working as hard as possible to continue to win championships at LSU."

Orgeron has to worry about replacing more than Burrow and the two coordinators. The Tigers had nine underclassmen declare for the NFL draft, including safety Grant Delpit, wide receiver Justin Jefferson, tight end Thaddeus Moss, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and center Lloyd Cushenberry III.

Yet LSU ranks No. 4 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 because there is talent returning across the roster, including Biletnikoff-winning wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and freshman All-American cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Antonio Brown was granted bail by a Broward County judge at a hearing Friday morning.

Brown's bond was set at $100,000 for a felony burglary with battery charge, with the total bond for three charges being $110,000. He will be monitored by GPS and be required to release his passport and guns, go through drug and alcohol testing, and get a mental health evaluation.

The hearing was longer than normal and got contentious at times with back-and-forth arguments.

Brown watched the proceedings from another room via teleconference while wearing an anti-suicide smock, a typical precautionary safety method used for high-profile suspects in custody. He largely remained quiet, except when addressed by the judge.

The prosecutors asked for Brown to receive no bond, citing his financial status, him being a potential flight risk and his recent instability. Brown's lawyers -- Eric Schwartzreich and Lorne Berkeley -- successfully fought for bond and accepted the judge's requirements for release.

A lingering issue in the courtroom was Brown's mental state. The prosecutors brought up the fact that Brown's former agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and the mother of three of Brown's children, Chelsie Kyriss, both had requested for him to receive mental health help because of his sporadic, impulsive behavior.

The judge ordered a mental health evaluation within 10 days of Brown's release from jail, but Schwartzreich doesn't think that is a major factor in this case.

"I don't think there's any mental health issues with him. Antonio Brown's life right now is a reality show," Schwartzreich said. "He is misinterpreted and misunderstood. He's not guilty of these charges. He did not commit a felony battery. In this case, when all the facts come out out you will see he will be vindicated and he will be found not guilty."

Brown is facing charges of felony burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief less than $1,000 stemming from an alleged assault of a moving truck driver earlier this week. He turned himself in on Thursday to Broward County Jail, where he spent the night.

The felony with battery charge is the most serious of the offenses and can be punishable by up to life in prison.

"They overcharged him," Berkeley said. "Once a thorough investigation is done, we believe the charges filed will most likely be very different than they are right now."

Schwartzreich told ESPN he expects Brown to get out of jail either Friday evening or Saturday under GPS supervision.

Prosecutors say Brown is accused of throwing a rock at the driver's moving truck then later forcing his way into the driver's side of the main cabin of the truck and began to physically strike the driver after a disagreement over payment escalated outside of Brown's home Tuesday.

The arrest warrant obtained by ESPN specifically says that Brown "physically pulled and grabbed" the victim causing multiple abrasions and a ripped shirt.

During the hearing Friday, prosecutors said that one of Brown's associates assured him that they would get Brown to turn themselves in because "who do you think was the one to pull him off of the guy."

Brown's trainer, Glenn Holt, was arrested Tuesday on a felony burglary with battery charge stemming from the incident. He was released Wednesday after posting a $20,000 bond.

Both Brown's lawyers and the prosecutors expect this to be a lengthy case.

"He turned himself in. He did the right thing. He surrendered. He's concerned for the charges and rightfully so," Schwartzreich said. "He's ready for this fight. He's ready for his vindication. It's going to take some time, but we are going to put the train on that track."

A special "8 things" edition with a supersized Item One:

1. Welcome to the 3-point era, LaMarcus Aldridge!

Turns out, the perception that Gregg Popovich -- increasingly cantankerous about the tyranny of 3s -- hemmed in Aldridge was incorrect. After last season, Popovich approached Aldridge and suggested the team would need him to shoot more 3s, Aldridge told ESPN.com.

The Spurs ranked sixth in points per possession last season, largely on the back of incredible shooting that helped them overcome retrograde shot selection. A small slump, and they would lose their uphill battle against math.

Aldridge amped up his 3-point reps over the summer. And then the season started, and Aldridge barely tried any. The Spurs' shooting indeed fell a bit shy of last season's levels. In mid-December, Popovich met with Aldridge again. It was time, the coach said.

"We had a couple of bad shooting games, and Pop came to me and said, 'I think you need to start shooting it to open up the floor,'" Aldridge said. "It would give DeMar [DeRozan] more room. So I just started doing it."

For reasons Aldridge can't quite explain, he felt ready. He knows the transition came more slowly than fans hoped -- slower than for Marc Gasol, DeMarcus Cousins, and Brook Lopez.

"It has taken me longer than those guys," Aldridge said. "I just had to do it my way." Part of that involves taking the occasional off-the-dribble 3 -- including a few step-backs. Aldridge just likes that rhythm dribble. Popovich doesn't mind. "He's letting me shoot them my way," Aldridge said.

Before Dec. 23, Aldridge averaged 1.7 3-point attempts per game. On that night against Memphis, he went 3-of-5. He has jacked 4.7 per game since. The exchange has come almost entirely out of midrange shots. Aldridge has hit a career-best 43% on 3s. He is literally one of the best 3-point shooters in the league right now. Welcome to the party, pal!

Popovich has never urged him to chill with the 3s. "He's been on the other side of the spectrum," Aldridge said. "'You should have taken 10. Take 11.'"

