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Bar Chat

08/21/2023

Hovland wins BMW...Scheffler No. 1 for East Lake

Add-on posted Tuesday p.m.

World Track and Field Championships…or as they call it these days, the World Athletics Championships

American Sha’Carri Richardson completed a comeback for the ages, winning the 100 meters over Jamaican sprint legends Shericka Jackson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.  Richardson ran it in 10.65, as the most flamboyant, and controversial talent the sport has seen for years won it from the outside in a shocking surge at the finish.

Richardson is the runner who was among the favorites for the Tokyo Olympics, only for her dreams to go up in smoke when she tested positive for marijuana at the U.S. trials after the death of her moth.  First she missed the Games. Then, for most of 2022, she went missing.  And when she reemerged at the U.S. championships, she didn’t get past the semifinals.

Asked afterwards about how she had achieved her moment of sweet redemption, Richardson said: “It’s about knowing that no matter what happens, you never lose sight of yourself.  You’re going to have good days, you’re going to have bad days, you are going to have better days.  You’re going to have worse days.  But you live to see tomorrow. Every day the sun doesn’t shine but that’s why I love tomorrow.”

Love that last line.

Reminder, nbcsports.com has good evening recaps you can stream (and USA Network has live action…if you catch the time right).  Wednesday is the women’s 400 meters, and men’s 400m hurdles.  In the latter, assuming they get through their heats, it should be a re-match between American Rai Benjamin and Norway’s Karsten Warholm.

Actually, I just saw reigning world champ Alison do Santos is running well.  He wasn’t supposed to be here due to injury.  This is potentially the race of the meet…with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone out.

Thursday is the men’s 400m and women’s 400m hurdles.

Friday is the men’s and women’s 200.

Saturday is the 4X100 relays, men and women. Always filled with drama when it comes to the American men.

MLB

--The Yankees lost their ninth straight tonight, 2-1 to the Nationals at the Stadium.  New York hasn’t lost nine in-a-row since 1982.

The Yanks had two hits, yet again, this time both by Ben Rortvedt, who came in 4-for-42 for the season.

--Mets lose as I close things out, 3-2, to Atlanta, after beating the Braves 10-4 Monday.  But the Metsies have been far more entertaining of late.

--Remember the name Dylan Crews.  Crews is the outfielder out of LSU selected by the Washington Nationals with the second overall pick in this July’s draft.  He played 14 games at low Class A Fredericksburg, batting .355, with five home runs, and was just jumped two minor league levels to Double-A Harrisburg.

The No. 1 overall pick, LSU teammate and starter Paul Skenes, was purposely starting off slowly for the Pirates, two games, three innings. Skenes, you’ll recall, was routinely throwing in excess of 120 pitches down the stretch for the eventual national champions.  Smart to treat him carefully early on.

But reports were he was throwing 98 and the Pirates, like the Nats, moved him up to Double-A Altoona, Monday.

Skenes is also getting some publicity for being Olivia Dunne’s boyfriend.

Skenes and Crews are clearly being fast-tracked.  Expect them in the majors possibly by mid-2024.

Golf Balls

--How it starts out at East Lake for the Tour Championship this weekend…the leaders….

Scottie Scheffler -10
Viktor Hovland -8
Rory McIlroy -7
Jon Rahm -6
Lucas Glover -5
Max Homa -4
Patrick Cantlay -4
Brian Harman -4
Wyndham Clark -4
Matt Fitzpatrick -4

--What the guys are playing for….

1. $18,000,000
2. $6,500,000
3. $5,000,000
4. $4,000,000
5. $3,000,000
6. $2,500,000
7. $2,000,000
8. $1,500,000
9. $1,250,000
10. $1,000,000

29. $510,000
30. $500,000

And that, boys and girls, is why some of the players were so visibly upset on Sunday at the BMW when it seemed they wouldn’t make the field for the Tour Championship

--You saw the crowds at Olympia Fields for the BMW.  Chicago-area fans are starved for big golf events.  But next year the FedExCup goes to Castle Pines in Colorado, which is just stupid.

You remember Castle Pines when it was a regular tour stop.  You get afternoon thunderstorms there, automatically, so guaranteed early starting times on the weekend and taped coverage, says moi.

--And now we have the Ryder Cup debate.

