Porter's Hot Takes: Hamels, Brady, Schumer
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There were two topics that dominated sports talk in Philadelphia this week: Cole Hamels traded to the Rangers and Deflategate.
Deflategate is irritating and the Hamels trade was inevitable, but hey, look on the bright side---Eagles training camp begins Sunday.
Here's another edition of myself, internet yelling.
Did it have to happen? Sure. Did we know it was coming? Of course. But still, when someone as dominant and memorable as Cole Hamels gets traded, it's sort of sad---or at least, weird.
As for the trade, both teams are happy. Personally, I like Texas is a bit more excited about the deal.
The Rangers get a 31-year-old ace pitcher, arguably the most consistent and reliable pitcher of the last decade, for at least three years on a reasonable contract. And they kept their top two prospects, 3B/OF Joey Gallo (No. 8 overall according to MLB.com) and OF Nomar Mazara (No. 17 overall according to MLB.com).
For the Phils, they restocked their farm system by adding three top-100 prospects in RHP Jake Thompson, OF Nick Williams, and C Jorge Alfaro (they also added two other prospects, but those two are---blah).
While the Phils were also forced to take on 29-year-old injury-riddled pitcher Matt Harrison and his guaranteed (through 2017) contract, and send cash to the Rangers, they still save about $40 million with Hamels coming off-the-books.
Even if Cole is Cole for three more seasons, this team isn't ready to compete for a championship. They needed to get younger, cheaper, and start re-tooling their roster...and that's what they did.
Isn't it annoying? Everything about it annoys me. Even the fact of everyone saying it's annoying, or the "dumbest controversy ever" annoys me.
I'll say this---I feel bad for Tom Brady. A professional athlete in this world, that amazing, that classy, that kind of a role model, tarnished by the incompetency of the NFL is infuriating. I'm not a Tom Brady fan, I'm certainly not a New England Patriots fan, but I am a fan of greatness. Brady is great, maybe the greatest, and what the NFL is doing to him is absurd and incomprehensible.
If you don't believe me, listen to Washington Post reporter Sally Jenkins.
Trainwreck
What did I think?
As Larry David would say, "Eh."
85-percent on Rotten Tomatoes though?! Shocked. It was cute, sure, but it was your typical rom-com. Troubled girl finds guy, fights with said guy, breaks up with said guy, gets back together with said guy, and lives happily ever after with said guy. Riveting.
LeBron James, who I am admittedly a big fan of, was fine. Nothing spectacular. Kind of cheesy.
And can we stop with the Amy Schumer obsession? Are we over her yet? Sure, she's funny I guess, but people are going way overboard with the love.
Eh.