Lionel Messi breathes new life in America's MLS by signing with Miami - (Photo - ESPN Screen Shot)

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SPORTS NOTES Part 1 - LIONEL MESSI THINKS PINK & Joins Miami

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July is supposed to be the slowest month on the sports calendar. That was then but this is now since this year's sports stories are busting out all over - NBA's ALL TIME BEST PLAYERS 1st and 2nd TEAMS

Sunday July 16, 2023

The MLS is NOW in THEIR BIG TIME

When I was a field producer for the Bob Costas feature radio show the then head producer Dave Cohen informed me that July was the slowest month on the sports calendar. That was then but this is now since this year's sports stories are busting out all over.

This month July 2023 has some spectacular events that were never perceived back in that day of 1989-91. The hot topics now didn't exist or were in its infancy. Current hot topics currently are Lionel Messi signing with Miami in America's MLS (Major League Soccer). Los Angeles Angels super star Shohei Ohtani wasn't born nor was Trinity Rodman currently a member of the United States women's soccer team competing in the Women's World Cup. These three athletes are making noise in the sports world today.

Messi's signing with Miami was no surprise to me after he committed to join the MLS. I previously noted that his personality and being Hispanic was a major factor in my forecast.

Although Los Angeles has a huge Hispanic population with two soccer teams the environment there is all about the need to be in with the entertainment crowd and portraying yourself as an entertainer. Messi is not the egotistical type, he's serious about the sport and not showing off. He displays a low profile and is a family man thus Miami is a good fit.

Miami is currently at the bottom of the table but his presence and skill level should inspire their younger players. Already tickets for his first game with the team are being scalped for as much was $100 thousand.

By being in the league attendance should rise whenever Miami plays away at competitors stadiums.

At 36 it's a given that due to age his skills have diminished. He's not playing against the highest level of opposition. It's a no brainer that his quickness is less but his heart remains the same to be a winner. He is considered one of the greatest international football players of all time. He has won every major honor available to him during a legendary career.

That was obvious when he reached down deep and rose to the occasion to lead Argentina to a World Cup title and his first. It was Argentina's first World Cup title since the Diego Maradona-inspired team of 1986.

Messi scored twice in the final as Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout following a dramatic contest in Qatar. One must remember he was disrespected by Argentine fans saying that he couldn't deliver a World Cup title and that he was lacking the talent and leadership to do so.

The result wasn't about his age it was about his heart and guts. In an interview from Argentina TV released last week, Messi said he would give his all for the flailing MLS club, which has now gone a club-record 10 straight matches without a victory.

"My mentality and my head are not going to change and I am going to try, wherever I have to be, give my best for myself and my new club, continue to perform at the highest level," Messi told the Argentina TV show, Llave a la eternidad.

Inter Miami managing owner Jorge Mas, who said it took three years of negotiations to bring the 36-year-old to the club, has stated that Messi will earn "between £50 million and $60m per year."

Messi has signed a contract through the end of the 2025 MLS season.

Part 2 - Shohei Ohtani & Trinity Rodman

NBA flopping penalty and expanded use of Coach’s Challenge

The NBA Board of Governors approved an in-game flopping penalty and expanded use of the Coach’s Challenge. Both rule changes will be implemented beginning with the 2023-24 NBA season.

In-Game Flopping Penalty

Under the new rule, when a game official calls a flop – or a physical act that reasonably appears to be intended to cause the officials to call a foul on another player – the offending player will be charged with a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul and the opposing team will be awarded one free throw attempt, which could be attempted by any player who is in the game when the technical foul is assessed. A player will not be ejected from a game based on flopping violations.

Referees will not be required to stop live play to call a flopping violation. If necessary (for example, to avoid stopping live play while the offensive team has an immediate scoring opportunity), the officials will wait until the next neutral opportunity to stop live play to administer the flopping penalty. After the penalty free throw, the league’s resumption of play principles will apply, meaning that the team with actual or imminent possession when play was stopped will be awarded possession when play resumes.

It is possible that the officials could call both a foul and a flopping violation on the same play.

A flopping violation will not be directly reviewable by a Coach’s Challenge. However, the referees could call a flop via replay review of a called foul triggered by a Coach’s Challenge or referee-initiated replay review of certain types of called fouls (such as a potential flagrant foul, block-charge call, end-of-period foul or clear-path foul).

The league office’s ability to assess flops after a game will remain in place. New for the 2023-24 season, the postgame monetary penalty system for flops has been modified to replicate that of technical fouls, with fines starting at $2,000 and increasing incrementally for repeat offenders.

A flopping violation called by the officials in real time will not result in a fine or count toward the postgame financial penalty system. When a flop is called by the referees, the lone penalty will be the in-game competitive penalty of the opposing team being awarded one free throw attempt.

The new in-game flopping penalty will be in effect on a one-year trial basis.

Expanded Use of Coach’s Challenge

The Coach’s Challenge has been expanded to award teams a second Challenge if their first Challenge is successful.

A team must continue to use a timeout to trigger a Challenge, which means a team will not be able to use its first or second Challenge unless it still has a timeout available. In addition, a team will continue to retain the timeout used to initiate its first Challenge if the Challenge is successful and did not trigger a mandatory timeout. For game length and game flow reasons, a team will not retain the timeout used to initiate its second Challenge even if the Challenge is successful.

The NBA’s Competition Committee – which consists of players, representatives from the National Basketball Players Association, coaches, governors, team basketball executives and referees – unanimously recommended both the in-game flopping penalty and expanded use of the Coach’s Challenge to the Board of Governors.

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