Justin Higgins

Now: Communications | Former Political Appointee for a Governor | Congressional Policy Advisor

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

This speaks to a failure of major sports teams public relations departments.

PR departments should be debunking all fake AI slop prior to the players being asked about it — and it’s entirely possible if the PR folks work hard and have good relationships with the team reporters.

[Daniel Roberts @readDanwrite]

AI is hastening the spread of fake news slop, and it's particularly bad in the sports category for reasons @EllynBriggs @FOS enumerates. Athletes having to set the record straight on a daily basis now due to viral fake quotes and misinfo. The new normal:

https://t.co/mTvc7CglUU

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@bradfo Sad that the future of the Red Sox being a contender by 2028 depends on them losing as many games as possible over the next month so that:

1. Breslow is forced to sell (Chapman, Whitlock, Slaten, Contrares, Gray)
2. They can set the market and get the best return possible

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

Wild story here.

Not really sure why Congress is not appropriately regulating these “prediction” markets, which are nothing other than a gambling site.

[POLITICO @politico]

EXCLUSIVE: A top Polymarket executive sent hundreds of thousands of dollars — and likely more — to social media influencers from left to right.

One influencer says Polymarket wrote posts for them to share on X and asked them to promote specific bets.
https://t.co/HygzkCRFoL

[Mallory McMorrow @MalloryMcMorrow]

This year, the Michigan Senate passed legislation to restrict AI companies from training on data from children.

This bill as written would void that effort.

Smart AI regulation is essential and urgent. Broad preemption is a nonstarter.

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@mike_petriello It's totally fair for this show to ask about an overreliance on analytics in a way that everyday people can understand when:

Theo brought analytics to Boston, created Carmine, broke the curse, is Breslow's mentor and got him hired and is disappointed in his approach to analytics

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@mike_petriello You're being unfair.

-According to Sean McAdam and Carrabis, IFK implied they stink at home due to Breslow's staff
-3 days ago a B Globe story said Theo is disappointed in Breslow for an overreliance on analytics
-Theo went on the Ravich pod beomonaing overreliance on analtics

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@MattMcCarthy985 Same with Sonny Gray, who Passan said teams wouldn’t want to trade for due to his contract…

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@jareddiamond Incredibly dishonest framing. They’ve tried over several rounds of bargaining to move from no tax, to a hard salary cap, the CBT is just the slippery slope in the middle. MLBs goal has always been suppressing wages and preventing a true 50/50 split before nationalizing TV deals

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@fggrdhyrexvgt @BOSSportsGordo @Buster_ESPN @JustBB_Media Yes, which is why it will set them back years. It’s a bad contract because that player isn’t currently performing well, and Breslow has only shown the ability to break hitters, not fix them.

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@BradZiegler @rationalyankee To be fair, this is complex work during the season, as you don’t want players focusing on this and not the games. But former players exist, and there are a ton of other options. The MLBPA and whoever is advising them have already lost the opening narrative battle though

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@BradZiegler @rationalyankee I work in crisis, legal and political comms. Brad’s correct

MLBPA needs to identify key spokespeople (players) and 3rd parties (labor unions, lawyers, etc)

They then need a better narrative and a full court media press. Print, TV, radio, podcast, etc

They’re failing everywhere

[Zack Scott @ZackScottSports]

The Dodgers and Mets spent within $1M of each other over the last 5 years. $1.752B vs $1.751B

The Dodgers won 67 more games. That's more than 15 extra wins every season!

I came in skeptical of the competitive balance argument for the cap. This is part of why.

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

The Boston Globe stands out in an era where billionaires are buying and destroying historic news outlets, and critical sports reporting is all but dead.

It’s a privilege for Sox fans that the Globe remains credible and able to report critically about their owner’s baseball team

[Tim Healey @timbhealey]

Are the Red Sox better off now than when they hired Craig Breslow?

A deep dive into the state of the organization: pitching and hitting development, Ivy League Breslow vs. big league Breslow, free agency, Theo, records/spending, lots more. https://t.co/mf10XmQ8hi

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@timbhealey @gingersnaphyde @tylermilliken_ @BostonStrong_34 This is hilarious, and the second best thing you’ve published today

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@bradfo @WEEI Sounds like the smart baseball and organizational move would be for this Red Sox team to go and massively overpay future assets in a trade for a mediocre bat.

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@ChrisCotillo Do they minimize every injury so the remaining fans watching this bad team don’t turn off the bad product? Or is it just incompetence?

Unlike NFL, NHL, NBA, there’s no strategic advantage of lying about injuries as MLB is a non-contact sport so game planning isn’t impacted….

[College Baseball News @CollegeBSBNews]

On April 3rd, Milwaukee was 5-22 and one of the worst teams in the country.

Some of their losses:

Run-ruled 21-7 by LSU
Run-ruled 20-3 by Duke
Run-ruled 14-4 by Minnesota
Run-ruled 12-2 by SEMO
Run-ruled 17-1 by Purdue
Run-ruled 14-1 by NKU
Run-ruled 13-2 by Wright State
Run-ruled 16-2 by Notre Dame
Run-ruled 14-4 by UNLV

They finished the regular season 22-31, but won the Horizon League tournament and earned an autobid to the NCAA tournament.

Milwaukee beat #4 Auburn 13-8, beat UCF 13-6, and is now in a regional final, one win away from going to supers.

College Baseball.

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

@Steve_Perrault The slugfest games all come when the other team can't field the ball, they bring in their worst bullpen arms, and those arms can't throw strikes. There's usually a meaningless Duran home run thrown in there for good measure, too.

Just the exception the proves the rule they stink

[Justin Higgins @Justin_Higgins2]

This is either an ignorant take, or its a disingenuous one to support the billionaire owners in their attempt to suppress employee wages, because the Tigers 100% can afford to keep Skubal at market value, they just choose not to.

[Barb McQuade @BarbMcQuade]

This is why baseball needs a salary cap. It’s going to stink when the @Tigers trade Skubal to the Yankees or Dodgers because they can’t afford to keep him.
https://t.co/SbBJz9BHGI via @freep