Down the Line: Our new plan could end teams’ incentive to tank
“Tanking” stinks, I believe we all can agree. So why encourage it?
Excuse me if someone has proposed these thoughts in a public forum, but I thought of some of these a decade ago. I still have not heard them espoused by talking heads such as Colin Cowherd, Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless, Shannon Sharpe, Mike Greenberg, Jalen Rose, Dan Patrick, et. al.
Forget drafting in reverse order of records. Forget lotteries to determine draft order.
Instead, here’s our plan:
A) Give extra room under the salary cap to teams who make the playoffs and deny it to those who miss the postseason. Play to win or suffer consequences.
B) Have a true lottery. The draft order would be totally random throughout the league, starting with No. 3, regardless of whether a team qualified for the playoffs. There would be no draft advantage to missing the playoffs.
C) Meanwhile, the top two teams in this random lottery would compete in a one-game playoff for the No. 1 pick, with the loser getting the second choice.
I recall the most anticipated NBA draft of my lifetime, 2003. Everybody knew LeBron James would go No. 1. I think back to Cleveland fans lamenting when the Cavaliers won a game, worrying it would reduce their chances of landing their hometown hero. (The Cavs finished 17-65, had the worst attendance in the league and won the lottery.)
Instead, imagine the anticipation for the playoff game that would determine who would land LeBron — the dude who sank the winning shot would be a hero to fans.
Thoughts? Let me know at edearth@dailypress.com.
Big-time offers: Former James Madison and Lake Taylor High standout linebacker Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey is in the transfer portal and is attracting interest from big-time programs for his fifth year of college football.
According to Max Olson, the FCS All-American from Norfolk quickly has received scholarship offers from schools such as Texas, Texas A&M, Florida State, Mississippi, Auburn and Central Florida.
Olson, a senior writer covering college football for The Athletic, said Tucker-Dorsey could be the best player still available in the portal.
Volleyball trip: Tristan Whitfield, a 6-foot-7 standout from Virginia Beach and Cape Henry Collegiate, was chosen by USA Volleyball as one of 12 athletes who will play on the Boys Under-19 National Team at the Boys U19 Pan American Cup in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Twenty-one players trained in Anaheim, California, before the final team was selected Thursday.
Whitfield was a second-team All-Tidewater choice as an outside hitter, but USA Volleyball lists him as a middle blocker.
What’s coming up
Friday: The Peninsula Tennis Patrons Association Memorial Day Classic, one of the area’s most popular events, will swing into action at Huntington Park Tennis Center in Newport News.
Saturday: The Tidewater Masters, one of the showcase events of the Tidewater Golfweek Amateur Tour, begins a two-day run at 7 a.m. at Kilmarlic Golf Club in Powells Point, North Carolina.
Saturday: We’re less than a week from the Peninsula Pilots’ season opener. The popular Coastal Plain League team will break out the wood bats to face the Martinsville Mustangs at 7 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Hampton.
Saturday: Virginia Beach United continues its early stretch of home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex by meeting Patuxent Football Athletics at 7 p.m.
