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Bar Chat

09/04/2023

Coach Prime Backs Up The Talk

Add-on posted early Tuesday evening….

***We had a power failure about 90 minutes ago and I decided to post now, prior to a few early baseball results, just to make sure I could…it was a rather disturbing sound, I have to admit, different from a transformer explosion…

College Football

--That was a biggie, Sunday night, as No. 8 Florida State took out No. 5 LSU, 45-24, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Saturday.

Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis, in his sixth year and coming off a very solid 2022, 24 TD passes and five interceptions, was excellent, 23/31, 342, 4-1.  But the star was his new toy, receiver Keon Coleman, the transfer from Michigan State who had nine catches for 122 yards and three touchdowns.  The 6’4”, 215 lb. junior promptly stamped himself as a probable first-round pick next spring in the NFL Draft.

LSU was up 17-14 at the half, but then FSU scored the first 31 of the second half, 45-17 late before the Tigers had a meaningless final TD.  LSU had come in as a 2-point favorite.

The Seminoles did have discipline issues in the first half, getting called for three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

The Seminoles have Clemson Sept. 23, but then its clear sailing.  This one was huge.

ACC!  ACC!  [Written with tempered enthusiasm these days.]

--And then Monday night, a stunner.  Duke 28… No. 9 Clemson 7.

Clemson outgained Duke 422-374, led 29-17 in first downs, and running back Will Shipley was his usual good self, 17 carries for 114 yards for the Tigers, but you see the final score.  Three brutal turnovers.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney knew after the criticism would be scathing.

“That’s the weirdest game I’ve ever been a part of,” Swinny said.  “I’ve been beat.  I’ve had my butt kicked.  But that’s the strangest game I’ve ever been part of.”

To wit…Clemson had 200 yards both passing and rushing, a stat Swinney noted afterward had correlated to a 108-0 all-time record for the Tigers before Monday night.

The problem was Clemson was atrocious in the red zone, with two short field goals blocked and two fumbles by the offense following a first-and-goal at the 1.

“It’s incredibly frustrating when you had so much opportunity. …it’s routine stuff.  The basics. The fundamentals.  Basic, basic stuff.”

Quarterback Cade Klubnick, in just his second start, threw for 209 and rushed for 34 more, but he made some critical errors, including sliding short of the first-down market on a key fourth-and-7 in the fourth quarter.

As for Duke, it was all about the defense coming up big in the red zone, including the two blocks on field goals, and quarterback Riley Leonard’s legs, 98 yards on eight carries, including a terrific 44-yard TD run.

It was Duke’s first win vs. a top-10 team in 34 years, after 28 straight losses against teams ranked inside the top-10 of the AP poll.

Next up for the Blue Devils…Lafayette.  Quite a change of pace.

[I can’t help but add that your editor wrote of last night’s game on Sunday that the Blues Devils were “capable of pulling off the upset.”]

--And the first somewhat meaningful early AP Poll was released today….

1. Georgia (58)
2. Michigan (2)
3. Alabama
4. Florida State (3)
5. Ohio State
6. USC
7. Penn State
8. Washington
9. Tennessee…Rocky Top, will always be….
10. Notre Dame

17. North Carolina
21. Duke…good for them…I won’t be saying this that much longer, but I have some good friends who went there….
22. Colorado…keep it up…even if they don’t go to class, cuz what do I care at this stage in my life…

--This coming Saturday…10 Notre Dame at North Carolina State, the Wolfpack knowing Sam Hartman well…and 11 Texas at 3 Alabama…

U.S. Open

--After I posted Sunday, No. 1 women’s seed Iga Swiatek lost to Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6.

On the men’s side, 2 Novak Djokovic took out Borna Gojo in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals.

And three Americans advanced to the quarters, Ben Shelton, 10 Francis Tiafoe, and 9 Taylor Fritz.

--Monday, in a battle of Americans in the Round of 16, 17-seed Madison Keys defeated 3 Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 6-3.

On the men’s side, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarters in three sets over Matteo Arnaldi.

--Today, in extreme heat in the afternoon, Djokovic advanced to the semis in straight sets over 9 Taylor Fritz.

And 6 Coco Gauff whipped 20 Jelena Ostapenko into submission, 6-0, 6-2, to get to the semis in the women’s bracket.

Tomorrow, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz faces 12 Alexander Zverev in an intriguing matchup.

--Phil W. passed on a piece from the New York Post I hadn’t seen that as he put it, “further exposes the hypocrisy of the NCAA…mind boggling.”

Fiona Crawley, a University of North Carolina senior, made her Grand Slam debut at the U.S. Open.  She lost her first-round match to Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but earned $81,000 in prize money for making the tournament.

But then the 21-year-old was left with a choice: Take the money and lose NCAA eligibility or give up her winnings – so she chose the latter.

