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I put it off all day. I’m so exhausted – sad, angry and helpless – that I don’t even want to deal with my own emotions about the closure of MLB. Every time I try to crystallize my thoughts in a really comprehensive way, I just shake my head and think how upset I am. How much damage this will do in the long run and how EASY it is for everyone to see except the owners.

Despite the grief that Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has received about the lockout, the state of the game as a whole and his own management, he offered the shortest and most insightful look at what is happening now.

“I see the omission of the games as a disastrous result for this industry,” Manfred said three weeks ago when asked what it would mean to miss regular season games as a result of failing to reach a new collective agreement.

catastrophic.

This is one of those words that we can use carelessly enough because there is such a simple definition: “Inflicting great damage.”

And Manfred was so precise in his choice of words. Major League Baseball, through its blocking and delaying and stingy offers to players, and now its unilateral cancellation of games, is indeed causing great damage to the industry. I’m not even sure I’m shaking my head anymore. He can just shake on his own, damaged will.

I have a number of other things that I think are important to share here, so I’ll just post them below …

⇒ So, what’s next for the calls? Well, MLB pointed out that Thursday is the earliest time to start negotiations again and both sides are obliged to continue to do so (from a legal point of view). I think we’ll probably see some sessions over the weekend, because I estimate more games will be canceled if there’s no deal by Sunday night. But also, according to my calculations, I don’t think the owners will be terribly worried about canceling the next part of the games. It may not be another two weeks before they start seriously considering a reasonable offer.

⇒ MLB is indeed likely to take the position that it is up to the players to make another counter-offer, as MLB’s “best” offer came before Monday’s deadline:

Manfred says “without exception” the owners have made a final proposal on each individual topic in the CBA, so “you draw your own conclusions” about who should go next.

– Scott Miller (@ScottMillerBbl) March 1, 2022

⇒ Based on the conditions we saw, I could imagine how players are declining slightly in terms of pre-arbitration bonus fund and minimum wage demands, but the balance sheet tax is probably the real battle. It always was. And it just doesn’t seem like it’s the players’ turn to make a big move on this.

CBT’s “best and latest” growth rates proposed by MLB (key tax thresholds)

2022: 4.76% ($ 220 million)
2023: 0.00% ($ 220 million)
2022: 0.00% ($ 220 million)
2024: 1.82% ($ 224 million)
2025: 2.68% ($ 230 million)

From 2011-19, the CBT base grew by 2% per year, MLB revenues grew by an average of 8% per year. https://t.co/uvWp58rYzD

– Travis Savchik (@Travis_Sawchik) March 1, 2022

⇒ I guess that means $ 225 million for the first level of CBT:

I was told that the MLBPA was strongly opposed to 14 teams after the season and that the owners would take CBT up to $ 25 million if that led to a deal.

– Peter Gammons (@pgammo) March 2, 2022

⇒ This is between the last known offers from owners ($ 220 million) and players ($ 238 million), but not the midpoint. The bigger questions might be: where are the second and third levels placed? What are the related sanctions outside the tax itself? What is the lifelong escalation of the deal? More than the first issue of the first year, all these things were also a major problem. In the five years of the deal, for example, the owners ‘offer escalated the first level to just $ 230 million (unlike players’ last year, it was up to $ 263 million).

⇒ This version of events is sad:

Blue Stays’ union representative Ross Stripling “knew we were far away” from the deal, but wanted to be optimistic, calling a broker for spring rental and upgrading the hen to live BP. “Now I feel stupid for doing that.” https://t.co/3HrAIsZVbv

– Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) March 2, 2022

“It must be around 12:30[AM, after midnight on Monday] and the fine print of their CBT proposal was something we’ve never seen before, “Stripling said. “They were trying to get things through us, like they thought we were dumb baseball players and we were sleeping after midnight or something. It’s like that stupid football quote, they’re what we thought they were. They did exactly what we thought they would do. They brought us to the deadline they imposed, and then they tried to sneak some nonsense past us within that deadline, and we were ready for that. We have been ready for five years. And then they tried to turn it over to us [Tuesday] in PR, saying that we changed our tone and tried to do it as if it was our fault. That has never happened. “

⇒ In other words, it seems that the plan for MLB was either to make a favorite deal in the wee hours, or to try to make the public think that the players suddenly changed their minds in the morning. In fact, the deal was never close. Everything was still in the service of the (probably) broader plan: either take a monstrous profit from the CBA, or happily cancel the games.

FWIW MLB told the media last night and today that there is momentum to the deal. Now they say the tone of the players has changed. So if the deal is not made today, we are to blame. This is not a coincidence. We had the same tone all the time. We just want a fair deal / to play ball.

