After playing a minor role for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings, the Buffalo Sabres acquired Don Luce, who found a role with his defensive skills from the Center position.

Since the Soviet Union has not existed for decades, the record for most games played by a Soviet-born Defenseman (1,085) will never be broken.  Alexei Zhitnik is that record holder, and 712 of those games were as a Buffalo Sabre.

Though we are moving closer to normalcy when it comes to restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it appears that the NFL are showing an abundance of caution when it comes to allowing the press access to locker rooms for the coming season.

The regular season starts in September and training camps and preseason games would’ve been packed to the rafters with press in any other situation, but by all accounts the press will have to wait a little longer before they can fire their questions to players and officials.

Moves to attempt a new way of providing access to journalists, via zoom calls, haven’t proven popular with sports stars and journalists and as such there are growing calls for some kind of middle ground.

Fans have returned to stadiums in the NBA, NHL and MLB, but still reporters have been shut out of locker rooms in those sports. 

New coronavirus protocols have not been produced yet but the situation over the past 18 months, and repercussions of the pandemic on sports franchises, will have had an effect on how players will perform. To keep up with how this may have impacted on the futures market check out the Sidelines website, especially as the futures odds are changing regularly as we get closer to the regular season kick-off.

The NFL press aren’t having a great time of it, and this is doubly true across other sports of late, even in the relatively carefree world of the tennis tour, where the press and players are rarely at loggerheads, there’s been a big backlash following the withdrawal of Naomi Osaka at the French Open. 

The 23-year-old California-based Japanese tennis star left the Roland Garros tournament after being reprimanded for not carrying out her media duties, she then proceeded to leave France amid discussion of her mental health taking a battering.

Some believe that this kind of incident should actually lead to a stronger relationship between media and sports stars, with PFWA (Professional Football Writers Association) claiming closer ties are needed, stating;

“Locker room access is at the heart of our jobs covering the NFL and telling the stories that fans want and deserve to hear,” the PFWA countered. 

“Dialogue in recent days has only reinforced the need to have meaningful interactions with the athletes we cover beyond press conference settings. Those one-on-one and small group conversations are critical not only to cover the game but the people who play it. Locker room access ensures that every player has the opportunity to have his voice heard and his story told if he chooses.”

Of all the top sports Stateside it’s perhaps the NFL that has enjoyed the best view of the inner workings of the dressing room and one imagines that the NFL would like to keep the relationship as open as possible for all parties concerned.

The NFL gets underway on September 9th with the pick of the opening week fixtures definitely being the Dallas Cowboys against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Tom Brady, going for his eighth Superbowl ring, taking on America’s team in a fine feast of a showdown. 

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives. Eventually, we are going to get to that of the Division I schools, and conferences.  As such, it is news that New York Mets have announced the date of three former players’ (Edgardo Alfonso, Ron Darling and Jon Matlack) induction into their franchise Hall of Fame.

The original plan was to induct these three, last year, but COVID-19 put a damper on those plans.  It will now take place on July 31, when the Mets host Cincinnati.

Edgardo Alfonso, Third Base (1995-02) 1,136 Hits, 120 Home Runs, 538 RBI, .292/.367/.445, 29.6 bWAR:  Alfonso was a Silver Slugger in 1999 and an All-Star in 2000, and in both of those seasons he belted at least 25 Home Runs and batted over .300.

Ron Darling, Pitcher (1983-91) 99-70, 3.50 ERA, 1,148 Strikeouts, 1.288 WHIP, 16.7 bWAR:  Darling was a member of the Mets 1986 World Series Championship Team, and was an All-Star in 1985.  The native of Hawaii won at least 15 Games three times.

Jon Matlack, Pitcher (1971-77) 82-81, 3.03 ERA, 1,023 Strikeouts, 1.195 WHIP, 15.2 bWAR:  Jon Matlack was the 1972 National League Rookie of the Year, and was an All-Star three years in a row from 1974 to 1976.  Matlack helped the Mets win the Pennant in 1973 and twice led the NL in Shutouts.  

Notably, the Mets also will be retiring Jerry Koosman’s number 36 on August 28 in a game against Washington.  He joins Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Casey Stengel and Jackie Robinson in earning this honor.

We will be watching both of these events.