The Spurs rank second in points per possession since that Dec. 23 game. They have outscored opponents by 8.8 points per 100 possessions with Aldridge and DeRozan on the floor over those 15 games, reversing a season-plus of data pointing the other direction.

DeRozan has feasted in open space. He just concluded a streak of 13 games in which he scored at least 20 points on 50% or better shooting. (He still mostly refuses 3s, and even when he tries, he often has a toe on the line. It's almost as if he's doing a bit, only it's more infuriating than funny.) With Aldridge willing to spot up in the corner, DeRozan has taken to running pick-and-rolls with Bryn Forbes and other guards -- daring the opposition to switch a smaller player onto him. If they trap or hedge, DeRozan knifes through crevices and saunters to the rim with no big man help defender in sight.

"I'm gonna start taxing DeMar for all these open lanes," Aldridge chuckled.

Opponents are already switching the DeRozan-Aldridge pick-and-roll more often, rather than allowing Aldridge to flare out for uncontested 3s. Both are exploiting the resulting mismatches.

Every ball handler has noticed the improved spacing.

"It helps me for sure," Dejounte Murray told ESPN.com. "It was just a matter of [Aldridge] feeling comfortable. He's the player. No one else can speak for how comfortable he is."

It seems to be rubbing off on Murray. He has canned 14 3s since Dec. 16 after making only 23 in his career to that point. If Murray can hit jumpers, Popovich might entrust him with more ballhandling. "Hopefully I have freedom to do more," he said.

The change required minimal redesign. That was what grated about Aldridge's stagnancy: San Antonio's offense organically produced chances for Aldridge to launch -- pick-and-pops, trail 3s, natural clearouts to the corner when DeRozan drove. Aldridge would either stop a foot short of the line, or step inside it.

"I had to reprogram my mind: 'Don't take that step in,'" Aldridge said. "'Space to the 3. Don't trail inside for a 2.'"

Aldridge becoming a deep threat might reopen the possibility of him and Jakob Poeltl playing together -- something that could stabilize San Antonio's 23rd-ranked defense. Popovich has largely mothballed that look after using it a lot last season. "The floor was too clogged," Aldridge said. "But [shooting 3s] could help us play bigger."

Outside of a Jan. 12 game against Toronto, Popovich has kept the double-big look on ice. It requires Aldridge to defend power forwards, and he might not be up for that anymore. He has lost a half-step, something that shows up in his decreased free throws and offensive rebounds. Shooting more 3s is also a concession to aging.

Regardless, it helps San Antonio's offense. Aldridge doesn't plan to stop. He's from Texas. He chose the Spurs. He does not want to be on the San Antonio team that busts the franchise's 22-year playoff streak -- especially with Popovich and Tim Duncan, the living embodiments of that streak, watching from the sidelines.

"You never want to be the one that ends the legacy," Aldridge said.

2. A moment for Derrick Favors

As Zion Mania overtakes us, let's take a moment to appreciate Favors' work holding together New Orleans when he has been available. He's shooting a career-best 63%, and blowing away prior high-water marks in rebounding. He has been a steadying presence on both ends.

He has flashed nimble pitter-pat footwork and midair body control in finishing on the pick-and-roll:

That is straight-up balletic, big fella! Patience and balance have helped Favors avoid offensive fouls. He has hit a very nice 46% on shots between 3 and 10 feet from the rim, per Basketball-Reference.

New Orleans has scored 1.105 points per possession on any trip featuring a Favors ball screen, a solid number, and they have rarely turned the ball over on such plays, per Second Spectrum. The Brandon Ingram-Favors combo has been deadly: 1.174 points per possession.

Favors hasn't been airtight on defense -- opponents have hit 65% of shots at the rim with Favors nearby -- but the Pelicans' shell is harder to penetrate when he's on the floor; opponents generate many fewer attempts in the restricted area when Favors plays, per Cleaning The Glass.

3. New York veteran frontcourt fatigue

Nothing against any of these guys. Taj Gibson is a grinder and a beloved teammate. He's on fire right now. Julius Randle's offense has perked up over the last month. He just turned 25, so New York's brass can reasonably argue he is part of its young core. The mismatched Randle-Mitchell Robinson pairing has been a slight net-plus over the past five weeks.

Marcus Morris Sr. has been New York's best player. Bobby Portis is ... confident? So there's that.

As a nonpartisan viewer, I'm just ready to turn the page. Like, why is Gibson starting at center? The Knicks are 12-33. Isn't it long past time to throw Robinson into the deep end, even if the fit with Randle -- who needs to play some center -- isn't ideal? Kevin Knox II has been a disaster, but it would be nice to get at least a glance of him as a small-ball power forward.

As one of the original squatters on Julius Randle Hill, I must note that Randle should spend the second half of the season reorienting his game toward winning -- instead of chasing iso-tastic buckets and ramming into walls of defenders.

He has to pass more, and earlier, and prove he can defend one frontcourt position. He might have a better chance at center, despite size issues. He has shown the ability to switch and provide some rim protection when he really tries.

His lack of feel can be exposed more when he's guarding stretch power forwards:

Randle rotates into the paint way too late; he's still leaning there when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's kickout pass is most of the way to Kyle Kuzma -- Randle's assignment. Randle needs to help-and-recover with precision timing. He's too bulky to gather his momentum and change directions late.

