Hello, faithful readers. Sorry for the lag. I am studying to get my insurance license. Why? Because I want to make bank. The Catalina Wine Mixer. I also spent a majority of Saturday in Myrtle Beach purchasing a second car as our lives become more divergent, and…..way less fun. We got a RAV. We named her Roxanne. I call her Roxy. I am now knee deep in the middle of three ladies: Eileen, Roxy the Rav, and Helen the Highlander. A quirky sorority.
So let’s get to it.
Baseball Been Berry Berry Good to Me.
Not lately. They are already speculating about potential playoff matchups, and I know I do not really care. I also know the Yankees lost some games to the Red Sox, but both teams are way out of contention, and I am not sure baseball will ever get back to the golden era when Bucky Dent broke Sox fans’ hearts with his homer over the Monstah. I was also around Boston for the Bill Buckner gaffe, but I literally paid no attention to this latest series. Pitch clock, Ohtani, the resurgent Braves? Yawn. One bit of noteworthy news. Manny Ramirez was elected into the Indians (sorry, Guardians) Hall of Fame. Oh, and Yankees suck.
Soccer
El Rojo (Spain) won the Women’s World Cup. I did not wake up to watch the final live, but I waited until 4:30 to watch a replay without looking at the score. Unfortunately, FS1 had shown the game right before and showed Spain raising the trophy at 4:31. Let’s stick to your programming timetable. I watched the first half, and Spain outplayed England. I guess they held on. Many of the Spanish players stayed home in protest or refused to play, yet the young, inexperienced, hungry team, took home the trophy. I think the key word here was “hungry.” Hmmmmm.
Auto Racing
Although I have become a resident of a southern state, I still am not drawn to auto racing. I know little about it, but I know that there is a race in Daytona next week. It is not the Daytona 500 because it would be friggin hot, but I am not sure where Daytona is?
Golf
Xander Schauffele’s success over the weekend earned him a guaranteed spot of the U.S. Ryder Cup team causing Brooks Koepka to be on the outside hoping for a captain’s choice spot. I have heard the Brooks is not the nicest person on the tour, but what concerns me more is a sport where the best players have names like Xander and Brooks.
College Football
Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines are ranked #2 this season behind defending champion Georgia. Harbaugh has been suspended for the first four games, but Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern’s coach has been let go. I know that Harbaugh’s recruiting violations are a far cry from Fitzgerald’s blind eye to hazing incidents, but Michigan lost 2 games last year and Northwestern only won 1. Seems to me that even a hothead like Harbaugh has learned a little about coaching the “modern” player.
My second thought also concerns The Athletic’s ranking of all the FBS teams heading into the season. For the uninitiated, the FBS is the new name for Division 1-A, the highest level of college football; there are 133 schools that play D-1. You can look at the top as they are from power conferences, and they will be playing in major bowls.
I want to discuss the mighty Boston College Eagles. We have always been competitive, but never quite rising to the top. We would lose to Penn State or Ohio State, and end up in a middling bowl game (Hall of Fame or Continental Tire or similar). During Matt Ryan’s career, I remember us making it to the top 5 before losing the ACC Championship to Virginia Tech.
We are now ranked 82. I am no math wizard, but that is not good. We are below Rutgers (no offense Jersey), and slightly ahead of Colorado and UConn.
Colorado has prime time; BC has a coach who looks like a Pixar character. I am from Connecticut and respect UConn, but they are still rebuilding. BC has scheduled them as their homecoming game, which normally means they feel they have a good chance of winning. Newsflash. They beat us last year. Where’s Flutie? Either of them.
I promise I will rekindle my NFL conspiracy treatise next Saturday when I discuss the key role of the referees, including the inimitable Gene Steratore.
Until next Saturday, or Monday or…
Love, laughter and lacrosse.
Coach P.