The following six qualify automatically on points for the Americans….

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Wyndham Clark
3. Brian Harman
4. Patrick Cantlay
5. Max Homa
6. Xander Schauffele

But the next six on the points list are…

7. Brooks Koepka
8. Jordan Spieth
9. Cameron Young
10. Collin Morikawa
11. Keegan Bradley
12. Sam Burns
13. Rickie Fowler
14. Denny McCarthy
15. Justin Thomas
16. Lucas Glover

This is a tough call for captain Zach Johnson to pick the other six.

Koepka was in on points until this week when he fell from No. 5 to No. 7 (his only chances to score points being the majors).  Despite the fact he is a LIV tour member, any golf fan had no problem with him being part of the U.S. squad, as Koepka, in particular, aside from being a stud and 5-time major champion, hasn’t exactly been a rah-rah LIV disciple.

But he hasn’t played well in his last three LIV events, and his wife just gave birth to their son Crew on July 27, and it seems it took three weeks before they were allowed to bring him home.

Johnson will make his six captain’s picks on Aug. 29, two days after the Tour Championship.

No one would have a problem if Johnson just went Nos. 7-12, but that then leaves out Fowler and Lucas Glover.  [Denny McCarthy, despite his great putting, doesn’t have a shot.]

Glover, with his spectacular play down the stretch this season, will get a serious look, but Fowler has the best international competition pedigree.  If Justin Thomas was named, I’d be screaming as loudly as anyone.

But it really comes down to Koepka, who Johnson has been in contact with.  Koepka could easily say, ‘Too many things going on at home and I understand why you wouldn’t select me because my game has been off, Captain.’

In terms of the pending PGA Tour-Saudi PIF deal, however, it certainly makes sense to have Koepka on the team for the sake of goodwill…and then after the Ryder Cup, when an agreement is finally reached by year end, kill the LIV project.  [Heh heh.]

Tough call for Zach.

College Football

--AP Preseason All-America team….

First Team

QB – Caleb Williams, Southern Cal…your Heisman favorite…to repeat…
RB – Blake Corum, Michigan; Quinshon Judkins, Mississippi (never heard of him)
TE – Brock Bowers, Georgia
WR – Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State; Rome Odunze, Washington; Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

Second Team

QB – Drake Maye, North Carolina (Boooo, boooo)
RB – Raheim Sanders, Arkansas; Braelon Allen, Wisconsin
TE – Oronde Gadsden, Syracuse
WR – Xavier Worthy, Texas; Malik Nabers, LSU; Jacob Cowing, Arizona

--Michigan self-imposed a three-game suspension for football coach Jim Harbaugh to begin the 2023 season, stemming from the ongoing NCAA investigation into alleged violations during the Covid-19 dead period, the university announced Monday.  So, he’ll miss home games against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green before making his return to the sideline for Michigan’s Big Ten opener Sept. 23 against Rutgers.

NFL

--The Jets announced, rather surprisingly, that Aaron Rodgers will start the final preseason game Saturday night against the Giants.  The thought had been the Jets wouldn’t risk an injury, but you have to trust Rodgers to ‘get down’ before he’s hit, and it literally may just be one series.

I’ll be watching. 

--I never told you of a chance encounter at the local high school football field I had about five weeks ago, where I get some exercise at the track.  In one of those situations where if I had varied my routine literally 20 seconds either side it never occurs.  As I’m doing my last lap and approaching a far entrance to the field, I see this guy carrying a huge athletic bag and he enters the track as I’m passing by… “Michael?” I blurted.  The guy smiled.  It was the kicker, Michael Badgley, home for a few days visiting family in Summit before heading to training camp.

We had a pleasant chat, he now knows no one has chronicled his career like I have, and I asked him about his contract situation after a solid season with the Bears and the Lions (24 of 28 FGs, 33 of 33 XPs).  He said he signed with the Lions and it turns out while he received the NFL minimum, he got a rare signing bonus, especially for a journeyman.

So days later he heads to Lions camp and gets cut!  They had brought in two other kickers.

Badgley then signs with the Commanders to provide competition for incumbent Joey Slye, who was 25 of 30 FG last year, though 4 of 6 from 50+, but only 24 of 28 on extra points.

