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A few weeks ago, I suggested a number of possible sports soap opera names for the ongoing drama involving this year’s LSU football program. Possible names floated included “Search for Tomorrow’s Coach”, “Lane – Is a Many Spendored Thing”, and “The Young and the Ruthless.” One title, though, stood out among the others. I chose “As the Tigers Turn” as the winner.  It seems to fit all of the wild and crazy stories which are surrounding this season’s Bayou Bengals from Baton Rouge. We’ve got another tasty dish of LSU jambalaya ready to serve-up, che’re.  It’s time to roll this show’s opening credits! In our last episode… Two weeks ago, LSU had not played its first college football game of the season. The opening game against long-time ACC powerhouse Clemson was coming up on Saturday, September 5 in LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on national television. Former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was taking the field that night for the first time as LSU’s new coach.  Ex-LSU coach Brian Kelly was long gone after receiving his expensive $54 million contract payout to vamoose. Lane Kiffin’s first game as coach of LSU was enough drama for Tigers fans.  The NCAA then inadvertently created some legal issues which added even more suspense to LSU’s opening game of the football season. The NCAA (it’s OK to boo the villain here) fumbled the ball again. They waited until June to implement a new rule affecting the eligibility of college athletes.  The overseer of college sports had previously allowed a maximum of four years of athletic eligibility. A June, 2026 NCAA rule gives athletes five years of college eligibility as long as it is completed within five years after leaving high school.  The previous rule had hundreds of athletes petitioning the NCAA for a fifth or sixth year of athletic eligibility due to injuries. medical issues, and/or other extenuating circumstances. A small group of athletes who had utilized their four years of college eligibility over four consecutive years filed a lawsuit in a Louisiana state court. They wanted the right to return to play a fifth year of college football this fall if they were released by an NFL team during the summer preseason. Two of those players in the lawsuit just happened to be former Ole Miss players who played for coach Lane Kiffin in 2025. The Southeastern Conference was furious that LSU was (perhaps) going to sign and play some ex-professional athletes.  SEC school presidents joined with Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 Conferences to prohibit member schools from playing any former professional athletes beginning this fall. As you may have heard, the Louisiana state court judge held a hearing two days prior to the LSU/Clemson game – in his Baton Rouge courtroom, of course. Making matters worse, the SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey (it’s OK to boo or cheer here – your preference) was required to fly to Baton Rouge to testify in the matter.  After three hours on the witness stand, Commissioner Sankey left town and later learned that the judge had ruled in favor of the players. Can you imagine how “hot” Commissioner Sankey might have been after learning that? Would LSU actually go against the wishes of the SEC Commissioner and the 15 other university presidents and play a couple of college players who earned $2,000/week for several weeks in an NFL preseason camp? Would the SEC dare to either suspend LSU coach Lane Kiffin for six games and/or assess a $50 million penalty on the Tigers? Worst of all, would the SEC expel one of its original founding members and toss LSU completely out of the conference? Act 2: LSU did not add any pro players, and the SEC backed down on its threats The LSU Tigers had legal clearance to add those briefly-employed ex-NFL players.  They purposefully chose not to.  LSU went on to crush Clemson 51-10 in their season opener without the legally-cleared-to-play “pro” players. Early the following week, LSU added two final players to complete its roster.  Neither name was one of the so-called “pro” players. It’s likely that the two young men who came from the NFL summer camps will receive their promised NIL payments from LSU without ever playing a down of football this season. We can only hope these gentlemen will be as successful in the classroom in Baton Rouge this fall. Taking a cue from LSU’s more positive and conciliatory actions, the league’s presidents also met again last week.  The angry mob of academic leaders finally put down their pitchforks and torches.  Instead, they decided to slow things down and re-think expelling one of the SEC’s most powerful brand names called LSU. As predicted here, cooler heads seem to have prevailed on both sides.  Somewhere, ESPN is likely to have intervened to remind all parties that the SEC and LSU are stronger with each other. LSU played its second game of the season last Saturday night and defeated a tough Louisiana Tech Bulldogs squad 45-14. Act 3 – Ole Miss began a full-scale offensive against LSU ahead of Saturday’s game The date which Ole Miss fans (and, more recently, LSU haters) have marked on their calendars finally arrives Saturday in Oxford. At about 6:45PM CDT this Saturday night, Coach Lane Kiffin is expected to return to the field at Ole Miss! The man who left his 11-1 squad last season to take the open job at LSU will be greeted with a deafening cacophony of booing and R-rated jeers from Ole Miss fans. ESPN will (of course) be there to promote this hatred serenade with its Saturday morning College GameDay program.  For once, coach Nick Saban will not be the primary object of negative attention from Rebels football fans. Ole Miss and LSU are both 2-0.  The Tigers are ranked #7 and Ole Miss #8 this week. On Monday, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry suggested (jokingly, perhaps) that LSU Coach Lane Kiffin and his Tigers football team may need National Guard protection from any Ole Miss fans harboring bad intentions. Ole Miss officials promise that there will be ample security on hand before, during, and after this game to keep the peace. I joked with a long-time friend yesterday that, perhaps, Coach Kiffin and the entire LSU coaching staff should don “ZZ Top” disguises Saturday night. Having more than a dozen coaches wearing long overcoats and fake beards with the name “Kiffin” on the back would be a good way to diffuse all of the hate and turn it into laughter. Another idea would be for Lane Kiffin to hire a lookalike (carrying a lot of insurance) to stand on the sidelines next to several very large Louisiana state troopers.  Meanwhile, the actual coach Kiffin could sit in an undisclosed location in the press box to oversee the game for LSU. Act 4 – General Hospital – Former Ole Miss and LSU coach Ed Orgeron’s health update Coach “O” (spelled “Eaux” in Louisiana) has been hired as the head football coach and fired by both Ole Miss (2005-2007) and LSU (2016-2021). The 65-year old Ed Orgeron and current LSU coach Lane Kiffin are longtime friends.  They coached together at the University of Tennessee and Southern Cal. Kiffin hired his Louisiana-born and bred coaching friend to become a special assistant to recruiting and defense at LSU earlier this year.  