Alas, he has fared no better patrolling the middle this season. Opponents have hit almost 66% of attempts at the rim with Randle nearby, one of the highest (i.e., worst) figures among rotation big men. Ball handlers flummox Randle with hesitation moves and pass fakes. He just apparates right out of driving lanes:

The Knicks might want to try switching with Randle when he's guarding screeners, provided the mismatch on the other end of that switch isn't too severe.

4. Nikola Jokic is back -- with moonballs!

Over October and early November, Jokic was averaging around eight post touches per 100 possessions, a sharp decline from last season, per Second Spectrum. Entire halves passed without Jokic demanding the ball on the block, where he presents a bulldozing mismatch for most normal-sized centers. Jokic also happens to be the best inside-out (and outside-in, and sideways, and backward) passing big in the league, and maybe the best ever. His passivity was a problem.

Not anymore. Jokic over the last month is averaging almost 18 post touches per 100 possessions, by far the most in the league. The Nuggets are mauling teams when he gets the ball down there: a hilarious 1.339 points per possession on any trip since Jan. 1 featuring a Jokic post touch, a mark that would rank third for the season among players who have recorded at least 100 post-ups, per Second Spectrum. (The top two? Nemanja Bjelica and -- gulp -- LeBron James.)

He is also experimenting with whatever you'd like to call this one-footed ceiling-scraper:

That is delightful, and so Jokic. We tend to laugh at bloopers. I'm not sure any player has made me cackle at good plays as often as Jokic. He is shooting only about 40% on long 2s, so it's not as if this warped Nowitzki shot is going in all that often. I don't care. It's awesome, and if a few missed moonballs are the price of Jokic posting more, I'm all for it.

5. Keep an eye on Montrezl Harrell's rebounding

File this away if you're looking for vulnerabilities within the Clippers: Their defensive rebounding sinks to almost league-worst levels with Harrell on the floor, per NBA.com. It's unclear exactly why that is happening, how much is on Harrell, and whether the problem will persist once LA plays its best lineups again.

For one, Harrell leads the league in boxouts, per NBA.com. He's not shirking duties. The problem might be what happens after the boxout. Our friends at Second Spectrum can estimate how likely a player is to grab a rebound based on his location when the shot goes up. Harrell fares quite well there; he burrows for deep position early.

Second Spectrum also has more sophisticated metrics that measure how much players improve those chances while the shot is airborne, and how many rebounds above or below expectations they get based on their starting location.

Harrell ranks toward the bottom of the league in those measures. (In one, he is somewhere below the first percentile among all players.) The very best rebounders can box out and go up to get rebounds. Harrell appears to be able to do the first, but not the second. Against bigger centers -- and when he gets tired -- Harrell sometimes struggles to hold those boxouts:

None of this makes Harrell a bad rebounder. The Clippers might just need a great one at his position. Harrell tends to play in smaller lineups that include Lou Williams, who does not exactly clean the glass.

Harrell is only 6-foot-7, so it's not shocking he might have trouble holding 7-footers at bay. Again: He's doing his best. The dude exudes fight

I'm not sure what the fix is, or if there needs to be one. In an encouraging sign, lineups featuring Harrell, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George -- aka, the lineups that really matter -- have rebounded at about a league-average level.

Ivica Zubac is stout on the glass; maybe Doc Rivers could play him in crunch time more when the Clippers are ahead -- provided he can survive on defense. The Clippers have trade assets and an urgent motivation to make a deal now, but upgrading at center does not seem like their most pressing need. Perhaps they disagree.

6. When youth forgets to respect its elders, Part II

The first part of this two-part series ran in this space last week, and featured Jordan Poole -- a rookie -- dangling the ball in front of Kawhi Leonard like a fool.

Here is Part II: PJ Washington learning the hard way that being larger than Kyle Lowry doesn't mean you should try this fire hydrant with arms in the post.

Even veterans forget: You can't move Lowry.

Opponents are scoring just 0.89 points per possession on any trip in which they attempt to post Lowry, per Second Spectrum. A full 24% of those post-ups have ended in turnovers -- the seventh-highest forced cough-up rate among 230 players who have defended at least 20 post-ups.

Lowry's numbers defending post-ups have been stellar for years. Unless you are, like, a foot taller than Lowry and bring polished back-to-the-basket skills, don't bother. You might as well hand him the ball and get back on defense.

7. Cleveland's horrid transition defense

The Cavs are a perfect storm of horrific transition defense: young guards who attack the rim, fall down when they miss, and don't yet know how to communicate scrambling back; corner shooters who slump their shoulders when those same guards don't pass them the ball; guys so thirsty for offensive rebounds, they run in from the 3-point arc to chase them in vain; and veteran big men who, let's say, aren't super-motivated to bust ass for a crappy team. Some players fall into two or three of those categories.

The end product is a lot of this:

Cleveland gives up the most transition chances in the league, and the highest points per possession on those transition chances. That double is so terrible -- requiring so much sloth and incompetence -- I almost admire it. It takes real commitment to be this bad at getting back on defense.

When they do retreat on time -- when the odds are almost even -- they turn ho-hum semi-transition situations into full-on emergencies with bad gambles and dumb decisions.

8. Daniel Theis, sealing off the world

Theis has been obliterating opposing centers with subtle seals at the end of Boston pick-and-rolls:

A few teams -- including the Celtics -- refer to this as "the Gortat," in honor of Marcin Gortat, one of the slyest and meanest screeners in recent league history.