Well, if you saw Monday night’s game, the Commanders ended the Ravens ‘meaningless’ 24-game exhibition win streak, 29-28, on a Slye 49-yarder with nine seconds left.

Badgley had been cut earlier, Slye winning the job.

Here’s the issue.  In his five-year career, five teams, Badgley is automatic from inside 40, 53 of 55, and a superb 155 of 160 on XPs, but only 41 of 60 from beyond 40, 5 of 13 from 50+.  He doesn’t have the leg teams want, including on his kickoffs.

I have so much respect for NFL kickers.  It’s a horrible existence.  But Badgley will reappear somewhere, certainly by midseason, when inevitably more than a few teams give up on their kickers.  His rookie season he was an emergency kicker for the Chargers and captured America’s fancy, going 15 of 16.  [I wrote at the time, though, he was wrong to adopt the label “Money Badger,” that it was too cocky for a rookie, especially at that position.]

He then had a hamstring injury in 2019, was limited to eight games, and had a poor 2020 for Los Angeles and was gone.  The following year, after a horrid one-game trial with the Titans, he was terrific for the Colts.

Last season, the Bears called him up for a one-game emergency, he went 4-for-4 on field goals, but their incumbent then returned from injury.

Enter the Lions and Badgley was super again.  But the leg-strength questions never left the minds of the coaching staff and here he is.

He’s a good guy.  One of Summit High School’s all-time greats (an All-State football player at multiple positions).  We wish him the best.  I may see him at the field again, while he waits for the phone call.

--We note the passing of former Eagles great, Maxie Baughan, a legendary linebacker in the 1960s, the Eagles announced Sunday.  He was 85.

Baughan, who the team said died of natural causes, was a 9-time Pro Bowler, one time All-Pro, over an 11-year career.

The Alabama native, who played his college ball at Georgia Tech, was a second round, No. 20 overall pick in the 1960 draft, joining an Eagles team that he immediately helped carry to new heights – Philly winning a championship in his rookie season.

Baughan was traded to the Rams after the 1965 season, and he had four of his Pro Bowl seasons there.  After retiring in 1970, he returned for a season in 1974 as a player-coach with the Redskins.

Stuff

--It’s been pretty obvious I haven’t followed NASCAR intently this year, which is a bad sign for the sport because if you lose me, an above-average fan, you’re losing a lot of fans.  As a result, I also haven’t been betting on the sport like I used to.

But the playoffs are ahead and with one race left before they set the field, William Byron won for a fifth time this season Sunday at Watkins Glen, delivering a dominating performance and making him a favorite to win it all.  Byron led the last 33 laps of this road course.

The final regular-season race is Saturday night at Daytona, and I’ll watch a fair amount of it. Then you have the 10-race playoffs.

--The U.S. Open Championship is just around the corner, and Sunday Novak Djokovic outlasted new rival Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of their Wimbledon final to take the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.

In a match that lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes, the longest best-of-three sets final in ATP Tour history (since 1990), Djokovic avenged his loss last month to the top-ranked Alcaraz, earning his 95th career title.

Djokovic was playing his first tournament on U.S. soil in two years because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Afterward, the Grand Slam king said, “This was one of the exciting matches I’ve ever played in any tournament.  It felt like a Grand Slam.”

On the women’s side, Coco Gauff became the first teenager in more than 50 years to win the event, besting Karolina Muchova.

The 19-year-old Gauff has her second title this summer and could be the U.S. Open favorite going in.  A long run by her would juice interest, and ratings.

--The Travers Stakes at Saratoga is being run Saturday and for the first time since 2017, all three winners of the Triple Crown races will be there.

Kentucky Derby winner Mage, Preakness winner National Treasure, and Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo are expected to run at the late-summer Derby.

Also Forte, scratched from the Derby and Preakness, but second in the Belmont.

But railbird Johnny Mac likes little-raced Scotland.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted early Sunday p.m.]

Very brief Add-on posted Tues. p.m.

Track and Field Quiz: With the world championships underway in Budapest, this one is for the girls.  With Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone out, Anna Hall could be a new star for the U.S. in the heptathlon.  Name the seven events that comprise it.  Answer below.

MLB

--The knives are out for Yankees GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, though it seems Cashman is staying, according to most reports.  Boone, however, despite having a contract for 2024 at $2.7 million, will get fired.