– Alex Wood (@ Awood45) March 1, 2022

⇒ The PR game didn’t seem to work, however, as players spoke around today – from Jason Hayward and Wilson Contreras – to Mike Trout. I mean, if you make Mike Trout angry in public, you’ve really done something:

Mike Trout about the CBA talks through his Facebook page pic.twitter.com/ZWTPy2WsOE

– Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) March 2, 2022

⇒ Three exclusive articles in The Athletic about what happened:

Opening day has been canceled. Owners may not spoil the union. But they will break something.

Column: https://t.co/zE1NsBIbh5

– Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) March 2, 2022

The owners of the big league had all the advantages, but that was not enough. Column: https://t.co/Zyt2aSW8MU

– Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 2, 2022

New column: Rob Manfred said the cancellation of the games would be a “catastrophic result” for his sport.

Well, here we are. So, has the disaster officially arrived? Or is there still time before something gets worse – much worse? https://t.co/SRx7zKH9MZ

– Jason Stark (@jaysonst) March 2, 2022

⇒ Last part of the sadness in all this: MLB’s decision not only hurts fans, players and themselves, but also hurts so many others who are part of the larger baseball ecosystem. The stadium workers who are now losing matches and paying. Providers who lose limited opportunities to make money. The bars and restaurants around the stadiums are losing customers. Small businesses working on baseball. The service staff. The hotels. The media. And all the other employees who might see opportunities or salaries are shrinking. Who can be fired or fired. The cobweb stretches out. The side damage is real. We saw it in 2020, when a global pandemic DID similar things. This year it was just a choice. What a disastrous outcome for this industry.

It probably didn’t turn out exactly as James Harden had imagined, but the Six Star’s Allies guard made his home debut on Wednesday night, helping his team come back to beat the Knicks and improve to 3-0 with him on the court.

He scored 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in a 123-108 win over the Sixers.

Joel Embiid recorded 27 points and 12 rebounds. Tyris Maxi scored 25 points.

The Sixers will face the Cavaliers on Friday night in Philadelphia. Here are observations of their victory over New York:

Harden must work for his first victory at home

Harden and Sixers almost missed a few potential instant players in the audience.

The team started 2 to 9 from the floor and Harden saw a three on the wing and a floater rattling around the hoop and out. The sailing attempt was discovered after a nice double action with Tobias Harris and Embiid. Harden also made a U-turn, trying a daring pass across the court for Mathis Tiboul. Jericho Sims grabbed an offensive board and scored the ball to put New York ahead 18-9.

However, it didn’t take long for Harden to reverse the game’s momentum. He transforms one and one laying and aa step back three. Thybulle then made a three-pointer and kept it to level the game at 20-all, breaking a 1-for-16 stretch from a distance.

Harden settled into a familiar move and didn’t seem to have much trouble scoring 19 points in the first half.

There were no questions about Harden’s intelligence, but he looked physically strong. His line drives were explosive and he was determined to play by contact on Wednesday and secure a home debut.

Problems in defense in minutes other than Embiid

The game got worse for Sixers when Embiid headed to the bench.

Harden could not carry the lineup and three or four players on the bench to succeed, missing two foul shots and a three-pointer at the end of the quarter, and the Sixers trailed 44-28 early in the second quarter after an easy shot by RJ Barrett. who finished with 30 points and seven assists.

It would be hard to exaggerate how poor the Sixers’ defense was during this period, both in the transition and in the half-court. No player on the floor made a positive defensive impact and the whole group seemed a few steps back. Even with Furkan Korkmaz on the bench after another bad experience, the Knicks felt comfortable attacking every Sixer on the floor. Harden’s five stolen thefts and Sixers’ ability to force frequent turnovers in New York covered up some of the team’s defensive problems against the Knicks on Sunday, but the stops seem hard to connect when Embiid and Thybulle are out.

One glaring weakness was the rim protection. Rivers stayed with Paul Milsap as a backup for Embiid and the veteran did not provide a meaningful deterrence for the Knicks. The defending teams were also worrying for the Sixers in the first half, although much of it was just a byproduct of New York’s big men ‘victory over Embiid.

Rivers said before the game that he was not sure how the situation at the Sixers reserve center would eventually shake. He even mentioned the idea of ​​a committee approach, but noted that this was not his preference. Although Rivers indicated before the game that Willie Cowley-Stein would soon get a chance in the rotation, the 28-year-old did not play until the last minute and 15 seconds.

The Sixers overtook the Knicks by two points in the minutes of Milsap in the second half, which felt like a huge victory, given the continuing instability of the team in defense. Maxey’s presence was massive when he picked up the Sixers with aggressive thinking and gave up three. Kentucky head coach John Calipari watched everything from his place on the court.