So you’re probably thinking, wait a second.  USC’s star quarterback Caleb Williams is reportedly making $millions in NIL money, why can’t Crawley keep the $81,000?

“I would never take the money and risk my eligibility, but I worked my butt off this week and it seems unreal that there are football and basketball players making millions in NIL deals, and I can’t take the money that I worked so hard for,” Crawley told the Raleigh News & Observer.

NCAA amateurism rules allow student-athletes to collect up to $10,000 in prize money, and only if it comes from the event sponsor.

Above the $10,000 threshold, the money “may not exceed actual and necessary expense for each subsequent event in the calendar year,” according to NCAA rules.

Crawley said after that despite the bitter ending, it was a dream come true.

“I’ve dreamed about this moment for so long…since I was 5 years old and old enough to know what the U.S. Open was,” Crawley said during an interview after qualifying for it.

“After the match, when I finished, I definitely was in shock.  I’ve had a day and night to process it, and I’m still definitely in shock.  I feel like I won’t really digest it until I’m about to serve or return the first point of my first [main-draw] match.”

Back to Caleb Williams, after I posted Sunday night, I saw a piece in the Los Angeles Times by Bill Plaschke about how Williams wasn’t available to talk to the press after Saturday’s 66-14 romp over Nevada, with Williams throwing five TD passes.  As Plaschke notes, even LeBron James, star of stars, is accountable to the press after each and every Lakers game, for which LeBron indeed deserves credit.  I mean it’s a pain in the ass, night in and night out answering the same questions, but he knows that’s part of the deal.

But Caleb Williams?  What was up?  Is coach Lincoln Riley protecting him?  This is a guy who is all over the Los Angeles-area airwaves already doing spots for Wendy’s, Dr. Pepper and Nissan.

The conjecture is Riley is trying to protect Williams from the hype…which is only going to get louder as the season progresses and USC seeks the national title, Williams gunning for his second straight Heisman Trophy and inevitable No. 1 overall pick in next spring’s NFL Draft.

But as Plaschke adds, you’d think USC would want the hype for Williams.  He’s not the only quarterback who is likely to be in the Heisman mix this season.  Look at Shedeur Sanders’ start.  Michael Penix Jr. of Washington and Bo Nix of Oregon were on the Heisman radar heading into the season and got off to gaudy starts.

Anyway, it’s going to be an interesting season.

Back to the NCAA, though, where the hell is new president, and former highly successful Republican governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker?  He’s been in charge for months now, since March 1st.

True, after learning the lay of the land for five months, Baker issued a report Aug. 1st that declares “college sports are at a crossroads,” identifying four pressure areas: the decline of the college-age population and the rising cost of attendance, the increasing opportunities for young people to forego college altogether and get paid to play their sport, the impact upon athletes of social media and sports betting, and the “existential threat” to traditional media partners.

All well and good, but college sports are spinning out of control.  Take action.  Or appoint a commissioner specifically for football, as most of the big schools want.

Just do something! 

MLB

--After posting Sunday, I have to note two results from that evening.  The Dodgers avoided a 4-game sweep by Atlanta, beating the Braves 3-1 behind Bobby Miller’s 7 strong, one run (Matt Olson’s 44th home run), as the rookie Miller, now 9-3, 3.80, looks like a key playoff piece.  Mookie Betts had three hits, including his 99th RBI, Ronald Acuna Jr. was 0-for-4.

Well, Bobby Miller is now indeed a critical piece because, did Julio Urias just pitch his last game for the Dodgers?

Urias was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence late Sunday night, Exposition Park police confirmed.  He was released Monday morning on $50,000 bond.

The Dodgers released a statement that read: “We are aware of an incident involving Julio Urias. While we attempt to learn all the facts, he will not be traveling with the team.  The organization has no further comment at this time.”

Major League Baseball is aware of the arrest and plans to launch an investigation.  Urias has a Sept. 27 court date.

The 27-year-old left-hander from Mexico is in his eighth season with the Dodgers.  He was previously arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery in 2019, after police said witnesses saw him push a woman to the ground in a parking lot near Beverly Center.  Though Urias was not charged in that incident he was suspended 20 games that season under MLB’s domestic violence policy.

Sunday’s incident is believed to have occurred at the LAFC versus Inter Miami game at BMO Stadium.  [I get into the game below.]  He was among the celebrity guests whom LAFC announced attended the game.

Urias, 11-8, 4.60, was to be one of the prime pitchers in free agency this offseason.  He had a National League-best 2.16 ERA last season and finished third in the Cy Young vote.

As for the Dodgers rotation, having recently lost Tony Gonsolin for the season, it’s Miller, Clayton Kershaw, Lance Lynn and a giant question mark.  If Kershaw doesn’t stay healthy, the season is over for all intents and purposes. They’ll be an early exit in the playoffs.