Coach “O” has always been one of college football’s top recruiters – especially within the state of Louisiana. Monday’s LSU press conference featured Coach Kiffin fielding a reporter’s question as to whether Ed Orgeron had been away from the team due to a undisclosed medical issue.  Lane Kiffin danced around the question a little bit and finally said, “He’s doing better.  It was little scary.  He’s still not all the way back.  He just means a lot to me.  We’ve been through a lot.” Late Tuesday, a long-time New Orleans-area media personality posted on his X.com account that Ed Orgeron had been hospitalized recently for sepsis related to an infection.  His report confirmed that the coach was now out of the hospital and at home. A friend of mine died a few years ago from a similar (and extremely serious) condition.  Our prayers are with Coach Orgeron to make a full recovery soon! Geaux Tigah! Act 5 – Nuts and bolts, two former Ole Miss players just got sued! Finally, Tuesday’s LSU football practice concluded with a couple of its Ole Miss transfer players being served lawsuits demanding repayment of money owed to their former school. Defensive tackle Princewell Umanmeilen and offensive lineman Devin Harper hit the transfer portal to join Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin down at LSU.  Unfortunately, both players had already signed NIL agreements with Ole Miss covering this 2026 football season with the combined amount totaling nearly $1 million. Ole Miss claims that previous attempts over the past few months to get repayment have failed.  LSU officials responded that any payments due Ole Miss from the two transfers players were not the responsibility of their new school. The timing of being served with a lawsuit during game week was not a coincidence. Expect these two new LSU football players to be highly motivated to bring a different form of payback to Ole Miss come Saturday night. Kick-off is at 6:45PM this Saturday night on ABC. Get your popcorn ready! And come back soon for another episode of…”As the Tigers Turn!” The post “As the Tigers Turn” – Get Your Popcorn Ready! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Welcome to the new week!  College football’s second week featured a few upsets and some late game rallies (nicely done, University of Texas!).  The NFL’s Week #1 finally got underway with a few surprises.  In golf, America’s best female players were defeated by Team Europe in Sunday’s Solheim Cup final matches. But first… Remember those scrolling football scores at the bottom of your TV screen? That never-ending ribbon of both college and NFL scores seems to have vanished from ESPN’s family of companies beginning this football season. Why? ESPN recently said, “By removing the BottomLine during live action, we’re creating a cleaner presentation that keeps the focus where it belongs – on the field.” Sorry, Pinocchio.  I’m not buying that one. It is my opinion that the sports giant ditched the popular score ribbon so that TV viewers would not be able to easily locate a more compelling game to watch (especially if that other game is being carried on a competitor’s network). My own Saturday night proved that point.  I watched much of the Louisiana Tech vs LSU game from Baton Rouge. LSU emerged from a narrow 10-7 halftime lead to post an easy 45-14 victory as the Tigers’ offense caught fire in the final two quarters. In years gone by, I would have been following the ESPN score ticker along the bottom of my TV screen in search of a more compelling game.  Fortunately for me, I checked in on the Ohio State vs. Texas game at the end of three quarters. The #4 Longhorns trailed by 20 points against #1 Ohio State entering the final quarter.  Texas caught fire offensively to score the game’s final 21 points and take a thrilling 24-23 win on a touchdown with just 25 seconds remaining. What is the real reason that ESPN dropped the on-screen sports ticker? Money, of course. They are trying to get viewers to stay with one football game as long as possible.  The sales teams for the ESPN family of companies has likely heard complaints from its major advertisers – especially those buying ads in the second half of games.  The network’s viewer-friendly sports ticker has accidentally created viewer defections toward more competitive match-ups. Viewers could change to watch a more compelling game being carried by a competitor such as FOX Sports, NBC, or even the CW Network.  If the self-proclaimed sports leader had not received negative feedback from its advertisers, the sports score ticker/ribbon would still be on your screen during football games. The departure of ESPN’s score ticker at the bottom of your television screen will have another desirable effect for ESPN.  Millions of frustrated viewers will visit the ESPN.com website to receive their score updates. ESPN’s website traffic will balloon on game days and, of course, represent a new advertising vehicle. But keep this in mind.  ESPN’s television advertisers may find that fans will become more likely to neglect watching their very pricey ads.  Viewers will now utilize more time during ESPN’s lengthy three-to-four minute commercial breaks to search online for other scores. I turned on ESPN and the SEC Network earlier today (Monday).  I was a bit surprised to find that (gasp!) the bottom line sport ticker was still in use on weekdays! Yes, ESPN is utilizing it primarily to, among other things, promote their own slate of shows and upcoming football games. I’m not falling for the excuse that “It’s cleaner for viewers to enjoy the game experience”. If true, why not remove it from all of your shows during the rest of the week, too? College Football – Week #2’s game of the week Fans of wrestling legend “The Undertaker” could appreciate how the Texas Longhorns came to life after nearly being pronounced dead at the start of the fourth quarter. Austin, Texas reached a scorching 101 degrees on Saturday.  The heat and the pressure finally got to #1 Ohio State late in this game.  Ohio State surrendered a 23-3 fourth quarter lead to give the rejuvenated Horns a 24-23 come from behind victory on Saturday night. Texas was able to exact a little revenge after Ohio State’s 14-7 win last season in Columbus.  Texas (2-0) just replaced the Buckeyes as #1 in the AP’s way-to-early Poll released on Monday.  Ohio State (1-1) dropped to #6. Duck hunting season began in Stillwater Saturday afternoon! As mentioned here last week, the much ballyhooed Oregon Ducks did not look like national title contenders after barely taking down Boise State in Week #1. The Ducks flew eastward to Stillwater, Oklahoma last Saturday and were attacked by swarms of Oklahoma State hunters.  OSU was embarrassed by regional rival Tulsa 24-10 in its first game.  The Cowboys came into Saturday’s match-up with Oregon having lost 21 straight games to FBS (large division) schools. Okie State dominated this game from start to finish. They rolled-up 554 yards of total offense compared to Oregon’s 281. Oklahoma State has a new head coach (Eric Morris from N. Texas) who signed dozens of his former Mean Green players from last year’s 12-2 team to join him. James Madison tied an NCAA record Sun Belt Conference member James Madison trounced Wagner from the FCS 87-3 on Saturday in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  The 84-point win erased Louisiana Tech’s 80-6 win over Northwestern State in Week #1 as the largest rout of the 2026 season. Did you know that the JMU Dukes scored three of its touchdowns on punt returns? Two came via the conventional route as Michael Scott fielded two punts and returned them for scores.  