Boston's coaching staff has worked hard teaching Theis how to do this without fouling: arms spread wide, butt out, hold as stationary as possible. Theis can get a little handsy -- including at the end of that play above from Boston's recent obliteration of the Lakers -- but he has kept it clean enough. Boston's ball handlers are slicing through the lanes Theis pries open.

There has been speculation since the summer about Boston upgrading at center. They are really good, and a small boost could have the sort of compound effect that catapults the Celtics into the inner circle of contenders.

But for months, I've been asking: Who and how? Any deal for a big-money center would almost have to involve Marcus Smart -- or another member of Boston's five-man perimeter core -- and I'd be surprised if Boston thought any available big-money center was enough of an upgrade over the Theis/Enes Kanter/Grant Williams pu-pu platter to justify sacrificing Smart.

(You could build some interesting deals with Gordon Hayward, but a) trading a star free-agency acquisition who had a traumatic leg injury, and who played for Brad Stevens in college, might be a look the Celtics wish to avoid; b) he has been great this season; and c) his player option for next season presents issues for teams who might be interested.)

Theis does all the dirty work. He doesn't care about points or touches -- precisely the sort of center you need on a team overflowing with talented perimeter players who do care about points and touches.

He battles on defense, and has made enough jumpers -- long 2s and 3s -- to keep defenses honest. Boston's starting five (featuring Theis) has outscored opponents by almost 17 points per 100 possessions -- sixth among lineups that have logged at least 100 minutes, per NBA.com.

The wild card in Boston's center equation is Robert Williams III, who has been out since early December. He brings a vertical threat unique among Boston's centers -- on both ends. He has surprising feel and touch as a passer. It's a shame his injury has cost Boston a chance to groom him for the postseason, or at least see what they have. There's still time.

"If a man can sin with impunity, he will continue to sin. Especially if he gets paid for it." -- Eliot Asinof, "Eight Men Out"

Baseball's commissioner has spoken. After hours upon hours of investigation and inquiry by MLB's in-house detectives, Rob Manfred finally dropped the hammer last week on the Houston Astros, all for a sign-stealing conspiracy dating back to their championship 2017 season.

The two most important people in the Astros' baseball hierarchy -- field manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow -- were suspended for the entirety of the 2020 season. A dual suspension of two top-level club officials for that length of time made the penalty unprecedented. Their boss, Astros owner Jim Crane, subsequently fired them both. While Manfred's report absolved Hinch and Luhnow of masterminding the sign-stealing scheme, their reputations were tarnished. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran also were let go just a few weeks in advance of spring training after their roles in the scheme were clearly spelled out in Manfred's report.

Manfred also stripped the Astros of their top two picks in each of the next two amateur drafts. That, too, was unprecedented. Teams had lost picks before, but not that many and never first-rounders. (The St. Louis Cardinals lost their first two picks of the 2017 draft in the fallout from a hacking scandal that resulted in the permanent ban of a front-office employee. However, St. Louis had already forfeited its first-round pick that year as compensation for signing free agent Dexter Fowler.)

With the stripping of those four picks, the Astros also lose the pool money associated with them, which reduces the amount they can spend on draft picks the next two years by more than half. That bonus pool money will now be distributed to the other clubs. Those lost funds will certainly have a larger competitive impact on the Astros the next few years than the $5 million fine Manfred imposed on the team, which was the largest amount he is allowed to dock a club according to the MLB constitution.

And yet ... for many, that's not enough. Permanent bans to the aforementioned individuals were called for by some. Some wanted an even bigger fine for Crane, even though Manfred wasn't allowed to levy one. Suspensions and fines for the players involved were another common cry, even though going that route would have hindered the investigation, causing it to drag on, and invariably would have led to a protracted round of litigation with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Others wanted more lost draft picks or the reduction of international bonus pool money. The loudest wails emanating from social media accounts and even an L.A. City Council resolution called for the Astros to be stripped of their 2017 title. Those same howls have called for the Red Sox to lose their 2018 crown ... even though MLB hasn't even ruled yet on that totally separate investigation.

Manfred, speaking on the Fox Business channel Wednesday from Switzerland (where the World Economic Forum is being held) said quite sensibly, "I think there's a long tradition in baseball of not trying to change what happened."

There is another long tradition in baseball, one as old as the game itself: cheating. These aren't novel words; those who haven't lost their heads over the Astros scandal have repeated some variation of them many times in recent months. However, just repeating them doesn't do the concept justice.

I was going to try to compile a list of every documented instance of a player or manager working the edges to gain a competitive on-field advantage that I could find, all through baseball's long annals. I employed a liberal dose of search engines and dug through my library of baseball books, turning to such tomes as Dan Gutman's "It Ain't Cheating If You Don't Get Caught" and "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime" by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca.

About 2,000 words into my list, I realized the exercise was too daunting, even though I was going to summarize all performance-enhancing-drugs-related beefs with one line and assign anything related to gambling to a different category. In other words, to say that cheating has always been a part of baseball is more than a true statement. It's a massive understatement.

Here's my best stab at creating a general chronology. I'm leaving out most names and teams because they're not relevant to the point here. You can find details on any incident mentioned with a simple internet search. These are what I see as representative instances that paint the portrait, even while barely skimming the surface of what actually has taken place all through baseball history.

• From the beginning of baseball to present day: Ballplayers have experimented with substances they knew, believed or hoped would enhance their performance.

• 1880s: Coaching boxes were introduced for the first time to curb the practice of coaches wandering from their position to interfere with action on the field by impeding baserunners, or even imitating a runner to draw an errant throw.