--And the Yankees completed a 3-game sweep of the Astros, 6-1 (as both New York teams did a number on the AL West, the Mets having beaten Seattle 2-of-3).  Yankee phenom Jasson Dominguez homered for the second time in his first three games, leading Yankees fans to scream, “Why the [heck] didn’t you bring him up earlier when it mattered!”

Which is the same thing Mets fans are screaming after Ronny Mauricio’s first three games, five hits.

--Shohei Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, gave his most extensive remarks on his client since Ohtani’s injury, and Balelo painted an optimistic picture for his recovery.

“Everything’s good…and he’s going to be fine,” he said.  But then 90 minutes later, Ohtani was scratched from the starting lineup Monday against the Orioles because of right oblique tightness, the Angels announced.

After L.A.’s 6-3 loss to Baltimore last night, manager Phil Nevin wouldn’t speculate on whether the oblique could keep Ohtani out for the rest of the season.

As for Ohtani’s other injury, Balelo thinks it is “inevitable” he’ll have some kind of procedure done, but they were still in the process of determining the options. He said he did not have a timeline on when a procedure might happen and he declined to discuss specifics on what kind of procedure they might pursue.

But Balelo also said, “There’s not a question in his mind that he’s going to come back (from the tear in his ulnar collateral ligament) and he’s going to continue to do both.”

Balelo also expressed confidence that Ohtani won’t need a second Tommy John surgery.

--Julio Rodriguez hit his 25th home run Monday in Seattle’s 6-3 road loss to the Reds Monday night.  He thus became the first payer to record 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in each of his first two seasons, according to MLB.com.  Last season, J-Rod had 28 home runs and 25 SBs.

Ryder Cup

European captain Luke Donald rounded out his squad that will face the U.S. in Rome, Sept. 29.

Team Europe’s automatic picks, locked in after the European Masters this past weekend, were Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Then Donald selected Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Hojgaard, and Ludvig Aberg, who won the European Masters. 

It’s going to be fun.  I’ll go with the Euros to continue their domination on European soil.

Stuff

--Lionel Messi had two assists in Inter Miami’s 3-1 MLS victory over LAFC in Los Angeles Sunday night.  The team is now 10-0-1 across all competitions since Messi’s first match with the club July 21.

It was a stadium-record soccer crowd of 22,921 – a number buoyed by several hundred standing-room only tickets – the get-in price for a seat on the secondary market was an MLS-record $894, according to online marketplace TickPick.  Three pitch-side seats sold for $2,339 each.

But it being Hollywood, the place was packed with A-Listers…Leonardo DiCaprio, Ed Norton and Jason Sudeikis, the Dodgers’ Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw, Caleb Williams (of course) and Harry and Meghan!  [Who are really C-listers these days.  Harry has plummeted on my personal list from No. 1 or 2 to 987,435.]

--Manchester United are under pressure to drop forward Antony after Brazil withdrew the footballer from their latest squad following serious allegations – made by his former girlfriend, Gabriela Cavallin – of physical assault and the claim that the player threatened to kill her and attacked her with a glass.  Antony called the accusations “false” on Monday.

Two weeks earlier, Mason Greenwood was forced to leave Man U after he was charged by Greater Manchester Police with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behavior and assault in October 2022 after allegations were made online.  The charges were dropped after key witnesses withdrew their cooperation from the investigation.  But United and Greenwood agreed to mutually part ways after a club probe and he is playing in Spain, on-loan from United.

--Singer-songwriter Gary Wright died.  He was 80.  Wright found fame with two big 1970s hits in “Dream Weaver” and “Love Is Alive,” which both peaked at #2 on the Billboard Pop chart in 1976.  Wright had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

“It is with great sadness that I received the news of my dear friend Gary Wright’s passing,” singer Stephen Bishop posted on X.  “Gary’s vibrant personality and exceptional talent made every moment together truly enjoyable. His legacy will live on for many years to come,” Bishop added.

Wright was a child actor, performing in the Broadway production of “Fanny” with future “Brady Bunch” star Florence Henderson.

He was later a member of the English rock group Spooky Tooth and played piano on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” album.

--And Steve Harwell died, age 56, the cause being liver failure due to alcohol.

Harwell was the former lead vocalist of rock band Smash Mouth.  With hits “Walkin’ on the Sun,” “All Star” and a cover of “Can’t Get Enough of You Baby,” Smash Mouth commandeered pop radio in the late ‘90s. 

With Smash Mouth’s second album, 1999’s “Astro Lounge,” which unveiled “All Star,” a three-million-selling hit that reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, success escalated.   With a cover of the Neil Diamond/Monkees classic “I’m A Believer,” along with “All-Star,” they helped popularize the soundtrack to “Shrek.”

Harwell’s issues eventually got the best of him, but he was a shooting star.

Next Bar Chat Sunday p.m.

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[Posted early Sunday p.m., prior to the night’s sporting events.]