A third punt-related touchdown came after the visiting Seahawks from Staten Island, New York had a punt blocked by JMU.  The loose ball was picked-up by special teamer Michael Halbert who ran it in for a touchdown. This trifecta of touchdowns scored by James Madison off the opposing team’s punts tied an NCAA record. Southern Cal was the last FBS team to accomplish this feat in 2013. The NFL’s Week #1 featured few surprises but… If you are a fan of the Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, or Cleveland Browns, it’s time to create an appropriate paper bag to wear while watching your team this fall. They stink – again. A Super Bowl rematch featuring Seattle and New England produced a 13-10 win for the Seahawks as Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye tossed an ugly interception deep in Seattle territory to end the game. Minnesota Vikings new starting quarterback Kyler Murray went down in the first quarter with a concussion.  The Vikings opted to turn to veteran Carson Wentz and not former first round pick J.J. McCarthy.  This turned out to be a good move as the Vikes reeled-off 22 straight points in the final quarter to down hated rival Green Bay 39-22. Didn’t you expect the Dallas Cowboys’ defense to be a little better this year?  They were 32nd out of 32 teams last year. Alas, the visitors from Texas allowed 29 first downs and nearly 400 yards of total offense as the New York Giants claimed a 28-20 win over the Cowboys. A bigger concern for Dallas fans was the puny 244 yards of total offense generated by its highly paid offense.  The $60 million dink-passing quarterback Dak Prescott completed 22 of 34 passes for only 175 yards. The biggest surprise from Week #1 for me was the Los Angeles Rams’ 27-7 loss to NFC West rival San Francisco.  This game was played in front of 100,000 fans in Melbourne, Australia.  Los Angeles’ vaunted offense tallied just 290 total yards as the 49ers controlled this game from start to finish. The Rams have said this season is considered “Super Bowl or Bust”.  They now have a flat tire to repair after Week #1. Golf news – Europe smashed US women to reclaim the Solheim Cup Team Europe apparently took offense after USA’s Jennifer Kupcho rolled in a 93-foot birdie putt on hole #17 and then added a 25-footer on #18 Saturday to win her Solheim Cup match.  Kupcho roared “Vamos – Let’s Go!” and taunted the crowd as the day ended with the Solheim Cup matches tied at eight points apiece. The team competition was over.  Sunday’s singles matches would decide the winner. Team Europe came out Sunday wearing their “Do Not Adjust your TV Set” vibrant blue and yellow golf apparel. Thousands of Netherlands golf fans helped to try and unravel the American golfers.  Speakers around the course blared loud music much like at a LIV Golf event.  Local fans even chanted the refrain from The Beatles’ “Hey, Jude” for several minutes. It worked as Team Europe earned a 15-13 victory Sunday.  The final point which was clinched after Jennifer Kupcho of the US lost in her singles match. Europe won the Solheim Cup to honor their recently retired 39-year old Swedish team captain Anna Nordqvist.  It was the fourth European win in the past five of these biennial golf matches. The 2028 Solheim Cup comes to Louisville, Kentucky’s Valhalla Golf Club.  There will be plenty of enthusiastic American golf fans, music, and, of course, some colorful golf apparel on display. In the men’s Ryder Cup and the women’s Solheim competitions, Europe has dominated the past few decades by focusing on teamwork.  The US needs to foster more camaraderie long before these matches begin. The post Where did ESPN’s scrolling football scores go? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Troubled LIV Golf finally filed its long-awaited Chapter 11 bankruptcy paperwork on Tuesday in a New Jersey court. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy attempts to restructure the company’s debts but also allows the entity to continue operations.  Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings usually signal the white flag of financial surrender. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) spent upwards of $6 billion to sign PGA golf stars and then bankroll dozens of worldwide golf events over the past five years.  Saudi’s PIF finally decided to turn-off the money-printing machine operated by LIV Golf at the end of August. This upstart golf league is now desperately shaking the financial bushes in search of new sources of financing. They want to re-launch the golf league in 2027 as LIV Golf 2.0. After the Saudi PIF announced it was pulling the financial plug in late August, LIV Golf appointed some new executives to its board.  Their resumes are filled with corporate restructuring experience. They truly have their work cut out for them. Eugene Davis is one of the new leaders.  He is CEO of privately-held Pirinate Consulting Group which specializes in corporate turnarounds. LIV Golf named the 71-year old Davis as its Chairman of the Independent Directors Committee a few months ago.  You will find his name listed all over this week’s LIV Golf Chapter 11 filing. Davis said in April, 2026, “LIV Golf…has built a global league with passionate fans, world-class talent, and demonstrated commercial momentum.” His new management team is intent on launching LIV 2.0 in 2027.  Maybe. In order to begin LIV 2.0, “Classic” LIV Golf has a lot of debtors to settle-up with Tuesday’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing (click here to read the actual document) listed LIV Golf’s assets of “more than $100 million but less than $500 million.”  Liabilities showed “more than $500 million but less than $1 billion” due its creditors. Let’s take the worst case.  Assume LIV Golf has $100 million in assets but nearly $1 billion in liabilities. That means that creditors might receive (perhaps) 10 cents on the dollar in value.  That value won’t necessarily be in cash, either.  Some creditors may receive a proportionate share of the ownership in a newly emerging golf entity. Nearly half of the top 30 creditors owed the most money by LIV Golf are, indeed, the golfers.  All seven of the top names on the IOU list are LIV golfers: Jon Rahm – $7.5 million Bryson DeChambeau – $5.8 million Dustin Johnson – $5.5 million Cam Smith – $4.8 million Adrian Meronk – $4.4 million Tyrell Hatton – $3.4 million Bubba Watson – $3.3 million Other golfers owed big money by “Classic” LIV are: Abraham Ancer (9) – $2.7 million Ben An (10) – $1.8 million Brooks Koepka (12) – $1.7 million Caleb Surratt (17) – $1.3 million Joaquin Niemann (18) – $1.3 million Lucas Herbert (24) – $1 million Tom McKibbin (27) – $1 million These IOU’s for these 14 golfers appeared under the heading “Player Participation Agreement.” LIV Golf signed most of its pro golfers from either the PGA Tour or the DP (European) Tour.  