Odds & Ends begins with the Sacramento Kings making the hire of Houston Rockets assistant general manager Monte McNair to replace Vlade Divac as head of basketball operations.

McNair worked under Daryl Morey in Houston,a team that has been a perennial playoff participant and top level talent like James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Now he must try and build a Kings franchise that can win consistently and get their first playoff berth since 2006.

Fans, of course, are a bit hesitant to accept him at the moment because they’ve been through this again and again,time after time. Not to mention that McNair wasn’t the favorite to get the job going into this process, Sachin Gupta of the Timberwolves was. 

I myself am curious to see what McNair will do in his new role. I don’t know much about him,but from what I have read about him, he’s been an up and coming executive who is well regarded by others in front offices league wide. In fact,Gupta has spoken glowingly about him and is excited to see what he will do in Sacramento.

I am going to give him a chance to see what he can do to bring this team back to prominence. I think he can, I hope he can,and I think that once the new season gets underway whenever it does that fans will see he is one of their own.

Moving onto baseball and something that happened to Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson,he got ejected following a home run.

In case you missed it,Donaldson was tossed after kicking dirt on home plate following his fifth home run of the season in Thursday’s game against the Chicago White Sox. It looked like he was upset about a strike call that clearly looked otherwise. Earlier in the game Donaldson had barked at umpire Dan Bellino on a 1-1 breaking ball strike that was high that ultimately led to a strikeout.

If you thought this was over, think again. Donaldson lashed out on Saturday about major league umpires and had this to say:

“[If] the umpire consistently isn’t doing [his] job correctly, that’s affecting our careers, that’s affecting our success,” Donaldson said in a video call, according to a transcription by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “At the end of the day, there’s no reprimand, no accountability for the guys that are making the decision. As a matter of fact, they don’t care. They don’t care at all, most of them. They just want to get the game over with, for the most part, and it’s pretty sad because guys are making six figures a year and there’s no accountability.”

He added, “It doesn’t matter to them. They don’t realize we’re playing for our families, we’re playing for our livelihood.”

Donaldson has a point, when do umpires ever get held accountable for questionable calls made on the field? Either they do and we never hear about it,or they don’t and the league just shrugs and moves on. I think that the officials making the calls on the field that affect outcomes of the game should be held accountable for their actions and questionable decisions. Take your job,for example. Don’t you expect to hear from your superiors when you haven’t done your job correctly or done something wrong that affected the workplace? 

As for Donaldson, I understand why he did what he did,but after a home run you should just let it go. His getting tossed may have affected the Twins in winning that game. Chicago won 4-3 on Thursday.

The NFL injury bug really showed itself in great numbers this second week of the year. From Jimmy Garoppolo to Nick Bosa to Saquon Barkley to Drew Lock to Raheem Mostert to Solomon Thomas to Devante Adams to Tyrod Taylor to Christian McCaffrey to Courtland Sutton to Frank Clark to Anthony Barr, it was a brutal week for guys getting hurt. 

Everywhere you looked during the early games especially you kept hearing about a star player getting hurt, or you may have even seen it in my case during the 49ers-Jets game where the aforementioned 49ers (Mostert,Garoppolo,Thomas,Bosa) were either carted off the field or exited to the locker rooms on their own,giving fans a bit of worry despite their team winning handily on Sunday. 

It makes me wonder if it’s a matter of the players not having much of a training camp or a lack of a preseason is a factor for these early season injuries taking place. I was also not a fan of how the field looked in the early game I saw between the 49ers and Jets. That turf looked slippery and unsafe and I have a feeling it was a factor in these key injuries for the 49ers. The Jets had guys hurt,too,including Breshad Perriman and Chris Hogan,who I have heard used to play lacrosse in college.

No matter the factor,all these injuries are a big blow to these teams, but as they say, it’s next man up!

Finally this week,I have to address those who do nothing but proclaim that they’re not watching the NFL anymore.

Week after week on social media you see post after post from someone who says they’re not watching sports anymore because of (insert irrational reason here). I have news for those people: None of us give a damn!

The only reason you’re even posting about it because you want attention and someone to give it to you. I can’t even believe I’m giving it to you at this very moment,but hey,here we are. 

Most of us have been stuck at home for months with nothing to do,nowhere to go, nobody to talk to or hang out with,no money to pay the bills and in some cases no job to go to. I think these people who are trying to take the joy from those who are welcoming to football as well as other sports coming back need to back off and allow them that. Nobody is trying to take anything from you whatsoever, it’s your choice to not be watching. Here’s an idea, get off social media, get in your car and go find something else to do with your sad existence. I’m sure there’s a rally full of boats you can be a part of (just don’t sink your boat like you did in Austin a few weeks back) or find a Bass Pro Shops that’s open or get some exercise. Something more productive than bitching about how you don’t watch football anymore. 

We really don’t care that you aren’t and we don’t care if you get mad at us mocking you for it with a hilarious meme we’ve harvested from someone who is way cooler than you’ll ever be. That’s on you for having such thin skin and being such a joyless and unfun person to be around or talk to. Don’t be such a buzzkill,fam! If you want to prove me wrong, come over to the house and watch the game with me,I’ll order pizza!

I’ll see you next time for another edition of Odds & Ends!