Thinking out loud…while wondering how guys with satellite-dish ears still get the gals…
• I know, I know. College football is an afterthought…an esprit d’escalier…around here. Go ahead, Google that one and tell me I’m wrong.
• But that doesn’t mean there aren’t stories to tell. Big W’s. Big L’s. And Big ?’s, too.
• Big start to the football season for Holy Cross. Their first win over an FBS team since 2002 came at the expense of UConn last weekend, 38-28. Gordie Lockbaum is surely smiling somewhere.
• One-time Salve Regina (Newport, RI) and Assumption (Worcester, MA) coach Bob Chesney has steadily climbed the career ladder and the Crusaders, who have won the last two Patriot League titles, are now ranked in the FCS Top 25 for the first time since 2017.
• Not such a big start for UConn’s now-former head coach Randy Edsall, who announced his retirement following the season at the end of the game…after signing a two-year contract extension last March.
• And upon further reflection/review, he and athletic director David Benedict on Monday decided stepping down NOW was a better deal for all parties.
• Edsall was certainly responsible for putting the Huskies’ FBS program on the map, leading them to a Fiesta Bowl appearance along the way – but since returning to UConn after being fired at Maryland, the team was an awful 6-32…with 10 of those losses by 40 points or more.
• Ouch. But UConn is a basketball school anyway, amiright?
• URI’s debut win over Bryant certainly showed the Rams have some talent – Top 25-caliber talent. URI received votes in both FCS polls this week after the 45-21 win at Meade Stadium.
• Wait, wut?
• Thumbs up: 508 yards of total offense. Packed stands, 5735 in attendance. Thumbs down: 115 penalty yards. Take those away, and that’s probably a 50-burger hung on the Bulldogs.
• Rhody looks for it’s second straight 2-0 start (and 3rd in four seasons) at Albany Saturday night.
• Boston College and UMass opened at opposite ends of the spectrum in Week One. BC rolled at home (with new proof-of-vax regulations at Alumni Stadium) over Colgate and received Top 25 votes in the AP poll this week, while UMass took one on the chin (again) at Pittsburgh.
• BC holds a 10-game winning streak over the Minutemen that goes back 43 years, to 1978. But UMass hasn’t won anything in nearly two seasons…with 12-striaght losses dating to their last win September 28th, 2019 against Akron.
• The Eagles will also be wearing red bandana uniforms against the Minutemen, in honor of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and former student-athlete Welles Crowther, the “Man in the Red Bandana” who saved as many as 18 lives during the terrorist attack in NYC…but lost his own.
• Be still, my beating heart. The alma mater goes back to the future this weekend, with Texas playing at Arkansas. A future SEC rivalry in the making, rekindled from the ashes of the old SWC and the one-time “Game of the Century,” played more than 50 years ago in 1969 with President Richard Nixon in attendance.
• Clemson fell out of the Top 4 in the national polls this week for the first time in FOUR years, after losing their opener to Georgia. Trevor Lawrence was in the stands to watch his former team looking for him the entire game.
• That Georgia team, by the way, is currently experiencing its’ highest number of Covid cases since the beginning of the pandemic. And that’s with more than 90% of the team vaccinated.
• The Bulldogs have their first mask-free, full-capacity home game (92K+) at Sanford Stadium Saturday. Head coach Kirby Smart sez he’s worried.
• We all should be.
• One-time Big East denizen and current AAC member Cincinnati, with the football team presently ranked in the AP Top 10, formally applied for admission and was accepted into the Big 12 this week. Nice timing. UCF, BYU and Houston followed with their own apps, all were approved.
• Can the American do anything but bend over and grab its’ ankles?
• Bearcats, Knights, Coogs and Coogs: “Carpe Diem.” AAC: “Thank you, sir, may I have another?”
• UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston will be required to pay the American Athletic Conference an exit fee of $10 million and give the AAC 27 months’ notice, which means they could join the Big 12 by 2023 or 2024 at the latest. Any earlier, lotsa mo’ money.
• AAC expansion candidates: Air Force, Colorado State, Army, Boise State, UAB, Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, North Texas. All have had recent-to-current football successes. Invite them all – you’ve got a…wait for it…16-team ‘super’ conference.
• Hey Big East? Gonzaga might be getting lonely.
• You Had One Job: At Indiana, where the Hoosiers lost their opener to Iowa, freshman RB David Holloman had his picture taken (for a subsequent viral tweet) while taking the field before kickoff. His jersey had I-N-D-I-N-I-A spelled across the front.
• I-N-D…wait a minute. His was the only jersey, so we’re told, with the spelling error. Nice work, Adidas! The Hoosiers lost 34-6, and still had a better day than you did.
• Advantage, Michigan State in the NIL wars. This week, United Wholesale Mortgage – a company run by a former MSU basketball walk-on – announced that all 133 men’s football and basketball players will be receiving a MONTHLY $500 stipend.