Their individual contracts are quite private. The “Player Participation Agreement” likely requires each LIV golfer to tee it up in each of LIV Golf’s events during the season. Brooks Keopka (#12 on the IOU list at $1.7 mm) negotiated an exit from LIV Golf after the 2025 golf season and returned to the PGA Tour in 2026. Perhaps Koepka’s exit agreement from LIV Golf may have included some form of deferred compensation which was to be paid in 2026 or a future year. For Jon Rahm (who signed with LIV Golf for $300 million) and Bryson DeChambeau ($125 million), the remaining money owed to each of them in this bankruptcy filing (though significant) is a relatively small percentage of their original packages. Not all golfers signed by LIV Golf became filthy rich For some like Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin ($1 million due), that amount owned by LIV Golf is a significant percentage of his estimated $5 million contract.  McKibbin told reporters recently that he remains under his LIV Golf contract “for a few more years.” Tom McKibbin and several other LIV golfers have begun participating on the DP World Tour this fall while waiting on LIV Golf’s restructuring. He (and several other LIV golfers including former World #1 ranked Jon Rahm) will be forced to make a decision soon. The DP World Tour announced that it will not allow LIV Golf players to play on both tours beginning in 2027. Golfers must choose one league and stick with it for the entire season. LIV Golf’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing may nudge some players like Tom McKibbin to cut their losses and return to the lower-paying but more financially secure DP World Tour in 2027. Where was Phil Mickelson’s name in this filing? The list of top 30 creditors in LIV Golf’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing did not mention Phil Mickelson.  He became LIV’s first big name star to bolt from the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf in 2022.  His contract with the new golf league was reportedly worth $200 million. Lefty participated on the LIV Golf Tour for the league’s first four seasons ending in 2025.  Phil Mickelson’s contractual obligations to LIV Golf may have ended at that time.  He did not play in LIV Golf events during 2026 due to an ongoing medical issue involving a close family member. Welcome to the LIV Golf bankruptcy filing, Louisiana! Another notable party owed a significant amount of money is the State of Louisiana (#20 at $1.22 million). LIV Golf was originally slated to play a golf tournament beginning June 25 at the newly renovated City Park golf course in New Orleans.  A local television station reported that City Park had received $2 million in state government funding to upgrade its golf course and facilities ahead of the proposed LIV Golf event.  Another $1 million was reportedly advanced to LIV Golf by the state as part of the deal. The New Orleans LIV Golf event was postponed in late April with no reasons given.  There had been speculation that LIV Golf was attempting to reschedule the tournament for this fall. After Tuesday’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, there is a zero percent chance that LIV Golf will be hosting an event in New Orleans this fall. What else was contained in the LIV Golf Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing? Tuesday’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing told a lot about LIV Golf’s financial pickle. I was surprised to see that the Saudi PIF was willing to loan nearly $50 million to LIV Golf (as Debtor in Possession).  That money should be used to help LIV Golf stay afloat for a few more months as the entity tries to acquire and implement new sources of funding. According to bankruptcy rules, the “Debtor in Possession” is expected to be paid back first. There were an amazing 56 different LIV Golf corporate entities listed on the bankruptcy filing. Those names included seven which began with the term “LIV Golf” (such as LIV Golf Inc., Holdings, Ltd., Investments, and Events).  Another group of eight entities began with the golf term “Wedge” (clever, eh?). Then there were 13 different consecutively-numbered entities such as “FAIRWAY TM BLOCKER 1, LLC”.  Another 13 LIV entities used consecutively-numbered names such as “FAIRWAY TM INTERMEDIATE 1, LLC” on the bankruptcy filing. Speaking of the number 13, LIV Golf conducted exactly 13 tournaments in 2026.  Does each tournament have its own separate corporate entities to account for tournament revenues and expenses? LIV Golf’s corporate structure made me wonder if they had planned for a possible future financial failure (bankruptcy) from the very beginning. What’s next for LIV Golf? Tuesday’s LIV Golf bankruptcy filing also contained information confirming the identity of at least one new source of future funding. Private equity company BC Partners is willing to invest up to $300 million if LIV Golf 2.0 gets off the ground in 2027. Keep in mind that the Saudi Public Investment Fund lost about $1 billion per year with LIV Golf. LIV 2.0 will need to drastically cut its tournament payouts and other operating expenses by more than 50% for the new investor(s) to have a chance of becoming successful. LIV Golf’s ever-optimistic CEO Scott O’Neil wrote on Tuesday, “The next phase of LIV Golf will be built around a sustainable business model and deeper alignment between the players and the League, with team golf at its core.” His press release mentioned LIV 2.0 would expand to 75 players next year and introduce a cut line during each event.  Expect to hear the same on-course thumping music blaring again in 2027, too. Party on, Garth! The CEO is proud that LIV Golf’s average audience is about 20 years younger than the PGA Tour’s Medicare-aged viewers.  LIV Golf deserves credit for admitting children under 12 years of age free of charge into its golf tournaments. Scott O’Neil is paid handsomely to speak lovingly about his golf product. File this away The truth remains that LIV’s worldwide golf events played across vastly different time zones makes for a very difficult television sell to US-based advertisers. LIV Golf’s lack of a consistent weekly TV starting time and weekly TV channel in the US (yes, I’m talking to you, FOX Sports) makes it hard to imagine how this league will earn enough revenue to turn the financial corner. As mentioned in a previous post, keep your eye on top LIV golfer Jon Rahm this fall.  If he bolts to play in the DP World Tour in 2027, a massive exodus of top LIV Golf talent will follow. LIV “lives” – at least for now! The post LIV Golf Files Chapter 11 – The End or the Next Chapter? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

