WALKING THE LINE
Why Astros, Rockets fans should take note of the Dolphins saga
Feb 3, 2022, 5:46 pm
WALKING THE LINE
Now the question is … did Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross really offer $100,000 bonuses to head coach Brian Flores for each game the Dolphins lost – on purpose – during the 2019 season?
"That was a conversation about not doing as much as we needed to do in order to win football games," Flores told ESPN this week. “Take a flight, go on vacation, I'll give you $100,000 per loss -- those were his exact words.”
If that’s true, as Flores formally alleges in a lawsuit against the NFL charging racial discrimination, what happens now?
Would NFL commissioner Roger Goodell order Ross to sell the Dolphins? Or allow him to keep the team but force him to withdraw from daily operations for a certain length of time or forever? Would the NFL fine Ross and punish the Dolphins by taking away draft picks?
Would NFL owners tell commissioner Goodell to clean out his office and resign? Will the FBI investigate to determine if Ross committed a crime? If the accusation is true that he offered money essentially to fix the outcome of games, it sure sounds like bribery and racketeering. Plus I’m sure there are several people with crooked noses in the illegal gambling industry who’d like to have a private word with Mr. Ross.
And what happens now with former Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson’s similar accusation that the Browns long-term plan included losing games on purpose, or at least not trying their hardest to win, in 2016 and 2017 in order to move higher in the draft?
The Browns went 1-31 those two years and sure enough landed the No. 1 overall draft pick after both seasons. They drafted Myles Garrett in 2017 and Baker Mayfield in 2018. Jackson was fired midway during the 2019 season.
Flores was fired by the Dolphins last month after two winning seasons in a row. Both Jackson and Flores are African-American.
We’re only at the beginning of what could explode into a major scandal and black eye for the NFL. If two – so far – NFL teams conspired to lose games on purpose, the integrity of the NFL, the most popular and powerful sports organization in the U.S., could be damaged, probably not beyond repair, but two giant steps back.
I’d forget about Goodell losing his job, at least over this. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig ran the Major Leagues during the steroid era, most believe he knew cheating was rampant, and Selig later was elected to the Hall of Fame. Team owners, who are Goodell’s boss, can look beyond scandal as long as their bottom line keeps soaring.
Remember, Flores and Jackson’s accusations are only that, accusations. We don’t know if they’re true. There’s a thin line between rebuilding and tanking.
Between not trying to win and hoping to lose.
Did the Houston Astros tank during 2011-2013 when they lost 100 games each year? Or were they developing young players who took their lumps with the promise of good things to come? In the Astros case, the gamble paid off big time with three consecutive years of 100 wins, playoff and World Series appearances and the Astros first championship in 2017.
With the Texans, maybe we shouldn’t confuse tanking with mismanagement, poor judgment, lousy coaching and just plain stupidity. The Texans are losing on the field, in the community and among their fan base. The organization from top to bottom isn’t a dumpster fire, it’s an out-of-control blaze that’s rendered NRG Park into 350 acres of smoldering despair on game days.
How would you describe the Rocket’s game plan? They sent John Wall, their highest-paid and best player who isn’t injured, to NBA Siberia because the coaching staff wants to give their young players a chance to develop. This at the expense of winning games that would lessen their chances of gaining a premium draft pick. Wouldn’t young players benefit and learn from playing with an experienced guard with All-Star pedigree? Rebuilding or tanking?
Brian Flores, a finalist for the Texans head coaching position and the fans’ clear choice for the job, says he informed Texans management that he was filing a lawsuit against the league before his interview. Will the lawsuit leave Flores toxic as a coaching pick? Or will teams feel pressure to hire him now? Flores also is a candidate for the New Orleans Saints coaching position.
If the Dolphins owner did attempt to bribe Flores to lose games, it wouldn’t be the first time a team out-and-out went into the tank. The most famous instance involved Chicago White Sox players taking money from a notorious racketeer to throw the 1919 World Series. The players, though found innocent in court, were banned from baseball a year later and brandished the Black Sox forever.
There have been several point shaving scandals in college sports. In some cases, the team didn’t necessarily lose the game, but just kept the margin of victory under a certain number of points.
Nobody has proof – or cares – but the Washington Generals have lost 10,000 games in a row to the Harlem Globetrotters. There is suspicion that the Generals coach is told to lose on purpose. You know, like certain NFL coaches are claiming.
It’s May 1, and the Astros are turning heads—but not for the reasons anyone expected. Their resurgence, driven not by stars like Yordan Alvarez or Christian Walker, but by a cast of less-heralded names, is writing a strange and telling early-season story.
Christian Walker, brought in to add middle-of-the-order thump, has yet to resemble the feared hitter he was in Arizona. Forget the narrative of a slow starter—he’s never looked like this in April. Through March and April of 2025, he’s slashing a worrying .196/.277/.355 with a .632 OPS. Compare that to the same stretch in 2024, when he posted a .283 average, .496 slug, and a robust .890 OPS, and it becomes clear: this is something more than rust. Even in 2023, his April numbers (.248/.714 OPS) looked steadier.
What’s more troubling than the overall dip is when it’s happening. Walker is faltering in the biggest moments. With runners in scoring position, he’s hitting just .143 over 33 plate appearances, including 15 strikeouts. The struggles get even more glaring with two outs—.125 average, .188 slugging, and a .451 OPS in 19 such plate appearances. In “late and close” situations, when the pressure’s highest, he’s practically disappeared: 1-for-18 with a .056 average and a .167 OPS.
His patience has waned (only 9 walks so far, compared to 20 by this time last year), and for now, his presence in the lineup feels more like a placeholder than a pillar.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer when you look at José Altuve—long the engine of this franchise—who, in 2024, delivered in the moments Walker is now missing. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Altuve hit .275 with an .888 OPS. In late and close situations, he thrived with a .314 average and .854 OPS. That kind of situational excellence is missing from this 2025 squad—but someone else may yet step into that role.
And yet—the Astros are winning. Not because of Walker, but in spite of him.
Houston’s offense, in general, hasn’t lit up the leaderboard. Their team OPS ranks 23rd (.667), their slugging 25th (.357), and they sit just 22nd in runs scored (117). They’re 26th in doubles, a rare place for a team built on gap-to-gap damage.
But where there’s been light, it hasn’t come from the usual spots. Jeremy Peña, often overshadowed in a lineup full of stars, now boasts the team’s highest OPS at .791 (Isaac Paredes is second in OPS) and is flourishing in his new role as the leadoff hitter. Peña’s balance of speed, contact, aggression, and timely power has given Houston a surprising tone-setter at the top.
Even more surprising: four Astros currently have more home runs than Yordan Alvarez.
And then there’s the pitching—Houston’s anchor. The rotation and bullpen have been elite, ranking 5th in ERA (3.23), 1st in WHIP (1.08), and 4th in batting average against (.212). In a season where offense is lagging and clutch hits are rare, the arms have made all the difference.
For now, it’s the unexpected contributors keeping Houston afloat. Peña’s emergence. A rock-solid pitching staff. Role players stepping up in quiet but crucial ways. They’re not dominating, but they’re grinding—and in a sluggish AL West, that may be enough.
Walker still has time to find his swing. He showed some signs of life against Toronto and Detroit. If he does, the Astros could become dangerous. If he doesn’t, the turnaround we’re witnessing will be credited to a new cast of unlikely faces. And maybe, that’s the story that needed to be written.
We have so much more to discuss. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
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