The Yanks, having lost to Boston Friday night at the Stadium, 8-3, in a game they were down 7-0 after two innings, were 48-38 on July 4, and sat 60-62 after Friday, or a 12-24 stretch in which they have been beyond hideous.

New York then lost 8-1 Saturday, just two hits, the seventh straight loss.  Boston got to Gerrit Cole early, four innings, 6 earned, Cole falling to 10-4, 3.03, and his Cy Young hopes presumably up in flames.  [Then again, maybe not just yet….you pick an AL Cy Young winner, you can’t do so.]

And…the Yankees lost this afternoon, 6-5…making it eight straight.  They had runners on first and second, no outs, in the bottom of the ninth, and

--The Dodgers’ 11-game win streak was snapped Friday night in L.A. 11-3 by the Marlins, who hit five home runs off starter Tony Gonsolin, 10 earned runs in 3 1/3.  Gonsolin then after the game said he was pitching through some elbow problems and was placed on the IL the next day.  There seems to be little chance of him pitching the rest of the season.

--Shohei Ohtani hit a grand slam for his 43rd home run of the season on Friday, but L.A. lost to the Rays 9-6 in Anaheim in ten innings.  The Angels turned a triple play in the ninth, and then fell apart in the tenth.

All the Southern California teams then played doubleheaders Saturday due to Hurricane Hillary and torrential rain in Sunday’s forecast, and the Angels split with the Rays, taking the first 7-6, before getting blown out 18-4 in the nightcap.

The Angels’ pitching, particularly in a critical stretch, has been horrid.  L.A. is also now 5-13 since the trade deadline.  Just immensely depressing for fans of the Halos and Ohtani.

Separately, I was reading a piece in the Los Angeles Times on the Angels’ Anthony Rendon and all his injuries, and ineffectiveness when he is able to get on the field.

L.A. is paying him $38.57 million a season through 2026, yet he played only 58 games in 2021 and 47 in 2022, and now 43 in 2023.

This season he’s been on the IL three times, while missing another four games due to a suspension.

But Rendon is owed so much money, unlike in the case of Mets owner Steve Cohen, it seems highly unlikely the team will consider cutting ties, while it’s hard to see Rendon fitting into the future.

And what pisses fans off is his total lack of communication.  He’s declined to provide updates throughout his most recent stint on the IL.

So add this contract to other Angels disasters such as Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols and Vernon Wells.

Speaking of the Rays, Shane McClanahan is likely to miss the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery, a devastating blow to the Rays’ title hopes not just this year but next.  McClanahan, an All-Star each of the last two seasons, had emerged as one of the best pitchers in the game this year, 11-2, 3.29.

--In the other So Cal doubleheaders, the Dodgers swept the Marlins by identical 3-1 scores, and it was the Mookie Betts Show…a 2-run single in the first, and two home runs in the second game.

--And Arizona had a huge doubleheader sweep in San Diego.  Former Met Tommy Pham homered and tripled in the D’Backs 6-4 win in the opener, and then Arizona whipped the Pads 8-1 in the second.

After a terrible stretch, Arizona has righted the ship, winning 7 of 9.

--All of baseball is talking about the four-game stretch Julio Rodriguez of Seattle just had, a first-time ever 17 hits, four, 4-hit games (17 of 22), stuff that’s never been done before in MLB history. 

J-Rod has moved his batting average from .244 on July 24 to .278.  His OPS over that stretch has also zoomed from .709 to .800, tough to do this late in the season.

[In Saturday’s 10-3 Seattle win over Houston, the Astros’ Jose Altuve picked up his 2,000th career hit.]

Today, Rodriguez was human, 1-for-5 in a 7-6 win for the Mariners…another huge win for Seattle.

--Chicago Cubs starter Marcus Stroman has a right rib cartilage fracture and there’s no timeline on his return, the team announced Wednesday.  Stroman was placed on the 15-day IL with right hip inflammation on Aug. 2 and at the time he was only going to miss one start.

Stroman had a 2.28 ERA through June 20, but then gave up 30 earned runs in 30 innings and hadn’t made it more than 3 2/3 innings over his last three starts.