• Can’t be lost on you now…but Mac Jones’ Patriots’ debut features the last two QB starters at Alabama (with Tua Tagovailoa) prior to this season. This years’ starter, Bryce Young, threw a 94-yard TD pass against Miami last week in his debut…and inked a $1.4 million NIL deal with Cash App.
• Young is the early leader-in-the-clubhouse for the Heisman Trophy already, after just one week. Yeah, Life is Good in Tuscaloosa for QB’s.
• Life seems to be pretty good right now for the Patriots’ starter and erstwhile Bama guy, too…at least until he faces Miami’s first in-your-face blitz in Cover Zero.
• Loved the fact Jones mentioned this week on WEEI that his girlfriend helps him with pre-snap reads and walkthroughs with the Patriots Playbook. Can she be the backup QB?
• Squish the Fish this weekend? If Mac outplays Tua in the Bama QB duel, consider it done.
• Something to consider for Sunday: QB’s gaining their first NFL starts are a combined 18-6 against the spread over the past two seasons.
• Cam Newton sez he would have taken a backup role to Mac Jones if one had been offered. Kinda telling that it wasn’t offered.
• That somewhat maligned coaching tree of Bill Belichick’s appears to be taking root with ex-BC linebacker Brian Flores in Miami, doesn’t it?
• Sam “Bam” Cunningham got his nickname for his bruising runs while playing college ball at USC. It’s one of the all-time great nicknames. It was a trait he also brought with him to New England during an era where the Patriots were perhaps the best rushing team in the NFL.
• Cunningham passed away this week at age 71. What many don’t remember from his college career is that in his very first game in 1970, against Alabama and Bear Bryant, he rushed for 135 yards with two TD’s on just 12 carries.
• His performance is credited with inspiring Coach Bryant to integrate southern college football.
• Cunningham was drafted 11th overall by the Patriots in 1973 (the 2nd of three first round picks), played nine seasons and was a Pro Bowler in ’78. He’s still the Patriots all-time leading rusher…was named a Patriots Hall of Famer in 2010 and a member of the 50th anniversary team.
• Sam and his brother Randall (QB, UNLV and Philadelphia Eagles) are also the eighth set of brothers to reach the College Football Hall of Fame.
• The rich are getting richer in the NFL. The league’s Top 10 earning players are raking it in, to the tune of $418 million this year – according to Forbes. Dallas’ Dak Prescott is Numero Uno at $87 million, but TB12 is the top wage earner after salary…at $45 million in off-field earnings.
• And after watching those two Thursday night, those numbers seem about right.
• Gambling is big in new NFL ad sales, the largest new ad sales category for the league since 2015. The NFL has its’ first sportsbook partners, has approved the first four sportsbook operators and the league will allow six sportsbook TV ads per broadcast.
• The American Gaming Association estimates a record 45.2 million Americans will bet on this NFL season. And that’s up 36% from a year ago.
• So, why gambling now…when considering the not-so-distant past with gambling scandals? Why do you think? The NFL generated $2.8 billion in ad revenue last year, even during the pandemic – up 3% over 2019.
• But crypto hasn’t yet caught the NFL’s fancy…all 32 teams are (so far) prohibited from selling ads or sponsorships to crypto coins or marketplaces, even though crypto has been getting a lot of play from TV networks.
• Hey, did we forget the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League last year? I know we have Covid and all, but still…
• Winning 17 of 22, 35 of 50 since the all-star break (at midweek)…with the best run differential in baseball? Their comeback 11-10 slobber-knocker over the Sox last Monday was equally impressive and embarrassing (to Boston) all the way around.
• And they do it all with two of the better young players (Randy Arozarena, Wander Franco) in the game, and the 26th highest payroll in the big leagues, at $70 million.
• C’mon man.
• Franco, not for nuthin’, surpassed Mickey Mantle this week by reaching his 37th straight game (and counting) getting on base. It’s the longest on-base streak for a player 20-years-old or younger in AL history.
• Hey Chaim? No pressure or anything.
• Love the “Jerry Remy Fight Club” theme embodied by many of the guys subbing in for those out sick or injured. But time is a cruel judge of talent, isn’t it?
• Which means Hunter Renfroe must be a keeper after this year, correct?
• Unless he squeals on MLB and its’ Covid testing protocols again.
• Through all the ups and downs…the surprises, successes, sickness (Chris Sale is #12), and the failures…these Sox will most likely be remembered for what they do from this point forward. Contender or pretender?
• What happened to the Yankees’ red-hot August? Don’t look now, but Toronto ain’t exactly the Blow Jays…getting their first Bronx sweep in 18 years. Just sayin’.
• Der-ek Je-ter. Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap. Always wanted to do that, even as a Red Sox fan. He deserves as much this week with his enshrinement into Cooperstown, don’cha think?
• From MLB.com: No player in Major League Baseball history has played more games, scored more runs or collected more hits -- during an era in which his team made the playoffs every year -- than Jeter.
• The NHL will be putting up with very little in the way of its’ players avoiding vaccinations during the coming season. ESPN reports the 27-page document released to teams sez unvaxxed players can’t go anywhere but the team hotel, practice facility or arena.