NFL / Dallas Cowboys Quiz: The Cowboys’ franchise started out in 1960.  Name the nine head coaches in Dallas history.  Answer below.

MLB

--Wild Card Standings thru Saturday….

AL

Tampa Bay 82-54…+6.5
Houston 77-60…+1
Texas 75-60…--
Toronto 74-62…1.5
Boston 70-66…5.5

NL…an amazing race….

Philadelphia 74-61…+4.5
Chicago 72-64…+2
San Francisco 70-66…--
Arizona 70-66…--
Cincinnati 71-67…--
Miami 69-67…1

AL West standings….

Seattle 77-58
Houston 77-60…1
Texas 75-60…2

--I have to go back to Tuesday night, after I posted my Add-on, and the Giants’ Alex Cobb, who had a no-hitter through 8 2/3 before Spencer Steer of the Reds doubled, Cobb then completing the game.

A run scored on the double, Nick Senzel having walked ahead of Steer.  Still, a spectacular 131-pitch complete game, the one walk and eight strikeouts as the Giants prevailed 6-1.  The 131 pitches were the most in the majors this season, Cobb 7-5, 3.57.

These days every game for the Giants and Reds is critical.

--The Reds and Cubs have been playing a big series this weekend in Cincinnati and on Friday split a doubleheader, the Cubs taking the first 6-2, the Reds the nightcap, 3-2, with a clutch 2-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

Saturday, the Reds rallied again in the ninth with two runs to win it 2-1, the second run scoring when newbie Hunter Renfroe beat out a double-play ball, allowing the winning run to score. Elly De La Cruz had singled in the tying run earlier in the frame.

Today, the Reds had a 5-4 lead after six, but the Cubbies exploded for ten runs the final three, winning 15-7.  Cody Bellinger homered, No. 23, 84 RBIs, .320 batting average, .916 OPS, in a remarkable comeback season.

Bellinger is still just 28 and can become a free agent after the season, or the Cubs can negotiate an extension, as there is a mutual club option for $12,500,000, and clearly Bellinger will turn that down.

--We have a potential NLCS matchup this weekend in Los Angeles, Dodgers-Braves.  Atlanta won the first one, Thursday, 8-7, and it was quite a day for Ronald Acuna Jr. He got married in the morning to his longtime girlfriend and mother of their two children, Maria Laborde, in a small ceremony at a house in the mountains about 45 minutes from the team’s hotel.

And then at night, Acuna hit a landmark grand slam and ended up beating his NL MVP rival Mookie Betts.  The grand slam broke a 1-1, second-inning tie and made him the first player with 30 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season.  Acuna had three hits in all.

Betts hit two home runs and drove in four, giving him a career-high 38 homers on the season.

Back to the wedding, Acuna said through a translators that he had been planning it out weeks ahead of time.

“Holy cow,” surprised manager Brian Snitker said.  “I’m better off not knowing most of this stuff, quite honestly, but congratulations to him.”

You can just picture the expression on Snitker’s face when he was told what his superstar was up to.

Friday, the Braves won 6-3, hitting three solo home runs off the Dodgers’ Julio Urias, Acuna with No. 31.  Atlanta now has 256 home runs in 134 games, as they chase the record of 307 set in 2019 by the Twins.

Max Fried improved to 6-1, 2.52, with seven scoreless for the Braves.

Saturday, the Braves (90-45) won yet again, 4-2, Acuna homering in a third straight game, Betts 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

Acuna’s homer was 121 mph, the hardest hit ball in baseball this season. 

But the star was Orlando Arcia, who hit a 3-run homer off reliever Alex Vesia in the 10th inning.

--It’s been one crappy season for New York baseball fans, but Friday night was special.  The Yankees brought up 20-year-old phenom Jasson Dominguez and he homered in his first at-bat, becoming the youngest Yankee to ever do so.  Aaron Judge also homered, one of four against Justin Verlander, who gave up six runs in six innings in a 6-2 loss.  Judge’s home run was No. 250 for his career in 810 games, making him the quickest in baseball history to hit the 250 mark.  [Giancarlo Stanton hit career No. 399.]

Judge homered again Saturday as the Yanks beat the Astros again, 5-4.  New York has won 5 of 6, now 67-69.  Can they avoid a sub-.500 season?

The two play tonight in the ESPN game.

And at Citi Field, 22-year-old Ronny Mauricio finally made his debut for the Mets, after a terrific season in AAA, and Mauricio drilled a 117-mph double over the head of the right fielder, the hardest ball hit by a Met all season, as New York beat the first-place Mariners, 2-1, Seattle having won 13 of 15 coming in.  Kodai Senga was super again for the Metropolitans, seven innings, one run in a no-decision, his ERA down to 3.08.

Mauricio had two more hits, Saturday, but the Mets fell 8-7, largely because of an atrocious baserunning blunder by Daniel Vogelbach, who in the ninth inning tried to stretch a single into a double and belly-flopped into second, thrown out with about five seconds to spare (slight exaggeration).