Embiid grinned as he saw Maxey make a difficult three-pointer to increase the Sixers’ lead to 112-99 in the fourth quarter. In three games, the Sixers have a conscientious trio for points.

Korkmaz did not appear in the second half until the end of the time. He might get another chance at some point, but removing him from the rotation was justified and could certainly have happened sooner.

It is still crucial to Embiid’s diet

Just like on Sunday, Embiid committed two early fouls on Mitchell Robinson. But Embiid was disappointed in the first half.

He turned the ball three times before halftime, disagreed with a few whistles and scored a technical foul in the second quarter. Robinson even blocked the Embiid jumper, which is a rare sight. The game, after attempting a career-high 27 free throws, Embiid crossed 11 for 13 from the foul line.

Harden stared at the wide-open three-pointer to start the third quarter, but instead chose to hit Embiid in the fight. The unselfish decision paid off, as Embiid leaned over and went to bed. Embiid then drained a three-pointer assisted by Harden in the Sixers’ next reign, and the team’s deficit suddenly became just one point.

No one would mind Harden trying this long-distance jumper, but it’s obvious that he admits that the Sixers are at their best when Embiid is fully focused and confident. Harden is happy to save everyone with a fantastic, challenging game, but he is on a team that must thrive on offense if he gives priority to Embiid’s efficiency and nutrition. So far, so good.

Tobias Harris scored his third foul early in the third quarter and then suffered a rough offensive. Harden was annoyed when Harris rejected an open three-pointer and instead got involved in the traffic, keeping his eyes on the veteran ahead and telling him “Come on” when the Sixers returned to defense.

However, Harris’s performance has improved since the last two games, as he scored 14 points in a 5-on-10 shootout, seven rebounds and two blocks.

As of Sunday, the European Union has closed all its airspace to all Russian aircraft and companies. Across the English Channel, Canada and the United States made the same decision.

The European Union speaks with one voice. As of Sunday, the Union’s 27 member states have decided to close all of their airspace to Russian aircraft in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

A few days earlier, outside the Old Continent, Canada announced that it was closing its airspace “to all Russian aircraft operators,” according to the Twitter account of Canadian Transport Minister Omar Algabra. For his part, Joe Biden officially banned United States airspace for Russian aircraft during his “address to Congress on the state of the Union” on Tuesday night.

According to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, more Russian aircraft “will not be able to land, take off or take off from the European Union” regardless of the type of aircraft (passenger and goods transport, military aircraft and private aircraft).

This applies to all aircraft, charters, aircraft of airlines or aircraft owned by Russian citizens. “Let it be very clear that our airspace will be closed to all Russian planes, including the private planes of the oligarchs,” she said.

See the full list of countries that already ban Russian flights in the preview below. However, it should be noted that Belarus and Moldova, Ukraine’s neighbors, have announced a global closure of their airspace, and not just for Russia.

Immediate response from Russia

The Kremlin is returning the favor. In response to Western sanctions against Russian aircraft, the country, led by Vladimir Putin, has now banned flights from Russian airspace to all countries that have approved the sanctions. Moscow has responded by imposing several restrictions and banning airlines from the 36 countries listed below.

“In response to European countries banning flights of civil aircraft operated by Russian air carriers and / or registered in Russia, a restriction has been imposed on flights by air carriers from 36 countries,” the agency said. Russian airline Rosaviatsia in a statement issued on February 28.

However, flights by airlines from these countries can still be operated subject to a “special permit” issued by the Russian authorities.

The UN General Assembly is massively “demanding” Russia end the war in Ukraine

INDIANAPOLIS – All your answers, right here …

From Alan S. Chapman (@Mr_Chappy): Based on what the Texas general manager told the plant, do they think Deshon Watson will play for them again and actually hold Watson hostage at this point? They don’t seem to be talking publicly about deals.

From Mark furlong (@mfurlong): Who gets Deshon?

Alan, I don’t really think there’s any new malice between Deshon Watson and the Texans. There is and always would be a process for all this. Part of it is the potential for legal resolution, both on the criminal and civil fronts, of the 22 lawsuits filed against him. Part of this is the reality that the quarterback trading market has fallen ill and is likely to remain so as long as there is uncertainty surrounding Aaron Rodgers.

Serena Williams called The New York Times on Wednesday after the newspaper used a photo of her sister Venus Williams in a story instead.

The story, which highlighted more than $ 100 million she raised for her new venture capital fund, uses a small photo of Venus in print.

Her newspaper responded on Twitter shortly afterwards.

This mistake, regardless of the intention behind it, is not a great sight.

Serena’s new venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, has raised $ 111 million to help it get started, according to The New York Times, and already has an investor with a portfolio of 60 companies. According to the report, about 75% of the founders of the portfolio of companies that her company introduces come from historically underrepresented backgrounds.