• 1890s: One of the best teams of the era flouted the rules in numerous ways, from hardening the surface in front of the plate to help its group of good bunters to skipping bases when umpires weren't looking.

• 1900: A National League team had a reserve player stationed behind a whiskey sign in the outfield with a telescope to swipe signs from the opposing catcher. The same team's third-base coach was caught with a buzzer buried beneath his feet in a wooden box that received indicators of the stolen signals, information he would convey to the hitter. His giveaway was a constantly nervous leg, caused by jolts from the electric pulses.

• 1900s: A Hall of Fame manager, who served as a player-manager for a few years, would grab opposing baserunners by the belt loops when they were trying to tag up or trip them rounding the base. He would wet the infield if it benefited his pitching staff. He went on to manage into the 1930s.

• 1900s to 1920s: The widely acknowledged best player in baseball was said to have sharpened his spikes to intimidate opponents when he'd slide into a base. (This longtime claim has been refuted at various times, or at least categorized as well within the bounds of normal practices of the day.)

• 1920s: OK, this one is Babe Ruth. In an anecdote related, among other places, in the "The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract," former big leaguer Dave Henderson observed a corked Ruth bat while visiting a traveling exhibit -- 60 years after the fact. Ruth was caught using a trick bat in 1923. Ruth was also said to have injected himself with extract from sheep testicles in an effort to burnish his power. The Babe, as you might know, is arguably the most celebrated athlete in American sports history.

• From the beginning of baseball: Groundskeepers employed by teams have plied their art to aid the home team in numerous ways. Overgrown infield grass. Wetted-down infields. Fences that slide in or out depending who the opponent was. Sloping foul territory. Frozen baseballs. You name it.

• From the beginning of baseball: Pitchers have used foreign substances -- spit, oil, tobacco juice, grease, etc. -- to gain extra movement on the ball. They've scuffed balls with sandpaper, razors, thumbtacks or belt buckles, or had their catchers use a sharpened edge of their shin guards. One famous practitioner of these practices is a Hall of Famer who earned the nickname "Black and Decker," though he always claimed he let the reputation spread just to get in hitters' heads. Another practitioner is also in the Hall of Fame, and to this day plays up the reputation for fans by wetting his fingers and holding them up in the air to rounds of laughter.

• In recent years and in a more technical sense: Pitchers have been accused of -- and caught -- using pine tar to improve their grip on the ball in an effort to gain extra spin. The effect is, to quote one expert on pitching, more profound than the use of steroids.

• 1940s to present: Infielders have attempted to distract hitters by getting into their sightlines, a practice that was banned in the 1940s. It has found a renaissance in the current era due to the proliferation of extreme shifts and the positioning of infielders straight up the middle.

• 1951: A pennant-winning team used a sign-stealing scheme that involved a player with a telescope zeroing in on the opposing catcher from a darkened window of the center-field clubhouse. He would use a buzzer to relay his findings to the bullpen, whose inhabitants then communicated them to the hitters. The scheme almost certainly contributed to the most famous pennant-winning homer in history. The wielder of the telescope went on to manage the Giants and Cubs.

• 1960s: One successful franchise with a reputation for developing historically great pitchers was said to have built up the height of its pitching mound unfairly to give its hurlers an added boost.

• 1961: A hitter had a career year with a bat he later admits was corked, though this hitter didn't break any sacred all-time records.

• 1963: A Hall of Famer from baseball's most successful franchise admitted to scuffing the ball and applying his own special blend of "gunk" to gain an advantage.

• 1960s, '70s, '80s, '90s, 2000s (at least): There have been a number of instances of All-Star-level hitters getting caught and suspended for using corked bats. In one infamous incident, a hitter was caught using a bat filled with super-balls when it broke open on the field. In one corked-bat incident, after the player in question saw his bat confiscated for later examination, a teammate crawled through the ductwork at the park into the umpires' dressing room to swap the bat. Only he swapped it with a teammate's bat instead of one from the offending hitter, making the scheme easy to suss out.

• 1980: A pitcher was caught and suspended after a ham-handed attempt to scuff balls with a thumbtack. He claimed that the only balls he scuffed turned into hits and that the only thing the scheme accomplished was a cut on his forehead from the thumbtack. The pitcher went on to become one of the most respected pitching coaches in the game.

• 1984: The manager who exposed the thumbtack pitcher managed one of the most beloved teams of the decade. He also admitted later to writer George Will that he had a couple of players on that team who would decode opposing catchers' signals from the television in the clubhouse, so that any runner to reach second base could relay them to the hitter.

• 2010: An elite NL team was accused of stealing signs by using binoculars from the bullpen.

• 2010: An elite American League team was accused of using an elaborate sign-stealing scheme that was detailed in great depth by ESPN The Magazine.

• 2015: The aforementioned hacking scandal.

• 2017: A big league general manager was found to have committed multiple violations of baseball's policies for working in the international player market. The GM was kicked out of baseball.

• 2017: An AL team was found to have stolen signals and then communicated them with wearable technology.

• Since forever: Pitch framing. Sure, why not? If we're going to wield the rulebook like an anvil, let's call out this practice, which isn't against policy but could be viewed as poor sportsmanship, if this were 1905. We have a strike zone. We have catchers who take pitches just out of this strike zone and, through craft and deception, convince umpires that they are actually strikes. This practice is not just condoned but handsomely rewarded. It's also a skill that will slip into obsolescence the day MLB starts using automated strike zones.