• Non-vaxxed players, and a large majority of the players are vaxxed, may be suspended and will lose one days’ pay for each day they miss – unless they have a valid medical or religious reason.
• Yup, hit ‘em in the wallet. It ought to at least get their attention.
• Media must be vaccinated to conduct locker room interviews, and the NHL sez anyone – anyone – that gets within 12 feet of players must also have had the vax.
• Those that are vaxxed in the NHL, presumably, will be eligible for their respective Olympic teams next winter in Beijing. The league will take a break as the competition begins in February.
• Next winter’s US Olympic hockey coaches will have a definitive New England feel, with a
strong dose of ‘lil Rhody for good measure. Joining head coach Mike Sullivan (current Pittsburgh Penguin coach, ex-Providence Bruins coach and a BU grad) are Warwick’s John Hynes (Nashville Predators) and Cranston’s David Quinn (ex-NY Rangers coach).
• Our buddy and resident hockey-krishna Mark Divver tweeted this week PC-Army hockey is a sellout at Schneider Arena for the Friars’ season opener Oct. 2nd.
• The NWHL announced this week it is rebranding itself as the Premier Hockey Federation – PHF. The women’s pro league begins its’ seventh season in November (Boston and Connecticut remain two of the six teams) after finishing last season in a Boston-based ‘bubble.’
• URI hoop released its’ A-10 schedule this week – which features opening with Dayton at the Ryan Center on Dec. 30th, getting a home-and-home with UMass, and hosting Richmond while playing at St. Bonaventure…the two preseason league faves.
• Very cool to see that former Rhody Ram star Jeff Dowtin has earned a camp invitation with the Orlando Magic this fall, one of 18 players currently on the roster. Training camp starts Sept. 28.
• Kris Dunn, we hardly got to see ya’. As rumored, the former Friar was dealt from the Celtics to the Memphis Grizzlies, along with Carson Edwards and a swap of 2nd round picks for Juancho Hernangomez.
• Hernangomez is co-starring, believe it or not, in an upcoming Adam Sandler Netflix movie “Hustle,” where Sandler (as a scout) discovers an overseas player – Hernangomez.
• The Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement weekend for the Class of 2021 is here, and among the 16 honorees are Celtics’ Paul Pierce and Bill Russell (for a 2nd time as the first black NBA head coach), Villanova’s 2x NCAA champ coach Jay Wright and Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman.
• Former Phoenix, Atlanta, Buffalo, Kansas City and San Antonio head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons is also being enshrined as a contributor to the game. He contributed one of the more memorable lines of my sports life when, as a young Spurs’ broadcaster, he once told me about that city in upstate NY – “Rookie, it’s always rough in the Buff.”
• That was back in 1985. Right around the time the Spurs drafted Alfredrick “The Great” Hughes out of Loyola Chicago in the first round. Cotton passed away in 2004 – he was good to this young, professional neophyte play-by-play guy.
• My buddy “Big E” sez a straight face and a sincere sounding “Huh?” have gotten him out of more trouble than he can remember. Knowledge we need to know.
• ESPN launched 42 years ago this week? Whoa.
• Lee Leonard and George Grande, brother of one-time WICE-AM owner/operator and Voice of the Brown Bears Carl Grande, were the first SportsCenter hosts.
• He was the epitome of the entertaining TV weatherman. Former NBC Today Show star Willard Scott passed away last week at age 87 – but he forever changed the genre of TV weathermen.
• Scott’s oversized, gregarious and “nice guy” persona connected with viewers on several fronts (pun intended)…his ongoing tribute to centenarians was beloved, and local weather reporters across the country have long sought to emulate his style…if not his outright folksiness.
• It helped, certainly, that Scott spent part of his career as a comedian as well as a clown – you know, the kind with the big, red nose – as he played Ronald McDonald on TV commercials in the ‘60’s. He was also an actor, and his stage presence was always on.
• His best attribute? He once told People Magazine he was willing to make a fool of himself, even if some people didn’t like it. But it certainly seemed like most people did.
• A Grand Slam. I know what the first thought is that comes to mind, of course. But will Novak Djokovic change your perception of the term, should he claim the tennis version (a Golden Slam, actually) for the first time in 52 years?
• ICYMI…ex-NBA’er J.R. Smith was once a 1st round pick in 2004, bypassing college life. But now, he’s going back to class after 16 NBA seasons, enrolling this fall at North Carolina A&T and earning eligibility to play on the Aggies’ varsity golf team.
• After watching Patrick Cantlay win the PGA Tour Championship last week and seeing him kiss his girlfriend (Nikki Guidish, if you’re wondering) after winning $15 million – which doubled his career earnings – I’m left with this thought.
• Golfers do get the girls. But it doesn’t hurt that winning golfers also get the green, too…if ya’ know what I mean.
• Except that she’s a Doctor of Pharmacy, so…maybe it’s his personality?
Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions, comments and local stories to jrooke@weei.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...
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