--My Mets have been playing well, winners of six of seven after Saturday’s 13-2 thrashing of the Cardinals.  Last night, Kodai Senga was solid again, seven innings, one run, his record now 10-6, 3.19, and still very much in the NL Rookie of the Year conversation.  Pete Alonso hit home run No. 38, third in baseball behind Ohtani and Matt Olson’s 43.  What a year Olson has had.  An MLB-leading 108 RBIs and a .985 OPS. 

So like pick an NL MVP…Olson’s teammate Ronald Acuna Jr., and the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.  Should be an historically tight vote. [Obviously, Keith Hernandez and Willis Stargell once tied for MVP, but I’m talking about between four terrific candidates.]

Freeman, .333 BA, 45 doubles, 23 HR, 83 RBI, .986 OPS
Acuna Jr., .333 BA, 28 HR, 74 RBI, 111 runs, 55 stolen bases, .991 OPS
Betts, .298 BA, 34 HR, 86 RBI, 101 runs, .989 OPS

[Mets lost today, 7-3, Alonso No. 39.]

--Wild Card Standings…thru Saturday….

AL

Tampa Bay 75-51…+5.5
Houston 70-54…+1.5
Seattle 68-55…--
Toronto 68-56…0.5
Boston 65-58…3
Los Angeles 61-64…8
Yankees 60-63…8

NL

Philadelphia 67-56…+3.5
San Francisco 64-59…+0.5
Chicago 63-59…--
Cincinnati 64-60…--
Miami 64-61…0.5
Arizona 64-61…0.5
San Diego 59-66…5.5
Mets 58-66…6

--There was a story out this week that Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco’s career could be over.

A source close to the investigation of Franco’s alleged inappropriate relationship with underage women told Z101 Digital reported Hector Gomez that the Rays shortstop is “very unlikely” to play in Major League Baseball again, “judging by the results of the investigations that are currently being carried out, which directly commit him to the accusations against him,” Gomez wrote on X (Twitter).

Gomez, a Dominican reporter, broke the news of Franco’s 11-year, $223 million extension with the Rays in 2021.

MLB and officials in the Dominican Republic have been investigating claims made in since-deleted social media posts alleging he was involved in a relationship with a minor in the D.R.

--A Babe Ruth bat, matched by photo to an exhibition game from 1923, sold for $1,323,000 at auction last weekend, Robert Edwards Auctions announced.

The bat, a Babe Ruth Hillerich & Bradsby signature model, was found to have been used in an October 1923 benefit game in which Ruth hit a home run, the description said.

Graded a GU 10 by PSA/DNA, the uncracked bat is nearly 36 inches long and weighs 41.9 ounces.

The sale was not a record for a Ruth-used bat; earlier this year, Hunt Auctions announced a private sale for a bat used by the slugger circa 1920-21 for $1.85 million (a record for any player’s bat).  Another Ruth bat sold for $1.68 million in Aug. 2022.

[The owner of Robert Edwards Auctions was literally my next-door neighbor for a spell and helped me sell some memorabilia a few years ago.]

Golf Balls

--We had FedExCup Playoff number two this weekend in Olympia Fields, Ill., the BMW Championship, which winnows the field down from 50 to the final 30.

After two rounds, Max Homa led by two over Chris Kirk on the heels of a course-record 62 on Friday.

Homa -10
Kirk -8
Matt Fitzpatrick -7
Brian Harman -7

And then after three…

Scottie Scheffler -11…after a 64
Fitzpatrick -11
Harman -10
Homa -9
Rory McIlroy -8
Viktor Hovland -8
Justin Rose, Denny McCarthy, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele -7

This big story as we head into the final is the battle to finish in the top 30 and qualify for East Lake.

Rose has moved from 32 to 26 on the FedExCup points list.
Jordan Spieth has fallen from 27 to 31
Emiliano Grillo has fallen from 23 to 32
Sepp Straka has dropped from 24 to 33

You get the picture.

And Straka shot a -4, 66.
Spieth +1, 71
Grillo -3, 67
Rose +3, 73

In the end, Straka grabbed the last spot for East Lake.  Grillo and Spieth made it.  Rose didn’t.

Tyrell Hatton, he of the histrionics, but love watching the guy, thought he had gone from 26 to out of the field for the finale after bogeying Nos. 17 and 18, looking like he’d shoot himself in the clubhouse…but he’s in.

Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland shot a phenomenal course-record 61 today.  Holy Toledo.

And he wins it…victory No. 5 on the PGA Tour.  Good for the game.  Another likable guy.

Scheffler and Fitzpatrick finished second, two back.

Scheffler is No. 1 heading to East Lake, Hovland No. 2.  Love it.

--Hideki Matsuyama withdrew Friday due to a back injury.  He said he heard a pop on the right side of his lower back while warming up for the second round, felt significant discomfort and couldn’t warm up further, forcing him to WD.

Matsuyama had qualified for the Tour Championship at East Lake each of the last nine years, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour.

--In a second excerpt from “Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk,” released on Fire Pit Collective and by Golf Digest, sports bettor Billy Walters claims that Phil Mickelson had stockbroker Gregory Silveira do Mickelson a personal favor.  Walters writes:

“Mickelson wanted to transfer several million dollars to Silveira and then have Silveira wire it from his personal bank account to the offshore book to pay off Phil’s gambling losses.  Unfortunately for Silveira, he said yes.  The wire transfer quickly caught the attention of the criminal division of the IRS.

“With the feds on his heels, Phil told me that his friends at KPMG, his main corporate sponsor at the time, had introduced him to a D.C. attorney named Gregory Craig.  He was not just any lawyer; Craig had been chief White House counsel for President Obama.  With boyish looks and trademark white tousled hair, Craig had an Ivy League pedigree, having attended Harvard as an undergrad and Yale Law School.  Craig also was tight with Preet Bharara, then the U.S. attorney in the powerful Southern District of New York, former U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch, and the director of enforcement at the SEC.  Now that’s political juice.

“With Mickelson in the midst of a money-laundering investigation and a target of an insider-trading investigation, what did super-lawyer Craig do to get the prosecutors off Phil’s back?  He performed a legal trick so improbable that it was like Harry Houdini pulling a rabbit out of a hat while in chains underwater

“On May 19, 2016 – nearly a year before my trial – the SEC issued a press release headlined ‘Pro Golfer Agrees to Repay Trading Profits.’  The statement, which was related solely to the Dean Foods case, named Phil as a ‘relief defendant,’ government-speak for people not accused of any wrongdoing but named in complaints for ‘purposes of recovering alleged ill-gotten gains in their possession from schemes perpetrated by others.’

“It went on: ‘Mickelson neither admitted nor denied the allegations in the SEC’s complaint and agreed to pay full disgorgement of his trading profits totaling $931,738.12 plus interest of $105,291.69.’ It also noted that I had ‘urged’ Mickelson to trade in Dean Foods stock and he later sold almost $1 million in profits to pay off part of his gambling debt to me.

“ ‘Mickelson will repay the money he made from his trading in Dean Foods because he should not be allowed to profit from Walters’ illegal conduct,’ the press release stated.  There was no mention of any money-laundering investigation.  Craig chimed in on cue by releasing his own statement claiming that Phil was ‘an innocent bystander’ to any alleged wrongdoing by others.

“Phil and Bharara both got what they wanted.  Phil’s attorneys issued a statement that made it look like Phil was an innocent victim of an insider-trading case that implicated me. And in the process, Phil was off the hook on the money-laundering case.  The only person who ended up looking guilty was me.”

In 2017, Walters was convicted in U.S. District Court of securities fraud, conspiracy and wire fraud.  Prosecutors argued that from 2008 to 2014, Walters made more than $43 million from trades of Dean Foods by realizing profits and avoiding losses thanks to information he had obtained from former company chairman Tom Davis.  At the urging of Walters, Mickelson began to trade in Dean Foods stock, and made more than $931,000 in profits after buying and selling holdings between July and August 2012.  Mickelson’s trading in Dean Foods was used as evidence against Walters, but Mickelson did not testify at trial.  The golfer’s lawyers informed the prosecution and defense that if called by either side, Mickelson would decline to testify based on his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Walters said of Lefty:

“He’s a great golfer, a great player, maybe one of the greatest that’s ever played.  As far as a man, as far as a human being is concerned, I think he’s extremely materialistic. And I think that probably drives him as much or more than anything in the world.”