A new type of Labor Day telethon is underway in South Carolina.  Clemson fans are collecting their hard earned money to help raise the $57 million needed to buyout the contract of two-time national championship football coach Dabo Swinney. LSU virtually assured the end is near for 56-year old Coach Swinney after a 51-10 beatdown on national television Saturday night in Baton Rouge.  The Bayou Bengals spotted Clemson an early 3-0 lead after LSU was intercepted on the game’s first series. LSU then roared back to score 51 consecutive points to take a 51-3 lead in the fourth quarter.  The Louisiana Tigers registered 309 rushing yards to go with 335 passing yards while utilizing three different quarterbacks. Clemson could manage only 145 yards in total offense and a measly eight first downs in the game.  Most of those totals came in the fourth quarter. It was the worst loss of Coach Dabo Swinney’s 18+ year career at Clemson. The Clemson coach (for now) said afterwards, “The best thing about that game is that it’s over.” Yes, and so is your time at Clemson, coach.  This new telethon just hasn’t reached its goal – yet. The first game in the Lane Kiffin era at LSU was a rousing success LSU fans were confident that former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin would be able to improve the team’s offense.  No one likely expected this amount of improvement, though. A school record 38 first downs were recorded during LSU’s 51-10 thrashing of Clemson in front of 102,000 rain-soaked Tigers fans in Baton Rouge. LSU’s transfer portal brigade of 44 new players led the way.  Former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt passed for 230 yards and ran for another 113 on 13 carries as he accounted for three scores. Back-up quarterback Landen Clark (from FCS power Elon in Greensboro, NC) also looked sharp going 5-for-7 with another touchdown pass for LSU. It was Wisconsin transfer running back Dillin Jones who stole the show for LSU versus Clemson.  The former high school wrestler lowered his shoulders and bullied his way for 113 yards against what had been expected to be a tough Clemson defense. LSU’s 644 yards in total offense against a nationally-respected ACC team like Clemson opened a lot of eyes on Saturday night. The Tigers’ next opponent scored even more points – in just the first half! Is Louisiana Tech really that good (probably not) or was Northwestern State really that bad (yes) While LSU was thrashing Clemson, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs scored a school record 63 points in the first half against long-time foe Northwestern State University in Ruston Saturday night. Exactly like Clemson did against LSU, Northwestern State took a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter against the Bulldogs. Louisiana Tech then reeled-off a school record 80 consecutive points to demolish their north Louisiana FCS rivals. Final score – Louisiana Tech 80, Northwestern State 6. The Demons from Natchitoches are now 0-2 after losing their home opener 42-37 to surprising NAIA member Louisiana Christian (Pineville) last weekend. Third-year head coach Blaine McCorkle came to Northwestern State with high hopes after he had turned-around the football program at Belhaven College in Mississippi. Coach McCorkle told the press after Saturday’s loss, “These games can get sideways on you in a hurry!” Indeed, Coach! His Demons football teams are now 1-25.  Coach Blaine McCorkle’s lone win came in 2025 as Northwestern State scored a 20-10 home victory last season against Alcorn State. Meanwhile, the Ruston-based Bulldogs travel to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers this Saturday.  Last year, Tech made LSU work hard to earn a 23-7 home win. With LSU scoring 51 points against Clemson and Louisiana Tech ringing-up 80 on Northwestern State, don’t expect another low scoring affair this Saturday in Baton Rouge. Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts, Western Michigan got… NBC’s television cameras showed that the game clock was at 0:00 after Michigan’s last-gasp Hail Mary pass went incomplete against 27-point underdog Western Michigan.  The Broncos from the Mid-American Conference had just defeated #16 Michigan 12-7 in front of 107,000 stunned Wolverines fans in Ann Arbor Saturday afternoon! But wait! The referees huddled for a few minutes and told the stadium crowd and home television audience that there was one second left on the clock.  Michigan would get one more chance. A well conceived second heave-ho by Michigan’s vastly overpaid NIL quarterback Bryce Underwood landed in the hands of wide receiver JJ Buchanan for a 47-yard score in the game’s second “final” play. Afterwards, thousands of jubilant Michigan fans stormed the field to celebrate the home team’s unlikely 13-12 win. Western Michigan fans and a nationwide television audience were up in arms after watching the referees grant another chance to the Wolverines.  The refs claimed that the clock being kept on the field by the officials was different from what the stadium and home viewers were seeing. R-i-i-i-ght! Impressed by: Both #9 Ole Miss and #24 Louisville – The Rebels won last night’s 41-38 thriller on a last second field goal in Nashville.  These two teams looked very sharp – especially in the second half. We already knew that Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambiss was good.  It was Louisville’s Lincoln Keinholz who surprised a national television audience with 309 yards of passing and 69 yards rushing to account for three Cardinals’ touchdowns.  How about a rematch of these two teams in the playoffs! Pittsburgh – If you’re looking for an early Heisman Trophy surprise candidate, look no further than true sophomore quarterback Mason Heintschel of Pitt. The Panthers’ QB passed for seven (correct) touchdowns and 434 yards in Pitt’s season opening 59-14 trouncing of Miami (Ohio).  Watch out, ACC! Virginia – The University of Virginia has one of the most experienced and oldest college rosters in the country.  This group of “senior” citizens from Charlottesville opened the season with a 34-8 rout of ACC rival North Carolina State a week ago.  Virginia’s Wahoos play an incredibly easy schedule in 2026.  It includes just only one current Top 25 team (at #19 SMU on October 17).  Did someone say “Playoffs?” Tarleton State – This fast-rising FCS school located southwest of Fort Worth, Texas improved to 2-0 after beating FBS Mid-American conference member Bowling Green 20-13 in Kentucky Saturday. How ’bout those Texans?!! U-Mass – The Minutemen have been one of the worst major college football teams for more than a decade.  U-Mass had just 18 wins against 94 losses over the past ten football seasons.  On Thursday night, the University of Massachusetts went to New Jersey and defeated Big Ten member Rutgers 37-21 as Scarlet Knights fans sat in stunned silence. Too early to tell: Season-opening cupcakes are fattening and don’t sharpen your squads for the games ahead. Let’s give a rain check to the following teams until they actually play a worthy opponent: #1 Ohio State 56, Ball State 3 #3 Georgia 63, Tennessee State 3 #5 Texas 59, Texas State 7 #6 Indiana 52, North Texas 16 #7 Miami 45, Stanford 6 #8 Texas A&M 50, Missouri State 0 #10 Oklahoma 51, UTEP 0 #12 Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10 #13 Alabama 48, East Carolina 10 #14 BYU 63, Utah Tech 7 #18 Penn State 45, Marshall 0 #20 Tennessee 56, Furman 9 #21 Utah 66, Idaho 14 #22 Iowa 40, Northern Illinois 0 #25 Missouri 54, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 14 Not impressed by: #2 Oregon – The Ducks were tied with unranked Boise State 27-27 midway through the final quarter at home Saturday afternoon. A late touchdown pass gave Oregon a 34-27 lead. It took a final defensive stand to end Boise State’s upset bid and keep Oregon from being embarrassed on national television.  Oregon’s #2 ranking should drop. #4 Notre Dame – The halftime score of Sunday night’s game in Green Bay was “Notre Dame 13, Wisconsin 10.”  That’s when the Fighting Irish woke up in the second half to score 28 more points in a 41-13 win.  Notre Dame does not have the same talent as last year’s team.  However, the Irish do have a lightweight schedule which will keep this team as a likely playoff contender.  America’s most over-hyped team was not impressive in Week #1. #16 Michigan – We have already covered that lucky win over Western Michigan.  