An anecdote I want to share in a little more detail was brought back into relevance this week not just because of the Astros fallout but also because an ex-pitcher known as Black Jack McDowell stirred memories of it. McDowell claimed that when he joined the White Sox in 1987, there was a legacy sign-stealing system in place at the old Comiskey Park. He attributed the existence of this system to former Chicago manager Tony LaRussa, whose final season in Chicago was 1986. LaRussa later clapped back, albeit fairly meekly.

It's hard to say what LaRussa might have implemented at Comiskey, but there is no question that a sign-stealing system was in place at the park for decades, according to the guy who instigated it -- longtime executive Frank Lane, who once tried to trade Stan Musial away from the Cardinals. In a biography by Bob Vanderberg called "Frantic Frank Lane," Lane said he set up the system in the 1950s based on suggestions from Hall of Famer George Kell, for whom he had traded. Kell had observed a similar system in place at Fenway Park when he played for the Red Sox.

Lane was fed up with being victimized by sign stealers throughout the American League and sought the input of Kell and reserve infielder Bob Kennedy, later a big league manager.

"In '55," Lane said, "we were almost certain they were stealing our signs in Kansas City, Detroit and Cleveland. So I said to George Kell and Bob Kennedy, 'Those sons of b----es are getting our signs.' So either Kell or Kennedy, or both, said, 'Well, why don't we do it?'"

The system used the scoreboard to relay the stolen signals by toggling a one or a zero to indicate pitch type. Lane claimed the system was in place long after he left the team. Elsewhere, legendary groundskeeper George Toma claimed to have overseen a similar plot at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. (Toma, whom I had the pleasure to know, was one of the all-time great storytellers.)

Bringing this all back around to the Astros ... given this context, what would have been an appropriate punishment? How would you have the players involved react, though none has been named other than Beltran? Should they prostrate themselves and beg for forgiveness? When that is not forthcoming, should they then be sent directly to the Tuileries for an appointment with the guillotine?

The punishments as they have been meted out are already the most substantial of their type ever given. Powerful men have lost their jobs. Reputations have been irreparably sullied. And a franchise's ability to remain elite has been undercut. More on this last bit in a minute.

Let's try to keep this all in perspective. The players, coaches, managers and executives who have participated in this kind of behavior were all wrong, all through history. There are reasons baseball enacts policies to encourage and ensure fair play. It's also baseball's role to make sure these policies are followed as best it can.

However, the tradition of working the edges of the rulebook, and beyond, is never going to stop. The Astros' players are being branded with scarlet letters, yet they are merely the latest to succumb to temptations that have always tugged at those in the sport. Some athletes -- not all -- invariably behave as humans do in competitive circumstances. They pull out every stop in an obsessive drive to succeed. It's what people do. It's up to institutions to manage it.

No, not everybody does it in a literal sense. Not all people are the same. Even in that old White Sox scheme described above, Lane said some of his players -- he named Nellie Fox and Minnie Minoso as two -- didn't want the signals. The same seems to have been true of the Astros, and even given their brazen ways, Manfred's report suggests that they eventually stopped doing it because the results simply weren't worth the effort.

Indeed, there hasn't been a convincing statistical analysis yet to emerge that illustrates how the Astros might have even been helped by the sign stealing. That doesn't absolve them by any stretch, but it does suggest that what was almost certainly a fairly common practice, one that took many different forms, didn't have any kind of warping effect on actual competition.

Given how advanced technologies are in sports now, it's important for Manfred to draw some stark outlines for what's acceptable and what is not, even knowing that there will always be those working the edges and finding loopholes. His punishment of the Astros not only enhances the integrity of the league but serves as a healthy deterrent that should head off any arms race in the science of sign stealing. And hopefully, before these lessons start to wear off, we'll see newer technologies move into place that will eliminate the very thing that has always been exploited: that catchers and pitchers communicate via some pretty rudimentary hand signals.

Still, even if the Astros are cursed to be the avatar of behavior we no longer want to see, let's not pretend that they were way beyond the bounds of what has always been part of the game's tradition. They were merely the team to have been caught red-handed, thanks to the whistle-blowing of former teammate Mike Fiers. Many teams before the Astros have pushed the proverbial envelope, but it was Houston that finally knocked it off the edge of the table.

Of the penalties handed down by Manfred, the draft picks are the most damaging, assuming Crane can ably fill his two leadership voids with the subsequent hiring of a new manager and GM. Houston is at the phase of its window of contention where its core of largely homegrown players is getting expensive, which is exactly why the Astros have been so quiet this offseason. Houston simply can't splurge right now without going over the luxury-tax threshold.

Staying under that line will be even more important now that the team has to work around not having any top picks in the next two drafts. The Astros were already battling the issue of selecting near the end of the first round, where the hit rate on draftees is much lower than at the top of the draft. But it's still better than it is in the third round, when they will now get their first crack at amateur talent.

Meanwhile, that homegrown core will continue to age and become more expensive. George Springer will be a free agent after the coming season. We're two seasons from Alex Bregman's extension rocketing in annual value. Jose Altuve is on the books for $23 million or more through the 2024 season. Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander become free agents after the 2021 season, but until then, they'll be earning around $115 million combined, when the portion of Greinke's tab still being picked up by Arizona is factored in.