Andrew Beaton / Wall Street Journal:

“In June of last year, the same month LIV teed off, Walters writes that he ran into Mickelson at his country club and the pair spoke for the first time in five years.  After a bit of small talk, Mickelson tried to explain why he didn’t testify, saying his lawyers didn’t want him to face questions on the stand. Walters says he told him that he just wanted the six-time major champion to tell the truth.

“Mickelson then said sorry, Walters says, and he has a few theories about why he was given what he felt was an overdue apology.  Mickelson was a pariah at the time because of the LIV controversy, and Walters believes the golfer knew he had betrayed their friendship.

“ ‘And,’ Walters writes, “he knew I was writing this book.’”

--The Korn Ferry Tour was in my general neck of the woods this week, Metedeconk National in Jackson Township, NJ, a place I’ve played about five times.  It’s the last event before a four-event playoff that will culminate in 30 players getting PGA Tour cards.

[There is a cabin just off the course at Metedeconk where, back in the day, Matt Lauer and Bryant Gumbel used to hold high-stakes poker games…so I was told by a caddie one time.]

Anyway, the only thing I care about is that Ryan McCormick play well…and his T-16 moved him from No. 24 to 20 on the points list.

But the other guy we are following, Thomas Walsh, withdrew after an opening 78 and fell from 43 to 48.  Pressure is on him, bigly, next four weeks.  And McCormick needs a top ten in the four, and to make cuts, you’d think.

College Football

--For those who missed my midweek Add-on, I did post the AP Preseason Poll, with comments, so check it out.

--Georgia coach Kirby Smart announced fourth-year junior Carson Beck will be the starting QB.  Beck was No. 1 all preseason.

--A new national survey commissioned by Sportico in cooperation with The Harris Poll found that 67 percent of American adults believe college athletes should be paid – not just through name, image and likeness payments but in direct compensation from the school.

--George Will / Washington Post

“There are furrowed brows as many people seriously ponder an unserious question: Can college football be saved?  This question should be answered with a question: Saved from what?

“Presumably, from itself.  Its sudden convulsions this summer are rational ones, in the limited sense that they are driven by cold economic calculations.  As a result, the college football industry must, at least, retire the three most important components of its tiresome, patently insincere vocabulary: ‘Amateurism,’ ‘student-athletes’ and ‘tradition.’  This autumn, and ever after, college football will be played without the patina of romance that has been decreasingly successful at obscuring the absurdities that accompany grafting a multibillion-dollar entertainment industry onto institutions of higher education.

“The ‘realignment’ of the preeminent conferences, including the swift and ignominious collapse of one of them, serves common sense.  Realism has displaced the fog of sanctimony and semantic obfuscations that suddenly are laughable and unnecessary. Big-time college football has shucked off the accumulated hypocrisies that have encrusted it and now stands before us with an agreeable lack of pretense: It is an unembarrassable money machine, nothing more.  Football factories such as the Universities of Alabama and Georgia more closely resemble Amazon and Google than the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) and Rutgers teams that in 1869 played the first intercollegiate ‘football’ game.  (Rutgers won, 6-4, as about 100 spectators witnessed something resembling a cross between rugby and a rumble.)….

“On cue, some senators are concocting legislation to standardize NIL policies to ‘stabilize’ college sports. Otherwise, capitalism’s creative destruction might go too far, discombobulating the money machine.  Watch for price controls to prevent athletes in some states from being able to earn more from NIL than athletes in others, thereby disrupting recruiting.

“The legislation would establish a trust fund to cover some costs of sports injuries, including – herewith three discouraging words best not even whispered on Saturday afternoons – chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  CTE is the cumulative consequence of many head hits, most below the level of concussion.  It often results in cognitive and neurological problems as former players age. The New York Times reports that Boston University researchers have found CTE in 451 of 631 (71 percent) of the brains donated from former football players for study.

“But enough of the gloomy talk.  It casts a pall over the autumn beauty of venerable rivalries between distinguished institutions that insist that sport does not just build character; it reveals it.  That has certainly been the case this summer.”

--Navy vs. Notre Dame opens up college football next Saturday in Dublin, Ireland.  The debut of new ND QB Scott Hartman, ex-Wake Forest record setter.

--In the NFL, scary moment in Green Bay last night, as Patriots rookie cornerback Isaiah Bolden was removed on a stretcher with a serious head injury.  The rest of the preseason game was called off, it already being in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots after the game said Bolden had feeling in all his extremities.

