Lawrence Tanter, the Los Angeles Lakers’ legendary longtime public address announcer, has died at 76, the team announced. Last month, shortly before entering into hospice care, Tanter texted ESPN. “Quote me," he wrote, "'It's been a blessing.'" espn.com/nba/story/_/id/5001…

🚨 𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐍'𝐒 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐚'𝐬 𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐋𝐁 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 With MLB set to expand to two more cities, @JeffPassan, ESPN's senior MLB insider, listed Raleigh as one of six serious candidates to land one of those franchises. Here is that 10-min conversation, with an abbreviated recap below👇 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧: 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞? - No market on either coast that has what Raleigh does. - Larger population than all expansion contenders - 22nd largest media market in the US,  - 2nd fastest-growing metro - Soon to be 7th most populous state in the US (largest without MLB). -The current Stanley Cup champion owner Tom Dundon involved, with interest from former Bucks owner Marc Lasry. - Approved entertainment district being built and rights to 80+ acres of land. -Bi-partisian political support is ready for future talks. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬? -It's a full go. -Tom was the first to step up and is popular here because of the work he's done with the Canes. The fact that other billionaires want in and want to work together, shows that Raleigh is the place to be. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐋𝐁 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮? -Our research said Raleigh was the best path for NC's MLB -Wake County (Raleigh) is larger than Mecklenberg Count (Charlotte) - Charlotte has NFL, NBA, MLS, NASCAR...Raleigh only has NHL. State government wants more balance. Charlotte has entertainment spend overlaps that Raleigh wouldn't. -Raleigh does not have a downtown AAA ballpark it'd have to move. Charlotte does. Durham Bulls, 26 miles from Raleigh, fits with MiLB/MLB structure of farm teams within driving distance of parent teams. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐌𝐋𝐁 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦? -All the heavy lifting has been done. -This started with the community carrying the torch. It's organically grown to the point where there is an ownership group and politicians ready to make it happen. This is authentically a market that is SHOWING that it wants baseball. -We've been under the radar, and that was by design. - We have all the pieces needed to get MLB in Raleigh. 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞, 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐎𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨, 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲? Watch the full podcast here ⬇️ piped.video/watch?v=4Db2aGpV…

A great book if you need more reading material.

Available in paperback today…

So sorry to hear of the passing of an old friend this week. Greg Boeck was one of those people who impacted so many rising through the ranks when he was at USA Today, always answering questions and trying to help. His spirit was passed down to his son Scott as well, another pro who always tried to be there to help. legacy.com/legacy/greg-boeck