Today, the Mets had a nice 6-3 win, taking 2 of 3 from the Mariners, as Pete Alonso hit home runs No. 40 and 41, getting to 100 RBIs.  I’d still trade him.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the Mets fired a number of long-time front office personnel, including their pro scouting director, farm director and several others.  GM Billy Eppler is safe, for now, but Uncle Stevie (owner Steve Cohen) has repeatedly confirmed plans to hire a president of baseball operations who would outrank Eppler (or whoever is in the GM spot) and run the show.  Brewers executive David Stearns, who was born and raised in Manhattan, has long been the target.

--The Angels raised more than a few eyebrows when they placed six players on waivers, but the team, having thrown up the white flag, was desperately trying to avoid paying a luxury tax.

The Guardians then stunned baseball again.  At the trade deadline they shockingly traded their hottest pitcher, Aaron Civale, slugger Josh Bell and infielder Amed Rosario, infuriating the Guardians players.  But then Thursday they picked up the Angels Lucas Giolito and relievers Matt Moore and Reynaldo Lopez off waivers from the Angels, declaring they are going for it after taking two of three from the Twins.

But they enter play today 5 games back of the Twins in the AL Central.

[The Angels’ Hunter Renfroe was picked up by the Reds, as noted above.  And Cincy took Harrison Bader off the Yankees’ hands.]

--Bryce Harper slugged his 300th career home run on Wednesday against the Angels, his tenth in the month of August, which is immensely encouraging for Phillies fans looking to the postseason.

Harper shockingly returned to the lineup in May, just 160 days after surgery on his right elbow, and the recovery cost him his power.  He only had five home runs, May 2 to Aug. 4, and then hit 10 between Aug. 5 and Aug. 30.

--Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco is facing a second formal complaint for having an inappropriate relationship with a minor, according to ESPN on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

A special prosecutor for the Dominican Republic has been investigating two prior claims (in the same case) against Franco. 

MLB is continuing with its own investigation into whether Franco violated the sport’s Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.  The league will likely wait for the D.R. investigation to conclude before finishing its own.

Franco last played Aug. 12. He was placed on administrative leave by MLB on Aug. 22 until further notice.

College Football

--And the season is officially off and running…the last season with ‘normal’ conference football, loosely speaking, as well as last with a four-team playoff before next year’s cataclysmic changes.

Adding to the chaos was the ACC’s admission of California, Stanford, and SMU on Friday.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY

“The most honest thing that will be said about the ACC’s nonsensical expansion gambit that was formalized Friday comes from deep in the heart of Texas: Pony Up.

“That’s the mantra from proud new ACC member SMU, but it’s also the ethos that describes exactly what kind of Ponzi scheme the league just ran on college athletics.

“In a transparent, desperate, pathetic attempt to take the crumbs of conference realignment and act like they were prepared by a Michelin-starred chef, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips announced Friday that the additions of Stanford, California and SMU would ‘strengthen the league in all possible ways.’

“It’s objectively untrue, but the cost of such shamelessness wasn’t steep: A few more million in television money for each existing ACC school, and perhaps a few more in performance bonuses that will shut Florida State up at least until it makes financial sense for it to bolt to the SEC, Big Ten or some state of private-equity-funded independence.

“In other words, the ACC did not expand because Stanford, Cal and SMU offer competitive upgrades in the sports that matter (they don’t) or because they add equal revenue value to the existing television contract (they don’t) or because they make geographical and logistical sense for a conference that exists exclusively in the Eastern time zone (they don’t).

“The ACC expanded because there was a pool of television money ESPN was contractually required to give it because of conference expansion, and most of that money will be hoarded by the existing members while the newbies subsidize their athletic departments in other ways.  In SMU’s case, the desperation to get into a power conference was so strong, it reportedly agreed to forego a media-rights distribution for its first nine years as a member of the ACC.

“In other words, SMU is going to literally pay to play in its new league despite being competitively irrelevant in its old one.  There will be three presidential elections by the time SMU gets a dollar from television.”

Meanwhile, North Carolina, Florida State and Clemson were opposed to the expansion “because they realize that even a few more million dollars wouldn’t meaningfully cut into the financial gap with the Big Ten and SEC, while increasing travel for non-revenue sports and adding nothing competitively in football.

“And yet the ACC went through with it anyway, gaining enough support to push it through reportedly when N.C. State flipped from a no to a yes.

“What does that tell you?  It should tell you that the mediocre middle of the ACC cannot count on its football stalwarts to still be around in 2036 when its current TV deal expires….

“Even if Clemson and FSU can’t see a way out contractually in the next few years, their leaders understand that college football is not going to look in the 2030s like it does now.  This round of conference realignment may be done for a little while, but it’s only a pause until the next round of television contracts comes up for renewal.”

