260303 - TheHerd-Best Of-ihm

Here we go—Tuesday from Chicago, it’s The Herd. Big show lined up with Nick Wright later and Alexi Lalas as we tick down to the World Cup, and baseball’s got a spark: a massive national survey shows fans are far more upbeat, and the star-heavy Dodgers aren’t killing the vibe—they’re fueling it. Smart rule tweaks like the pitch clock and universal DH helped, stacked contenders are good TV, and it’s the chronic bottom-feeders that drag the aisle, not the headliners.

Ignore the doomers. Sports journalism didn’t vanish—it just moved platforms—and baseball’s fine when big brands carry the marquee while well-run smaller clubs like the Brewers and Mariners punch up.

On the JJ Redick–Luka sideline flare-up: Rich Paul calls that healthy; I don’t in this league. The NFL tolerates sideline barking because power and accountability are shared, but the NBA is star-led, guaranteed, and coach-tenure fragile—history says those rifts can snowball.

That edge is part of why the NBA owns youth culture. It’s individual, viral, and loud—kids copy the step-backs and stare-downs far more than anything from pickup football.

Free agency is near and one thing stuns me: no real market for Mac Jones. He’s young, accurate, cheap, and should be attractive to offensive coaches in places like Minnesota or Indy, yet it feels like deference to Shanahan’s pecking order has cooled the room.

College shake-up watch: NIL and the portal are flipping the map. A set of NFL exec mocks had zero SEC players in the top ten, while the Big Ten and others are stacking skill talent and veteran quarterbacks—this looks like a real power shift, not a one-off.

Nick, Rich Paul says coach–star friction is good; after that Lakers clip, are you buying that?

It’s not nothing, but the coach has to be the adult. Luka’s brilliance makes the squeeze worth it, yet JJ mirrored his immaturity—down to the awkward missed handshake—and that can’t be the standard from the bench.

LeBron usually blends with everyone; with Luka, those minutes have sagged, and Brunson blossomed after leaving him—red flag?

Some concern, yes—Luka’s a harder build and demands defenders and shooters around him. What’s odd is his usage ticking even higher than with the old Dallas role cast, which undercuts the Lakers’ best path.

I watched Knicks–Spurs end to end; the Knicks grind like a title hopeful, but in May can you hunt Brunson and KAT and crack them?

They’ve insulated those two with length and defense—OG, Hart, Bridges, Robinson—and the roster finally makes sense. If Boston’s healthy they’re the hurdle, but New York’s a legitimate finals threat; Detroit’s good, though half-court scoring late worries me.

Fernando Mendoza’s leaning into being a nerd, and in the NFL that often works—how do you rate him?

Personality is a footnote if the play hits. I see him more as the third QB in a strong class than a slam-dunk first pick—could be solid-to-good, but it’s not the Trevor-tier profile.

World Cup on home soil—are we top twelve with a bump, and what should fans realistically expect?

Barring disaster, the U.S. should clear the group and aim for the round of sixteen; the dream is a quarterfinal at home. Globally, Spain looks right at the top, France is loaded, Messi and Ronaldo still loom, and Brazil’s due to erase two decades of underachievement.

June’s usually quiet; this one won’t be with the Cup roaring. You see it in the World Baseball Classic too—Ohtani and Harper suiting up for country—these stars care, and that energy’s coming.