Forget the playoffs, Wolverines fans. Your team may be fortunate just to finish 7-5. Auburn – The “other” SEC Tigers got a break when Baylor went for a two-point conversion in the closing seconds. The Bears were stopped inches short of the goal line and a possible winning conversion.  Auburn took this 17-16 “Siesta Bowl” victory in one of the most boring televised games in recent memory.  Baylor is no slouch, but Auburn’s offense still stinks. Relieved by: LSU – Coach Lane Kiffin did not place his former NFL preseason football players onto Saturday night’s roster against Clemson.  That was a wise move and left a lot of legal options open. LSU will travel to Kiffin’s former employer at Ole Miss in two weeks.  Free idea – the most hated coach in the state of Mississippi might want to consider coaching his new team from the press box (behind some well-tested safety glass) for that game in Oxford. Oh, no!  Here we go again… Oklahoma State – The Cowboys fired longtime football coach Mike Gundy and finished 1-11 in 2025. The Pokes then hired rising young football coach Eric Morris from North Texas.  Coach Morris brought a truckload of his former Mean Green football players along with him to Stillwater.  Alas, his orange-clad Cowboys were trounced 24-10 on the road by Tulsa Saturday. This week, #2 ranked Oregon (which beat Okie State 69-3 last year) is coming to Stillwater.  Uh-oh. Charlotte – The 49ers have been a bad college football team for years.  The team formerly known as UNC-Charlotte has posted just one winning season (2019) in the past 13 years. Their Week #1 home game saw FCS member The Citadel take a 43-41 triple overtime win over the home 49ers.  It’s going to be another long season in Charlotte. UL-Monroe – I wanted to believe that this year’s Warhawks might be able to break the school’s 13-year streak of not having a winning football season. Alas, ULM is already 0-1 after losing 62-13 at Mississippi State on Saturday.  The Warhawks’ defense (?) gave up a calculator-busting 762 yards as the Bulldogs racked-up 35 first downs.  ULM placekicker Abram Murray (from C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport) kicked a 52-yard field goal and 40-yarder to give ULM a ray of hope should this team play in a close game later in the season.    This was a fun first week of the college football season.  I can’t wait for Week #2! The post College Football Week 1 – Pass the Hat for Dabo Swinney appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The start of the National Football League regular season begins late next week. Those of us who play fantasy football and care about winning should hunker down quickly and get ready for your annual player draft in the coming days. Statistically speaking, I am considered an average fantasy football player. This will be the 15th year of participating in a league run by my former boss along with several of his college friends.  Fortunately, our league is 100% for fun with no money involved. My first and last experience in a for-profit league definitely did not go very well. Decades ago, a team “owned” by me and a couple of co-workers lost “only” $60 ($20 apiece) at the end of the season.  However, the last place team in league netted a shocking loss of more than $200. I had no idea before the season started that teams could win or lose that much money. Live and learn. That long-ago season nearly ruined how I watched NFL games.  While formerly a casual observer of televised football games on Sunday, my brain began to race like a calculator while watching the NFL that season. For example, I remember cringing after Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White (the other fantasy team’s starting quarterback) completed a lengthy 65-yard touchdown pass. Ouch!  That was a 12-point play for Danny White – six points for the TD pass plus another point for each ten yards gained on that touchdown play.   Every TV “game break” NFL scoring highlight caused more temporary anxiety each Sunday. That television break could yield exceptional joy (a player on our fantasy team just scored!) or sadness (the other team’s player had scored). My wife quickly noticed my change in demeanor and suggested it was time to end the misery after one season. She was absolutely right. I stayed away from the fantasy football scene for a long time. A former boss was nice enough to offer a spot in his “for fun only” Fantasy Football league 15 years ago.  His group prefers to take online jabs at one another rather than raiding each other’s wallets at the end of the season. My current team (named “SwampGas”) has won 51% of its games with 131 wins and 128 losses over the years. That makes me about as average at Fantasy Football as anyone can possibly get. Oh, no!  I accidentally missed this year’s draft!  The computer just selected my players?!! I am in a bit of shock today.  For the first time, I was not present at my computer to make my own player selections for our league’s annual Yahoo! Sports fantasy football player draft. OK, I openly admit to being a “control” type of personality. Sink or swim, I prefer doing my own research and selecting the players for my fantasy football team on draft night. When you’re not at your computer on draft night, you lose the right to complain. In your absence, the Yahoo! Sports computer will select a player in each round once it is your turn.  In true Wile E. Coyote Super Genius fashion, the computer selects what it believes to be the best player available in each round. After this year’s draft ended, that same $#@! Yahoo computer then assigned my team a “C-” score! I reviewed my 2026 computer-selected team today and now understand why I received such a lousy grade.  After seeing my team’s draft picks for the first time, I have two words for that Yahoo! Sports computer. You’re fired! We will now get to see if the computer’s picks produce better results than my own measly 51% career winning percentage. Why was I so unhappy with the computer’s draft picks? My fantasy football team received the infamous #10 pick in our ten-team league.  That meant that I picked last during the first round but then first in the second round.  There are just 30 seconds to make each selection.  That doesn’t leave much time to think.  Then again, aren’t today’s AI computers supposed to be faster and smarter than us? After making two quick early picks, you must wait again until making the final draft pick of Round 3 and the first pick in Round 4. Statistically speaking, the winners in most ten-team fantasy football leagues generally come from team owners picking from the #4, 5, or 6 draft position.  That allows a little bit of time to review your next pick and observe any developing trends. I could almost feel sorry for the Yahoo! Sports computer. But I don’t, though.  It made a number of really questionable selections. My third draft guideline (see below) was to draft players on top NFL teams which, generally speaking, also score the most points over the course of a season. The Yahoo! Sports computer picked not one but two Washington Commanders players. Washington was horrible last season and finished with a 5-12 record.  They aren’t expected to be much better in 2026, either. The computer also selected one player from the woeful 3-14 New York Jets and another from the wayward 5-12 Cleveland Browns. It selected zero players from either the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks or runner-up New England Patriots.  