Well, folks, I’m not beating this topic to death.  I already have.  It is what it is.  I’ll be long dead anyway by 2036.

But, for the record, the ACC is expected to receive around $72 million in additional media rights revenue as a result of expansion, per multiple reports, with $50 million to $60 million of that revenue being made available for the ACC to distribute as part of either a revised financial model or incentive program.  There are incentives for the three schools to earn additional revenue based on incentives tied to success in major sports, specifically football and men’s basketball.  Such an incentive model is still under discussion by the ACC, but most expect one to be formally introduced for the 2024 athletic season.

Lastly, Phil W. passed on a piece by Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News & Observer:

“Meanwhile, the three new schools would make the ACC measurably worse in both football and men’s basketball, the two biggest revenue-generating sports. The competitive impact, on the computer rankings that go into the CFP rankings and basketball’s NET ratings, would be instantly negative.  The ACC is having a hard enough time in both sports, after getting left out of the CFP for the first and second times and twice putting only five teams in the NCAA men’s tournament. Two years in a row!  In both!...

“You’re taking the ACC’s Level of Boston Collegeness and quadrupling it.”

--So I wanted to start with the above because once the games start, including next season, it’s about the action on the field.  You’re going to have the same AP Poll, upsets, great stories and that’s all we really end up giving a damn about.  It’s just sad some old-time rivalries, like Oklahoma-Oklahoma State, will be a thing of the past.

Saturday, we had the start of a great story…Deion Sanders, Coach Prime, and Colorado, which upset No. 17 TCU in Fort Worth, 45-42, the Horned Frogs having played the role of Cinderella last season, making the national championship game against Georgia. 

Right off the bat I have to say that if TCU quarterback Chandler Morris didn’t throw an atrocious pass on 3rd and 9 with a little over 1:00 to play, that would have been a first down deep in Colorado territory, and TCU might have won the game.

But the Buffaloes did.  And Coach Prime and Co., including son Shedeur Sanders (38/47, a school record 510 yards, 4-0) deserve all the credit in the world.  Deion came to Boulder, blew up the team, brought in a slew of new players, including his sons (the other DB Shilo), and the result was a big one for the sport.

It really was an incredible stat at the end.  Shedeur had four receivers with 100+ yards when last year Colorado had only two, 100-yard receiving games all season!

Among those with receptions of over 100 yards was sophomore phenom Travis Hunter, who became the first FBS player in more than two decades to have 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game. Hunter was on the field for 120 snaps!

Next up for Colorado, a home game against Nebraska.  The place will be rocking.

--Meanwhile, No. 2 Michigan opened up with a 30-3 win over East Carolina, sans coach Jim Harbaugh, serving his three-game suspension for NCAA rules violations, that were very minor.  I was focused on the Colorado game, but with the Wolverines returning J.J. McCarthy (who threw three touchdown passes, all to Roman Wilson), and backs Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, I’m picking them to win it all.

Yes, Georgia will run the table, at least until the SEC title game, but I’m sayin’ Coach Harbaugh and Co. are celebrating in the end.

--No. 3 Ohio State was most unimpressive in defeating Indiana 23-3.  Near the end of the first half, down 7-3 around the OSU 40 with 0:40 left, IU stupidly went for it on fourth-and-4, was stopped, and the Buckeyes went down the field for a field goal.  As idiotic a play-call as you’ll see all season.  Gary Danielson was incredulous.

--No. 6 USC demolished Nevada 66-14, Caleb Williams with 5 touchdown passes.

--No. 7 Penn State dominated West Virginia after a slow start, 38-15, as Drew Allar threw for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns.

--No. 10 Washington had an impressive 56-19 win over Boise State, Michael Penix Jr. going 29/40, 450, 5-0.

--No. 12 Tennessee, Georgia’s only potential ‘L’ in the regular season as the Bulldogs have to travel to Knoxville in November, whipped Virginia 49-13.  Sixth-year quarterback Joe Milton III gets his big chance.  At age 47, he needs to take advantage of it.

--Thursday, No. 14 Utah had a nice opening win against Florida, 24-11, despite the Utes being without star QB Cameron Rising, still recovering from an ACL tear. 

--No. 21 North Carolina picked up an important 31-17 win over South Carolina in Charlotte, despite Heisman hopeful Drake Maye’s 2 interceptions.

--We have a biggie tonight, 5 LSU at 8 Florida State, which can make or break both teams’ national title hopes.

And then Monday night, 9 Clemson at Duke, the Blue Devils capable of pulling off the upset.

--Thursday, Wake Forest opened with a 37-17 win over Elon.  The Deacs looked so-so.  Solid on defense most of the time, and quarterback Mitch Griffis, taking over for Sam Hartman, had some good moments (19/30, 329, 3-1).  But he also held the ball far too long, allowing himself to be sacked numerous times, and all the while I’m thinking, this team isn’t going to beat Vanderbilt next Saturday.