The lost picks don't affect Houston right away. Anyone the Astros might draft this season wouldn't help them in 2020, certainly not on the field but also not as trade fodder. However, the Houston farm system is already falling in the prospect rankings, and it will continue to thin. The Astros have a few touted players, such as outfielder Kyle Tucker and starter Forrest Whitley, but given the tightening of their payroll flexibility, they'll need those cost-controlled players to help them win now rather than serving as possible fodder for a trade to fill a key roster void. You know, like the one opened up by the loss of star pitcher Gerrit Cole to free agency.

Without more top picks coming up behind the current wave of talent to fill gaps and entice trade partners, whoever replaces Luhnow faces some choppy waters to navigate. The system will almost certainly plummet to the bottom of the prospect ratings without those upper-round talents, unless the Astros manage to hit lower in the next two drafts or make hay in the international market. The loss of those picks would hurt any organization, but they are particularly ill-timed for where the Astros are in their window of contention.

The Astros still have a lot of talent, of course, and beyond the distractions of the scandal, it's far from the most unenviable position for a new exec to be in. Manfred could have been even more punitive in terms of picks and international money in an effort to completely handicap Houston's chances to remain competitive. But there is no value in kneecapping a franchise. As I wrote when the scandal hit, if you go too far, you are penalizing a team's fan base as much as the actual team.

Manfred played this right, or at least he has thus far, as we don't know whether this subject is going to die a natural death with the conclusion of his Red Sox investigation or will continue to mushroom.

Nevertheless, responses that try to paint this as an existential crisis for the sport, or compare it to the 1919 Black Sox, are more than a little overheated. There is a key distinction between every example of cheating outlined earlier and any gambling-related incident ever discovered, mostly from baseball's early days. That is this: The problem with gambling players is that they might not be adhering to the ultimate purpose of any sporting endeavor -- to try to win. With the Astros, Red Sox and any other team whispered to have stolen signals, you have to at least acknowledge that they were trying to win, even if you don't like how they went about it.

The furor in some respects is a healthy thing -- if people didn't still love baseball, they wouldn't be as angry as they have every right to be. And that's the happy takeaway of all this for anyone concerned about the long-term consequences of this scandal. People still care about the most American of sports, even though it has always been and always will be more of a reflection of ourselves than we might want to admit it to be.

Three little things

1. Polo Grounds. Yankee Stadium. Fenway Park. Wrigley Field. Tiger Stadium. Dodger Stadium. Ebbets Field. Forbes Field. Baker Bowl. Shibe Park. Sportsman's Park. Truist Park. American Family Field.

Yeah, those final two don't quite have the same ring, do they?

I wrote last year about the tired -- but profitable -- practice of selling off corporate naming rights of ballparks. It's not like I expected it to change given the dollars involved, but, I mean, could these ballpark names be any more nondescript or, frankly, stupid?

I'll just repeat the bottom line of my previous complaint on the topic: Since we know teams aren't going to stop pursuing this revenue stream, can we at least make sure the park is given some sort of name that has permanence and evokes place?

The name changes of the parks in Atlanta (Truist, in place for the 2020 season) and Milwaukee (after one more season as Miller Park) provided the perfect opportunity for either franchise to set this trend in motion, and they could have both credibly honored the same all-time great player in doing so. Either franchise could have named its field after Hank Aaron, while letting corporate sponsors have the name of the stadium and all of the signing and branding that goes with that.

So in 2021, if you're in Milwaukee, instead of saying, "Let's go out to the Aff," you could have said, "Wanna hit Aaron Field?" A lot more satisfying, don't you think?

2. Nice move by the Braves this week to scoop up free agent Marcell Ozuna on a one-year, $18 million contract that in part helps to compensate for the departure of Josh Donaldson. However, not only was the 2019 version of Ozuna a lesser hitter than the 2019 version of Donaldson but they don't play the same position.

For this signing to really come up as sparkling for the Braves, the key might be for second-year player Austin Riley to become a consistent producer, or at least an impactful part of a job-sharing plan at the hot corner with Johan Camargo. Camargo is coming off a down season but was a big part of Atlanta's breakout 2018 campaign as a utility player. Riley is a touted prospect but struggled to make consistent contact as his rookie season wore on.

Still, even if third base emerges as a weak spot, the Braves can shore up that area during the season, and by bolstering their lineup with the market's most impactful remaining bat, rather than via trade, they left themselves plenty of flexibility to do so given their deep supply of prospects.

3. My colleague David Schoenfield had a nice breakdown of the Hall of Fame balloting, during which he pointed out how the "private" ballots -- those not made public -- have had a severe, detrimental impact on the percentages of PED-associated candidates such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

I wonder whether that same group had a similar impact on the last-day drop in the support for Scott Rolen, though for very different reasons. Rolen still had a large jump this year, one that bodes well given the trajectories for recent selections Edgar Martinez and Larry Walker. Still, I was stunned to see Rolen dip to a final tally of around 35% after tracking around 50% for most of the process.

Those who made their ballots public were a lot more supportive of Rolen, who has an excellent case for Hall membership based on his advanced metrics. His traditional counting stats lag a bit because of a relatively short career for a potential Hall of Famer. Thus while there is a clear disconnect between public and private voters when it comes to the likes of Bonds and Clemens, there might also be one for metrics-fueled candidates such as Rolen.

