Patriots Improve vs. Raiders, Tiger Unveils TGL Golf, MLB Makes Major Changes | Breaking Brad Ep. 13

[TRANSCRIPT]Welcome to Breaking Brad, cooking up only the hottest of takes this evening. Going to start off as usual with some football.The New England Patriots had a much improved performance in their second day of joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday.On Tuesday, the offense couldn’t do a damn thing, particularly the running game, as the offensive line is still having troubles adjusting to the new zone run offense, which is supposed to make things a lot easier, especially for new players coming in (Cole Strange, for instance, seems to be picking things up nicely), but there’s a lot of different communication elements we’ve never seen a Bill Belichick team deploy.Once again, the Patriots offense seems to play at their best when running the hurry-up, two-minute offense. During the first two-minute period, Mac Jones hit DeVante Parker on screen, followed by completions to Jonnu Smith and Ty Montgomery (a very underrated pickup this offseason), before Nick Folk kicked a 47-yard field goal.Then in the final two-minute drill, Hunter Henry caught a couple of balls, one on a deep seam route, and the other in the end zone. There were team celebrations, and it was a real bounce back from yesterday, although the two-minute period was really their only success in the first practice with the Raiders.In other 11-on-11 drills, Jakobi Meyers made the catch of the day with an over-the-shoulder catch in the back of the end zone from Mac Jones. Meyers had a second touchdown later, and Ty Montgomery also added a TD of his own.The defense, who were up and down on Tuesday (but still played much better than the offense), also had an improved performance in the second day of joint practices with the Raiders. Matt Judon, for instance, picked up a sack, a pass breakup and a run stuff, while Josh Uche and Christian Barmore added constant pressure.Perhaps more importantly, Davante Adams, who single handedly tore up the Patriots defense on Tuesday, particularly corner Jalen Mills, looked like a normal human being. Mills broke up a pass to Adams, and forced incompletions guarding Keelan Cole and Tyron Johnson.Myles Bryant, however, continued to struggle guarding Hunter Renfrow, but Jack Jones and Terrance Mitchell looked strong in one-on-ones. So, mostly positive news to report about the DBs.Some other news, Isaiah Wynn worked with the athletic staff for most of practice, while Justin Herron filled his spot on the o-line. This is a bit different, it was Yodney Cajuste at right tackle, so the offense is mixing things up a little. Some are speculating whether or not Wynn is on the trade block, considering he’s in the last year of his contract and was basically downgraded from left tackle (the most important o-line position for protecting right-handed QBs), to right tackle. The Wynn stuff has been interesting - is he hurt, disgruntled, adjusting to a new role? We should find out more over the next couple of weeks.Overall, a solid day of practice from the Patriots against a pretty good team, the Las Vegas Raiders (certainly better than Carolina last week). The energy was high, Mac Jones played well, the running game was able to do stuff, and Ty Montgomery really looks to be a solid running back/receiver that Belichick will be able to use in a number of ways.The defense also continues to be the biggest bright spot for the Patriots this Training Camp, particularly their speed, depth and versatility. This is a pleasant surprise considering what happened in the Wild Card Playoffs against the Buffalo Bills in January, when they didn’t punt the football a single time all game.[TGL GOLF VIDEO PROMO]So, last week we reported that Tiger Woods was getting together with some of the top PGA golfers to find new ways to revamp the PGA, in a response to the Saudi-backed LIV Tour plucking players away and doubling their net worth in a single paycheck.Well, Tiger works quickly. Either that, or the PGA had this up their sleeve for quite some time.On Tuesday, Tiger and Rory McIlroy announced the launch of a new high-tech golf league in partnership with the PGA, called the TGL.The TGL is basically a team competition that will take place each Monday night, over the course of 15 weeks, with a semifinal and championship round at the end of the season. This new competition will “showcase matches fusing advanced tech and live action from a custom-built venue.”Each team will have three players, and there will be a grand total of six teams in the first season, so 18 golfers total. As of today, only Tiger and Rory have committed to the TGL.Tiger said in a statement, “Embracing technology to create this unique environment gives us the ability to move our sport into primetime on a consistent basis alongside so many of sports’ biggest events.”The TGL will not kick off until January of 2024, presumably providing LIV Golf enough time to move their sport into the Tron Legacy Universe.Well, see if this works out. The PGA is also reportedly growing the tour championship purse, prize money and field.It’s still too early to tell how successful LIV Golf will be, but they seemingly have an endless supply of money and are yet to acquire a television deal.Either way, today’s announcements from the PGA prove one thing: competition is good. There’s no way the tour would have considered significantly growing prize money and adding a high-tech golf league if it weren’t for the LIV Tour.At the end of the day, most people find golf to be very boring. This is a real opportunity to change that and bring in new fans to the sport.Now, I know there are golf fans that won’t like this. If you think baseball fans are rigid when it comes to rule changes, think of how bad fans of the PGA are, likely with an average age of 72. Luckily, the PGA had the guts to try and grow their brand, instead of preserving their brand while LIV Golf has all the fun.This is great news in my opinion. I hope it works out. More importantly, I want to see John Daly perform on a cyber golf course. That would be fun.Okay, so last story of the day.Major League Baseball has already released their regular season schedule for 2023, which I truly find to be hilarious. The NFL schedule release is like a major event. People are sifting through Twitter looking for leaks, trying to find out who the Cowboys are playing on Thanksgiving a day early. Meanwhile, baseball just releases their schedule in the middle of the night before the previous season is even over.But like the PGA, baseball hasn’t been afraid to make significant changes, and next season’s schedule is certainly one of them.All 30 teams are set to play, well, all 30 teams.This will be part of a new balanced schedule that will provide fans more opportunities to see opponents they wouldn’t normally see - similar to what the NBA does.Now, this will change the way division games are played. Instead of 19 games against each team within their division, teams will now only play 13 games against each team. And as a Red Sox fan, looking at the American League East this year, I couldn’t be happier to hear that.Now, unlike the NBA, these changes won’t mean that every team will visit every city each year, but they will be guaranteed one series against each team from the other league.Overall, each team will play 52 games against divisional opponents, 64 games against teams in the same league (the American League or National League), outside of their division, and 46 total games against interleague opponents.Now, I understand baseball purists will not be happy about this. They’re still pissed they don’t get to see pitchers strikeout every nine batters, but ultimately this is the right move for a sport that’s been slowly dying since the heydey of the steroid era (when baseball was most fun).While this is great news, I don’t exactly think it will bring baseball back. What we need to see is Major League Baseball put an emphasis on marketing their stars, not the teams.Right now, there are two stars in baseball: Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Bryce Harper maybe. That’s insane. There has never been more elite talent. Baseball needs to learn that fans want to see the personality and foibles of some of the best players.For example, Kyle Schwarber is having an incredible season. He’s second in the league in home runs, has a funny personality, and nobody outside of Philadelphia gives a damn. That needs to change.But ultimately, this is a strong step in the right direction for America’s pastime.Alright, that’s it for tonight. Be sure to click the subscribe button, like this video and hit the notification bell. Until next time, this is Breaking Brad. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit patscast.substack.com