What was funny is that Wake was a 33.5-point favorite, but the Over/Under was 53.5, and Elon kicked a late meaningless field goal that had to have some bettors going nuts, or celebrating uproariously.

--As for all the other games involving ranked teams, there were some ridiculous blowouts of inferior opposition not worthy of mention. 

But there is one more game I can’t help but note…Boston College lost to Northern Illinois, a hideous defeat for the Eagles, 27-24.  To make matters worse, BC paid the Huskies $1.1 million to travel to Chestnut Hill.

--But wait…there’s more!  Rutgers played Sunday, defeating troubled Northwestern at home, 24-7, in what had to be an absolute yawner, RU with 285 total yards to Northwestern’s 201.

--The NFL season starts this coming week, Detroit at Kansas City, Thursday night.   Jets and Giants fans are both ready for sure.  The hype around the former is off the charts, while the Giants picked up some key pieces in the offseason and it should be a most entertaining season in the New York area.  Just gotta keep Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones healthy, which you can say about every fanbase across the league and their QBs.

I saw The Athletic has the Giants’ win total at 7.  I know the schedule is tougher, but they will be better than that.  10-7, says moi.

I did like that the Giants picked up former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Boogie Basham from the Bills.  The defensive end has been a bit of a disappointment, just 4.5 sacks in this first two seasons, but a new start.

Speaking of the Bills, safety Damar Hamlin did make the 53-man roster.  Once he cleared every physical and mental hurdle, he was a shoo-in.

Back to the Jets, if Rodgers is playing in January, we’re winning it all, sports fans!

U.S. Open

--Novak Djokovic suddenly found himself down two sets to Laslo Djere on Friday night, before prevailing by taking the next three, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3…3 ½ hours, the match ending at 1:30 a.m.

So Djokovic, the second seed, and No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz remain on a collision course for a Sept. 10 final.

The bottom half of Djokovic’s draw has already seen losses by No. 4 Holger Rune, No. 5 Casper Ruud and No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas.

No big upsets on the men’s side Saturday.  Tonight, Djokovic takes on unseeded Borna Gojo.

Alcaraz faces unseeded Matteo Arnaldi on Monday, the quarterfinals then Tuesday.

Today, unseeded American Ben Shelton made his second quarterfinals of the year, defeating fellow American, 14-seed Tommy Paul, in four sets, thus avenging his loss to Paul in the quarters at the Australian Open.

--Coco Gauff made it into the Round of 16, and next up, Sunday, was Caroline Wozniacki, who recently returned to tennis after taking 3 ½ years off to focus on building a family.

And Coco prevailed, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1…on to the quarterfinals.

The heat is going to be unbearable the next three days, by the way, though they are off Wednesday, a built-in make-up day in case of rain.

Golf Balls

--I got into Zach Johnson’s Ryder Cup captain’s picks in my Tuesday Add-on, so you can check it out there if you missed it.

But the big snub, that of Keegan Bradley, clearly had at least a small part to do with him being an ‘outsider’ in the game and not tight with the likes of Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, all best friends.  Bradley himself describes himself as an “outsider.”  Pairings are important.  I noted that no doubt Sam Burns, a captain’s pick, will be paired with best buddy Scottie Scheffler.  It’s just the way it is.

The Fall Season, where the top 125 is sorted out this year, begins in two weeks in Napa, California.  Justin Thomas, one of the captain’s picks, is committed to playing in it, along with fellow Ryder Cupper Max Homa.

But a needed little break.  The Ryder Cup is then Sept. 29 in Rome.

--The Korn Ferry Tour is also on break for two weeks, before resuming its hunt for 30 PGA Tour cards, three tournaments left.

Premier League

--Saturday, surprising Tottenham continued with its hot start, 5-2 over lowly Burnley, Son Heung-min with a hat trick.

Man City beat Fulham 5-1.

Today, Liverpool beat Aston Villa 3-0.

And Arsenal had an early-season showdown with Manchester United this afternoon and, in a thriller, defeated Man U 3-1, with two goals late in extra time.  Oh, Arsenal fans are pubbing it up tonight.

Stuff

--Pretty, pretty amazing.  The Nebraska women’s volleyball game Thursday night in Omaha that drew a staggering 92,003 fans to watch the No. 4 Huskers defeat Omaha.

The event set a world attendance record for a women’s sporting event, beating out the 2022 Champions League semifinal between FC Barcelona and Wolfsburg (91,648).  And we’re talking volleyball.

Sellouts are not new for Nebraska, which has long had a top-ranked women’s volleyball team under coach John Cook, but their normal venue seats only 8,000.