While any public plea I might make for Bonds, Clemens, Sammy Sosa et al. will surely fall on deaf ears by this point, let me at least make one for Rolen. Study his case. Read up. He was a great player, one of the best ever at an underrepresented position in the Hall of Fame. Next year's group of ballot newcomers is light. No better time to take a second, third and fourth look at Scott Rolen.

An unprecedented 11 runners go sub-2:07 in a close race, while Degefa completes a Dubai double

Worknesh Degefa made it a Dubai double with victory in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday, while debutant Olika Adugna won a dramatic sprint to the finish in an historic men’s race.

Boston Marathon champion Degefa, the winner in Dubai in 2017, clocked 2:19:38 as she led from start to finish.

But while she was well ahead and running on her own in the women’s event, the men’s race had a spectacularly close finish with Adugna the surprise winner in 2:06:15 as the first four runners crossed the line separated by just three seconds.

For the first in marathon history, 11 runners clocked times of under 2:07, bettering a record that had stood since the 2012 Dubai Marathon when 10 runners finished under 2:07.

All 11 men appear to have been wearing Nike Vaporfly shoes, with the footwear having recently been discussed by shoe guru Paul Freary in a video for AW which can be viewed here.

A leading group of 24 runners had reached the half way point in 62:43 and there were still 11 runners in contention for victory with just 2km to go.

In what looked like the finish of a middle distance track race, 20-year-old Adugna edged out another debutant as Kenya’s Eric Kiptanui finished second just two seconds adrift in 2:06:17. Tsedat Abeje took third while his fellow Ethiopian Lencho Tesfaye was fourth with both runners clocking a time of 2:06:18.

“I felt very good and always believed I could win,” said Adugna, who continued a winning streak of male Ethiopian athletes in Dubai that stretches back to 2012.

“Of course I’m delighted I was able to do it in my debut race at the distance.”

In contrast to the men’s race, Degefa enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory, passing half way in 68:36, and was set to beat the course record of 2:17:08. But suffering with back pain, Ethiopia’s fastest-ever female marathon runner could not keep her pace in the second half of the race.

The 29-year-old pre-race favourite – who clocked a national record of 2:17:41 in Dubai just twelve months earlier – remained well ahead, however, and achieved a sub-2:20 time for the third time in her career.

While Degefa finished in 2:19:38, fellow Ethiopians Guteni Shone and Bedatu Hirpa took second and third in 2:20:11 and 2:21:55 respectively.

On the recurrence of a back issue, Degefa said: “I had this problem a week ago and unfortunately it returned during the race.

“It’s true I wanted to run a much faster time but at least I’ve won the race despite the pain.”

In the wheelchair division, there were victories for Marcel Hug and Sandra Graf, with both Swiss athletes making it a hat-trick of victories in Dubai.

Hug held off a determined challenge from Zhang Yong of China to win by just one second, while Graf had a less dramatic race to the tape, winning by just under two minutes from Brazil’s Vanessa De Souza.

The races can be watched back on the live stream feed below.

World Athletics confirms the discipline breakdown for each of the 10 meetings in the tour

The full 10-meeting schedule for the gold level of the 2020 Continental Tour has been announced by World Athletics, with Nairobi confirmed as the first African host city, to complete the series of events.

The first meeting will take place at Nairobi’s Moi International Stadium on May 2, followed by Tokyo on May 10. The series will finish in Zagreb in September.

The discipline breakdown for each meeting has also been published and can be viewed below or downloaded here.

Nairobi will stage the 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10,000m for men and women as part of its programme.

Last year World Athletics announced the controversial decision to cut the 200m, 3000m steeplechase, triple jump and discus for both men and women from this year’s Diamond League.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the impetus for creating the Continental Tour was to provide more competition and earning opportunities for more athletes.

“Between the Wanda Diamond League and the Continental Tour all disciplines will be catered for and many more athletes will have access to top class competition,’’ he said.

The Continental Tour will be divided into three levels – gold, silver and bronze – with each status determined by the quality of competition and prize money on offer.

The disciplines that are not included in this year’s Wanda Diamond League final – the 200m, 3000m steeplechase, triple jump, discus and hammer throw – will be core events in the Continental Tour gold meetings, World Athletics confirmed.

Performances in those events will gain the same level of world ranking points as the core Diamond League disciplines and the overall tour winners will receive wildcard entry to the World Athletics Championships Oregon 2021.

Continental Tour gold level schedule

2 May – Nairobi KEN (Africa)
10 May – Tokyo JPN (Asia)
13 May – Nanjing CHN (Asia)
22 May – Ostrava CZE (Europe)
1 June – Hengelo NED (Europe)
9 June – Turku FIN (Europe)
13 June – Kingston JAM (North America)
7 June- Szekesfehervar HUN (Europe)
6 September – Silesia POL (Europe)
15 September – Zagreb CRO (Europe)

Continental Tour silver level schedule

20 March – Queensland Track Classic, Brisbane AUS (Oceania)
4 April – Grenada International Invitational, St. George GRN (North America)
2 May – Jamaica International Invitational, Kingston JAM (North America)
17 May – Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo, Sao Paolo BRA (South America)
24 May – Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, Chorzów POL (Europe)
11 June – Samorin, Samorin SVK (Europe)
19 June – Meeting of Madrid, Madrid ESP (Europe)
1 July – Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern, Luzern SUI (Europe)
8 September – 56th Palio Citta della Quercia, Rovereto ITA (Europe)
13 September – ISTAF Berlin, Berlin GER (Europe)