Bolden, a seventh-round pick out of Jackson State, appeared to collide with teammate Calvin Munson while attempting to make a hit on a pass completion to Malik Heath of the Packers.

We then received terrific news Sunday morning, as Bolden was released from the hospital and was able to travel back home with the team. [The Pats were scheduled to fly to Tennessee for two practices with the Titans, but they’ve opted to cancel those due to Saturday’s events.]

“Appreciate the prayers more excited to be back with the guys,” Bolden posted on social media.

No details were given on the extent of Bolden’s injuries.

Stuff

--England and Spain squared off in the Women’s World Cup finals today, England having defeated Australia 3-1; Spain over Sweden 2-1 in the semis.

And this morning, Spain beat England 1-0, England with a great chance on a final corner kick but Spain’s goalkeeper swallowed it up.

Spain’s first world title. Alexi Lalas, who is a terrific commentator, as was Carli Lloyd during the WC, heaped praise on Spain for the “beautiful” way they played.

--Twila Kilgore was named interim coach of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, replacing Vlatko Andonovski, who on Thursday announced his departure following the worst World Cup performance in program history.

Kilgore served on Andonovski’s staff the past 18 months.

The U.S. needs to come up with a permanent coach soon ahead of next summer’s Paris Olympics.

--Lionel Messi made his Inter Miami debut less than a month ago and what was a crappy club prior to his signing had won six straight heading into Saturday’s Leagues Cup final.  Messi has scored nine goals in the six, at least one in each game.

Make that ten in seven, as Inter Miami outdueled Nashville SC in a penalty kick shootout 10-9.

Seven games into the Messi experience, 35 days, and he brought the club its first championship since joining the league in 2020.

Messi scored in the 23rd minute.  Nashville tied it at the 57-minute mark.  Both sides also almost won it in the final minutes of regulation before needing 22 total penalty kicks to decide it.

--The World Track and Field Championships are underway in Budapest, Hungary.

Saturday, American Ryan Crouser took Gold in the shot put, fellow American Joe Kovacs the Bronze.

Ethiopian women swept the 10,000 meters…really amazing when you consider all the hardships these women face living in an awful place.  [Didn’t use to be.]

Today, America’s Noah Lyles won the 100 meters!  Good job, Noah…in 9.83.  And he can win the 200m later in the week.

But in the heptathlon…well, I’ll leave that for the quiz answer.

*As for broadcasting, nbcsports.com does have some video, and USA Network is supposed to show some events live. 

--The story concerning the Tuohys and Michael Oher, the retired NFL star of the book and movie titled “The Blind Side,” bores the hell out of me.  But I’d be on the Tuohys side if I was held at gunpoint and forced to make a call.

Actually, I hope it wouldn’t come to that.  Just leave me alone.

--Britney Spears and Sam Asghari have called it quits and are headed for divorce court.

So, guys, Britney is on the market!

Then again, she’s rather high maintenance.  Like on a scale from 1 to 10…a 14. Take a pass.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/21/65:  #1 “I Got You Babe” (Sonny & Cher)  #2 “Save Your Heart For Me” (Gary Lewis and the Playboys)  #3 “Help!” (The Beatles)…and…#4 “California Girls” (The Beach Boys)  #5 “Unchained Melody” (The Righteous Brothers)  #6 “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones) #7 “It’s The Same Old Song” (The Four Tops)  #8 “Don’t Just Stand There” (Patty Duke) #9 “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” (Herman’s Hermits)  #10 “Down In The Boondocks” (Billy Joe Royal… ‘A’ week…unfortunately, #8 prevents it from being a rare A+…but you can imagine the radio stations were told by their superiors, play this one or we’re screwed…cuz that’s how it was back then…)

Track and Field Quiz Answer: Seven events in the women’s heptathlon….

#1 100m hurdles
#2 high jump
#3 shot put
#4 200m dash
#5 long jump
#6 javelin
#7 800m

So…today…Anna Hall took Silver, losing to Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson by a mere 20 points.  I don’t have time to analyze each event, but a few seconds, one foot…that’s the difference.

But great matchup for Paris, hopefully.

Very brief Add-on Tuesday p.m. Some Golf…FedExCup championship set-up…Ryder Cup points…

 

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