The previous record for a women’s sporting event in the U.S. was the 90,185 who were at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to watch the U.S. beat China in the final of the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

--Max Verstappen moved into sole possession of Formula One history, winning a record-breaking 10th consecutive race Sunday in the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

The victory put him past Sebastian Vettel, who won nine races in a row in 2013.  Verstappen’s Red Bull team remains unbeaten in 13 races this season, with Verstappen winning 11, and Sergio Perez two.

Perez was second Sunday.

The Dutchman is on pace for his third straight world title.

--NASCAR’s 10-race playoffs commence tonight with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.  Sixteen drivers enter the playoffs, with four eliminated after the third, sixth and ninth races, leaving a final four to battle for the championship.

Six former champions are in the mix, but not Chase Elliott.

--Lionel Messi and Inter Miami were held to a 0-0 draw against Nashville SC on Wednesday night, in a rematch of their Leagues Cup final from Aug. 19, when Inter Miami prevailed 1-1 (10-9 PKs).

Messi had several opportunities to score on free kicks, as he has done while scoring 11 goals in his previous nine games with the MLS club.  But no Messi Magic this time.

Inter Miami plays next Sunday night in Los Angeles against reigning league champion LAFC.

--Jimmy Buffett died.  He was 76, cause of death not immediately released.  The news was confirmed through a statement on his official website: “Jimmy passed away peacefully on the night of September 1st surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs.  He lived his life like a song till the very last breath and will be missed beyond measure by so many.”

Over the course of his 50-year professional career, Buffett collected just one top-10 pop hit: “Margaritaville,’ a tequila-soaked paean to kicking back on the beach in the aftermath of a breakup, which peaked at #8 in 1977 on the Billboard Pop Chart.  His first top-40 was 1974’s “Come Monday” (my fave) and he had other top-40s in “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” as well as “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Fins”.

But his boozy, punny, often marijuana-scented variety of tropic, good-time music struck a chord with an army of loyal fans, who dubbed themselves “parrotheads” in reference to the colorful headgear they sported at the musician’s sold-out concerts.

The faithful audience made Buffett a consistent record seller, even without the benefit of major radio hits.  He released four platinum and eight gold studio albums, with his 1985 compilation “Songs You Know by Heart” having sales of 7 million, while the 1992 boxed set “Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads” rang up 4 million.

Buffett’s highly palatable variety of party-hearty music translated into a host of products, making him one of the most successful and wealthiest performers in the world.  In 2016, his personal worth was estimated at $500 million.

Writing about “Margaritaville” on the 40th anniversary of his song’s release in 2017, Forbes stated that it “morphed into a global lifestyle brand that currently has more than $4.8 billion in the development pipeline and sees $1.5 billion in annual system-wide sales.”  For instance, Margaritaville Holdings announced a partnership with Minto Communities to develop Latitude Margaritaville, new active adult communities for those ’55 and better,’ including the $1 billion Daytona Beach, Florida location and a second in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

And Buffett was a No. 1 bestseller on the New York Times list with his novels and memoir.

Buffett would tour annually with his Coral Reefer Band late into his life – in 2018, he appeared co-billed on a national tour with the Eagles.

He was born on Dec. 25, 1946, in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and grew up in Mobile, Alabama, the son of a well-traveled army engineer and the grandson of a seafaring man who Buffett would later say gave him a lifelong love of the ocean and yearning for adventure.

After flunking out of Auburn University and going to Southern Miss, Buffett ended up in Nashville, after a brief stay in New Orleans, and released his first record in 1970.

But it was in 1971 when he discovered Key West, thanks to a tip from friend Jerry Jeff Walker, and Buffett was hooked.  Long having a reputation as a place for artists, misfits, and heavy drinker, Ernest Hemingway having lived there in the 1930s, Buffett once said in an interview with the Miami Herald, “Key West will always be a part of me.  I really found myself I think as a writer down there…I’m just glad that I was able to utilize it and it did for me as much as I did for them.”

Buffett’s folksy calypso music that channeled the Key West vibe quickly made him popular.  And the rest is history.  RIP.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/2/67:  #1 “Ode To Billie Joe” (Bobbie Gentry…definition of mournful…)  #2 “All You Need Is Love” (The Beatles)  #3 “Reflections” (Diana Ross and The Supremes)…and…#4 “Light My Fire” (The Doors) #5 “Baby I Love You” (Aretha Franklin)  #6 “Come Back When You Grow Up” (Bobby Vee) #7 “Cold Sweat – Part 1” (James Brown)  #8 “Pleasant Valley Sunday” (The Monkees)  #9 “You’re My Everything” (The Temptations) #10 “I Was Made To Love Her” (Stevie Wonder…B+ week…)

NFL / Dallas Cowboys Quiz Answer: The nine head coaches, in order….

Tom Landry (1960-1988), Jimmy Johnson, Barry Switzer, Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Bill Parcells, Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy.

If you got Dave Campo, 5-11 in each of three seasons, 2000-2002, you know your Cowboys.

Brief Add-on up top Tuesday p.m.

 

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