My team had no players from high scoring teams like the Detroit Lions or the Los Angeles Rams, either. Time to get to work on repairing this year’s Fantasy Football team! Today, I made a couple of roster moves to add 38-year old quarterback Mathew Stafford from the Los Angeles Rams as a back-up (behind Jalen Hurts – the computer’s selection for my starting quarterback). I then added Detroit’s booming field goal specialist Jake Bates to replace Minnesota kicker Will Reichard.  Nothing against the Vikings kicker.  I simply wanted at least one player representing the Detroit Lions on my fantasy team roster this season. My third move today was exceptionally questionable, but I have my reasons. Pittsburgh Steelers 7th round selection Eli Heidenreich grew up in the Steel City. He accepted an offer from the US Naval Academy to play college football.  Heidenreich’s versatility at Navy to run, catch passes coming out of the backfield, and return punts and kick-offs made him a standout college football player. Eli Heidenreich will be required to report to the US Marine Corps to fulfill his military obligations after his NFL career ends. Let’s hope that won’t happen for a number of years. I dropped Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs in order to make room for Eli Heidenreich on my roster today.  The Steelers listed him as a third-string running back.  Unless both of the other running backs get hurt, Eli Heidenreich is unlikely to play a lot this season. That’s OK with me.  I simply liked his story and wanted a guy like that on my roster for good vibes. More Fantasy Football tips from ol’ SwampSwami Let’s roll-out my annual Top Ten suggestions to help you enjoy this upcoming NFL fantasy football season: Team name – Make sure that you are happy with the sound of your team's name.  You're going to live with that name for the entire fantasy football season! Spend some time to research players and teams – You can always pay $10-15 at the local drugstore to buy one of those Fantasy Football magazines.  Sadly, their advice is usually no better than your own.  Save the money and read a few sports websites, but, in the end, you must trust your gut! Determine a draft strategy – As stated earlier, my personal strategy is to (for the most part) select the best offensive players from the NFL teams which you expect to score the most points this season.  I might grab one of the best players from a mid-level team, but you should refrain taking more than one player from recently offensively weak football teams (such as the Cardinals, Jets, and Dolphins).  Consider yourself warned. Do – Pick at least one player from NFL teams which you personally like and root for.  In my case, I am a longtime New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers fan. I try to makes sure my fantasy football team includes one Saints and/or Steelers player on the roster each season.  Follow your heart with at least a few of your picks. Don't – Select any player from any NFL team which you personally despise.  In my case, I avoid Dallas Cowboys players like the plague.  Do not force yourself to root for players on your least favorite NFL football team(s).  The object is to win, but you still want to have fun this season, too! Don't waste picks on your defense and a kicker until your last few selections.  There are precious few defenses and kickers which are reliable difference makers.  Resist the temptation to draft a defense or placekicker too early.  You may be sorry later. Injuries happen.  No later than Thursday afternoon each week, make sure to check to see if any of your starting players have been injured during the previous week’s games and are not expected to play in the coming weekend.  If you're unsure about an injured player, use a substitute from your roster in the upcoming week.  If the player's injury turns out to be season-ending, drop that player immediately and find an undrafted player from your league's free agent list.  Stay vigilant about injuries to your players! Keep an eye open for undrafted rookies during Week 1 and 2 – Look for any rookies who seem to be making an early impact for their team.  Grab them early in the season and dump a lukewarm bench warmer in the same position.  This can pay dividends for you down the stretch as some fantasy football teams in your league may be hesitant to draft rookies. Start slow but finish fast – Set-up your fantasy team to have a positive finish at the end of the season.  Sometimes, your team may get off to a great start but spirals downward near the end of the regular season due to injuries and bad luck.  Stay focused on putting together a solid squad on the field by mid-season.  You can rally down the stretch and still win during the playoffs! Vow to have more fun!  Sometimes, your team will perform well.  Other years, things can quickly go wrong.  That's the nature of the game, so don't despair if your team stinks this season.  You can even have fun by becoming a spoiler down the stretch and knocking off one or more teams striving to make the playoffs!   Best of luck this season with your Fantasy Football League team! The post Your 2026 NFL Fantasy Football Guide appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

My dearly departed Mom was a big fan of daytime television soap operas.  She got up early each morning and made breakfast for us four boys.  Then she sent us off to school and said goodbye to Dad as he drove downtown to work at his retail job. Mom still had a sink full of the morning dishes plus loads of yesterday’s dirty clothes to wash, hang out to dry, and, later, iron.  My 4’10” mother stayed quite busy but found a way to keep up with her friends on weekdays. She spent a portion of her day watching a few cheesy daytime television soap operas on her little black-and-white portable television. Mom often referred to these characters (mostly the good characters) as her “friends.” Declining ratings and increased production costs has seen a reduction in several long-time television “friends” which Mom once viewed. Today, sports fans are glued to a new fast moving soap opera based in Baton Rouge! There is less than one week before the LSU Tigers kick-off the 2026 football season against the ACC’s Clemson Tigers on Saturday night (6:30PM CDT on ABC) in Baton Rouge.  Both teams’ head coaches have a lot riding on making a good first impression. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney is under growing pressure after a few disappointing (by recent Clemson standards) seasons.  The two-time national championship coach has been able to quell most of the “Fire the coach!” grumblings by reminding the press how much they all loved him a few years ago.  Coach Swinney is officially on the hot seat this season. LSU’s new head football coach and his program have been making a lot of headlines since the end of last season.  Coach Lane Kiffin (whether purposeful or not) is a human headline machine.  Kiffin’s on-field success and frequent job changes have kept him in the media spotlight. Tigers fans care only whether Kiffin can mastermind a way to help LSU capture its fifth national title in college football.  Coach Kiffin quickly hit the ground running with his new job.  