Day 39: jordon-jocking intensifies...

• ESPN, tonight, is premiering "The Last Dance", a project surrounding the final rigged championship of the Chicago Bulls.

And ESPN has just overloaded the jordon-jocking.

Look, if you want to come out and say there's no NBA without jordon, then please do so and expose your biases.

The fact is, I could probably (and almost certainly WILL) have multiple posts on here about what his impact actually was (TLDR version:  Corporate era of sports, acceptance of rigging, influence of the media on who hits and who doesn't, etc.).

But the fact is this jordon-jocking during this coronavirus seems to indicate ESPN is trying to reassert influence in what well might be it's dying days.

• If a report from Mexico is to be believed, we may be headed for a single North American soccer league between at least the MLS and Liga MX.

In an eye-turning interview, Alejandro Irarragorri of Atlas basically says the MLS is in better financial shape (HOW???) than Liga MX, and the bulk of the fans of the latter are actually in the US (THAT makes sense because of how the USMNT is usually viewed in most qualifiers, even at home!).

And, as such, Irarragorri is saying we may well need to be at the day where the two leagues simply merge.

This comes on the heels that Liga MX has suspended promotion and relegation for the next five years, probably effectively dooming a number of second-tier clubs in Mexico.

• The next big ESPN project for e-sports?  Madden Celebrity Tournament.  All next week on ESPN digital platforms.