I didn't know this, but July 1st is the called Bobby Bonilla Day to Mets fans. Why is it called this? Well, every July 1st Bobby Bonilla, a former Mets player who hasn't played with the club since 1999 is cut a check for $1,193,248.20. This has been going on since 2011, and will continue until 2035, when he will be 72 years old. So what makes this story so interesting, and why is he getting paid so much, even in retirement?

Many MLB players have had deferred salaries over the past decades, but not as legendary as that of Bobby Bonilla, who had signed a contract with the New York Mets in 1991, which was the largest in baseball history at the time. At the time, he was huge. He had four teams wanting him, offering him $25 million in free agency. The Mets kept him for 3.5 years, and then he was traded to the Orioles with the two final years of his salary deferred. He came back to the Mets in 1999, but was released a year after. He was still owed $5.9 in 2000. INstead of buying Bonilla's contract out, they agreed to make annual payments instead, with interest.

This is where it gets interesting. The Mets needed to free up some cash, and they decided they would finance the payments through investments with none other than Bernie Madoff himself. As everyone knows, Bernie Madoff, was sentenced to 150 years in prison for running the world's largest Ponzi scheme that was worth over $64 billion. The Mets were poised to make a significant profit off of the investments, but that never happened. They agreed to defer Bonilla's payments to $1.2 million a year, at an 8% interest rate, starting July 1,2011.

"The only ones needing to worry will be the new owners of the Mets, with seven groups of investors interested in purchasing the team from the Wilpon family.

Let them cringe knowing that Bonilla will be paid nearly five times the amount of star Pete Alonso, who set a rookie record with 53 homers last year, and will be paid $241,674 in his prorated deal."

The only ones needing to worry will be the new owners of the Mets, with seven groups of investors interested in purchasing the team from the Wilpon family.

Let them cringe knowing that Bonilla will be paid nearly five times the amount of star Pete Alonso, who set a rookie record with 53 homers last year, and will be paid $241,674 in his prorated deal."

After a forced pause of 10 weeks due to COVID-19, NASCAR has had to go back to the drawing board to figure out how it would return. Other sporting organizations have dropped out completely it seems. It's in the middle of the summer, and MLB still can't seem to get their stuff together. NASCAR just might have the winning formula... flexibility, and openness to change.

NASCAR definitely went on a diet with their approach. They've cleared their calendar, which would have been full of qualifying days and practices, and made it to where it's just racing. That's right, NASCAR isn't doing practices or qualifying this season, and the results seem to be very positive for the sport. Drivers seem to like it as well. Not only is it a way of taking safety measures during the pandemic, but it has made the sport more exciting and unpredictable. Brad Keselowski put it best in my opinion.

“The limited practice, show up and race, and the time window that benefits both the east and west coast,” said Keselowski. “No qualifying. Inversion from the week before is really good, because it mixes the field up and creates some good storylines there. I think it’s fair. It’s compelling, and it’s a time where quite frankly, the sports world, even if it wasn’t for COVID, midweek races in the summer, when you’re generally not having a lot of competition, is in a time period where everybody is hungry for content.

“I think they’ve got gold here. COVID or not, I hope we keep this for years to come. I think this is a great little format that’s good for the sport and good for the fans and good for everybody all around, so kudos to them.”
After winning at Bristol on Sunday, Keselowski reiterated his point when asked why there have been so many drivers making mistakes recently. Without a chance to practice or work on the cars, Keselowski believes the format lends itself to errors, and that isn’t a bad thing.

I agree with this totally. People are always complaining about how boring stock car racing can be. Well, here's your answer. Perhaps the other sports organizations should follow NASCAR's example. Cut the fat, and stick to what's most important, the sport itself.

As if sports today couldn't get any more conflicted and confusing, MLB players have been clashing with the MLB itself over how many games they should really play this season. Management had offered an 82 game regular season, which didn't sit right with the players who are concerned about salary cuts. The players countered the MLB's offer with a 114 game regular season along with no salary cuts, which was rejected.

Extending the season any further would have the regular season going into November. MLB reasoned that extending it this far, posed a risk due to the fears of a second wave of coronavirus. This would not only mess up the postseason, but threaten $787 million in broadcast revenue.

While management has suggested it could play a short regular season of about 50 games with no more salary reductions, it has not formally proposed that concept. Earlier this week, multiple players told ESPN that they would not abide a shorter schedule, with one saying, "We want to play more games, and they want to play less. We want more baseball."

In my opinion, if they keep arguing over this, there won't be enough of the year left to have even a short season. I understand where the players are coming from, they want to play more, and not lose money while doing it. I tend to side with them on this. The league and networks losing money is a big deal as well, but we are also talking about individual player's livelihood here.

You heard that right. Boxing legend, and the only four-time heavyweight world champion, Evander Holyfield plans on returning to the ring. It's hard to believe the 57 year old wants to go back to getting punched in the face again. I guess when something gets into your blood like that, you can't ever get rid of it. His return will consist of exhibition bouts to raise money for the charity Unite 4 Our Fight. I think it's a cool of him to not only return, but to do it for charity. I look forward to seeing what comes of it.

As for Mike Tyson, this 53 year old has considered coming back to boxing. He's been seen training pretty intensely, and many critics and fans say he looks as good as he did in his 20's. His trainer says he has the same power and speed of his youth. has been offered $1 million for a comeback exhibition fight in Australia. The attention that he's gotten from his training videos haven't stopped there. Apparently the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship is willing to pay Tyson $20 million to compete in the sport of bare knuckle fighting. This too would be interesting to see. He'd be a terrifying opponent.

I know everyone is thinking the same thing. "Gee, I wonder what it would take to get those two back into the ring together." As much as I'd love to fantasized about that, I don't see it ever happening. Does anyone else? How do you think either one of these over-the-hill fighters will do?