US Retail Sales Surge; Hardly Mentioned; Bland Headline -- Reuters Reports -- July 16, 2020

Wow, is anybody actually looking at the financial news today? Amazing.

Bland headline: US retail sales increase in June.

That's an incredibly bland headline. Look at the numbers. From Reuters via Yahoo!Finance:

U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in June, but the budding economic recovery is being threatened by a resurgence in new COVID-19 infections and high unemployment. 

The Commerce Department said on Thursday retail sales rose 7.5% last month. That was on top of the 18.2% jump in May, which was the biggest gain since the government started tracking the series in 1992. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales advancing 5% in June.

Again: 

• forecast: 5% increase in retail sales
• actual: 7.5% (50% greater than forecast)
• and that comes on a whopping 18% jump the previous month (May, 2020) 

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Dak Prescott And The Cowboys

Updates

July 18, 2020: see also thelandryhat -- 

On top of all that, the ball thrower’s agent is none other than Todd France, who apparently loves the franchise tag and not signing long-term contracts. The super-agent has two other players also playing on the franchise tag this season, safety Justin Simmons of the Denver Broncos, and edge rusher Bud Dupree of the Pittsburgh Steelers according to Joel Corry at CBS Sports and Todd Archer at ESPN.

Rock, meet hard place. I just don’t see how a long-term deal gets signed, next year or ever maybe, given these circumstances. Do you? I just see a bunch of stubborn high-powered people not returning each other’s phone calls.

July 18, 2020: from bloggingtheboys --

Prescott hired [CAA's Todd] France as his agent back in 2018 in preparation for a big deal once his four-year rookie deal expired. France represents a number of players around the league, including Arizona Cardinals star receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and it has been known that he was looking to make Prescott the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.

That was to be expected, as Prescott has proven to be among the best quarterbacks in the league since his rookie season in 2016. Since France was hired by Prescott, we have seen Jared Goff, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson, and Patrick Mahomes cash-in.

Although the deal did not come to fruition this offseason, Prescott will again be in contention for a big-money deal next offseason — although Dallas does have the option to place the tag on him for a second consecutive year.

France had three free agents up for new deals this offseason. In addition to Prescott, two AFC defenders were looking to sign extensions with their respective organizations — safety Justin Simmons of the Denver Broncos and EDGE Bud Dupree of the Pittsburgh Steelers — however, both will be playing on the tag in 2020 along with Prescott.

John Elway and the Denver Broncos reportedly offered Simmons a deal that would have “made him in the top-5 or top-6 highest-paid at his position”, while Dupree filed a grievance with the NFL regarding the position for which he was tagged.

Dallas, meanwhile, reportedly offered Prescott around $33-$35 million and $110 million in guaranteed money. Those numbers, though, are in dispute by the various principals involved.

It is an agent’s job to get his client the best deal, which typically involves the most money. For France, he saw a better opportunity for three of his clients to play on a prove-it season while on the franchise tag rather than inking in for a long-term deal. As a result, the talk around Dak and the Cowboys will rage on for at least another year.

Original Post 

Both the Cowboys and Dak Prescott were losers in this contract debacle.

Even in a vacuum, on its own, this story really puts Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in a bad light.

But compared to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Mahomes story, the Dak-Cowboys story feels much, much worse.

Though it was a debacle for both the Cowboys and Dak Prescott, on balance, Dak Prescott looks like the bigger loser.

Imagine a ten-year contract with the Cowboys: the accolade both sides would have gotten; the endorsements Dak would have gotten; ten years of no state income taxes; ten years of Dallas fan adulation.

Where does this go if there's no "meaningful" NFL 20-21 season? A lot of "what could have been."

My first thought yesterday: Mahomes comes off looking like someone who is really, really a Chief. Someone who is putting the team ahead of himself. Dak, on the other hand, looks like he is in this for himself, and has no real team loyalty. He has said it directly: he will go to the team who pays him the most. With a few exceptions, it appears the longevity of NFL quarterbacks is becoming shorter and shorter.

Now, today, that's the lead headline -- Dak is trying to put lipstick on a pig -- the headline -- telling us he's a Cowboy. Really? He's a Cowboy for one year. After that, he will take another look.

Mahomes? He's a career Chief. A team player. The franchise.

I can't imagine any quarterback being offered the opportunity to play for the Cowboys for a decade. Certainly, they could have written the contract in such a way that Dak would have signed for ten years, but with an "out" clause after four years. For example: an "out" clause if he takes the team to a Super Bowl, and a really huge "out" clause if he actually wins a Super Bowl.

Dak comes across simply as a year-by-year-let's-see-how-much-my-agent-can-get-for-me journeyman quarterback.

I love how Prescott's agent can spin this:

Prescott has not had a losing season since taking the reins from Tony Romo prior to the start of the 2016 season.

One could also argue, Prescott has not had a winning season:

During the 2019 season, Prescott threw for a career-best 4,902 yards with 30 touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions. However, the Cowboys sputtered during the season, finishing with an 8-8 record and missing out on an NFC East title.

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PGA

I don't know when Phil Mickelson started wearing aviator sunglasses but I think it was this season, just a few months ago.

With the aviator sunglasses, Phil looked very, very different, and very, very sophisticated. But he sure didn't look the "old" Phil. 

Again, today Phil began the tournament wearing the sunglasses. He played poorly the first few holes, and then I noted that he removed his sunglasses after the 5th hole. It's now near the end of the day and Phil is still without his sunglasses.