LSU’s new coach is trying to do everything possible to make the championship dream happen for himself and the Tigers faithful. The sports media has been working 24/7 jumping aboard the “Lane Train” as news out of Baton Rouge continues to play like a never-ending LSU-based soap opera. “As the Tigers Turn” Has it really been seven years since the 2019 LSU Tigers football team obliterated all comers in a 15-0 national championship season? Much has changed since Louisiana’s own Ed Orgeron ruled the bayous as the head football coach of LSU’s fourth national champions of college football. Heisman quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase have become highly paid NFL stars. Other LSU players from that team are also enjoying nice NFL paychecks today. That 2019 championship season came during the early days of the NCAA’s infamous Transfer Portal.   When coupled with the now-legal (but not in its intended form) Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL), a virtual Wild West Show of athletes has been taking place as more players enter and leave programs annually.   LSU head coach Ed Orgeron struggled during the ensuing years. LSU’s record slipped to 5-5 in the 2020 COVID-plagued season and fell to 6-7 in 2021. The likable but sometimes unfocused Coach O was shown the door following the 2021 season.  Orgeron laughed all the way to the bank to deposit his $17 million going away present courtesy of the wealthy LSU athletic supporters. “Search for Tomorrow”’s Coach LSU turned to Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly beginning in 2022.  The veteran coach immediately instilled more discipline to his football team.  Kelly’s 10-4 opening season in 2022 gave LSU fans a glimmer of hope for the future. It was followed by 10-3 in 2023 and 9-4 in 2024. Brian Kelly set lofty expectations for LSU in 2025.  However, he pigeonholed problems behind the scenes (especially information about lingering injury issues with LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier).  After posting a modest 3-5 SEC mark and a 7-6 overall record, LSU wrote a $54 million exit check for Brian Kelly to skedaddle after last fall. Lane – is a Many Splendored Thing Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has a history of short stays with his former employers.  The Rebels coach remained in Oxford for six years (a personal record!) before Kiffin shocked his team and the entire state of Mississippi by accepting the top job at SEC rival LSU. The 2025 Rebels had just finished their best regular season ever (11-1).  They were heading into the College Football Playoffs for the first time in school history.  That’s when their coach admitted that he had accepted the vacant LSU job. Upon arriving in Baton Rouge, Lane Kiffin immediately got to work on upgrading LSU’s football talent – especially on offense.  He went dialing for dollars utilizing the NCAA transfer portal combined with a very large ($40+ million) wallet filled with NIL bucks to sign dozens of new players. In fact, Coach Kiffin just signed a few additional players over the past week which has created a new chapter to our growing soap opera story. The Young and the…Ruthless? Coach Lane Kiffin is just 51 years of age.  He exudes a boyish twinkle in his eyes along the sidelines as he watches his football team confound opponents with yet another timely and well-conceived offensive play call. LSU’s new head football coach was hired to transform the Tigers’ offense into the upper echelon of the SEC.  The Tigers’ defense has been expected to remain top caliber again this season. Saturday night’s first game in the Coach Lane Kiffin era will feature least 44 new LSU players taking the field against Clemson.  This year’s LSU football team looks like an assemblage of Frankenstein-styled parts. The multitude of new players have been bought and paid for by LSU’s $13 million/year mad scientist/coach Lane Kiffin. You’re going to need time to learn the names of your new players, LSU fans! You will find a new transfer quarterback #10 Sam Leavitt (Arizona State) tossing passes downfield to new wide receivers #3 Eugene Wilson III (Florida) and #4 Jackson Harris (Hawaii). Holy courtroom drama, Batman!  The SEC lawyers are joining the action in Baton Rouge on Thursday LSU made more national news last week by signing several former college football players recently cut by their NFL employers during the preseason. This spring, the NCAA ruled that, beginning this fall, college athletes will be granted five years of athletics eligibility over a five year period following their high school graduation. However, a group of 16 former college football players (who had exhausted all four of their years of eligibility under the previous NCAA standard) filed a lawsuit in Louisiana.  They demanded the right to play a fifth season of college football this fall should their NFL employers release them following the final preseason games. One of those players is former LSU linebacker Jack Pyburn. He played at the University of Florida for three years but transferred to Baton Rouge for his final year in 2025.  Pyburn was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but has been released after the final preseason roster cuts.  He now wants to return to play football at LSU this fall. So do former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quon Wright and defensive lineman Zxavian Harris, among others.  They were former standouts for coach Lane Kiffin last season in Oxford. Like Jack Pyburn, the two former Ole Miss players signed NFL contracts but have been cut by their teams.  They could quickly learn the playbook of their former coach – now at LSU.   The SEC is furious about the new LSU football coach’s decision to add several former college players who signed and participated with professional teams over the summer. Last week, the Southeastern Conference joined hands with the ACC, Big Ten, and Big 12 Conferences in a rare move of solidarity. The four major college football conferences want to prohibit former players from the freshman class of 2022 from returning to school this fall to play football after they signed contracts to play for a professional sports league team.  The ramifications for LSU could be massive. The SEC’s proposed punishment could involve suspending coach Lane Kiffin for half of the current season.  Worse, LSU’s athletics program could be fined 50% of its $200 million annual athletics budget. Ouch. On Sunday, the SEC announced that the conference plans to abide with the court’s current decision (allowing the former NFL players to participate).  However, an additional hearing of this matter will occur this Thursday in the judge’s courtroom in Baton Rouge. The SEC has retained a powerful legal concern based in New Orleans to vigorously attempt to get the judge to reverse positions in this matter on Thursday. Wow!  This could become a high drama legal showdown taking place just two days before LSU hosts Clemson on national television Saturday night in Baton Rouge. Meanwhile, the remainder of the SEC head coaches and administrators are fuming mad.  They are pounding the war drums and sound as if they are ready to toss LSU completely out of the SEC if they don’t forget about playing those ex-pro athletes this fall. Louisiana State University has been part of the Southeastern Conference since its founding in 1932. I can picture thousands of hands waving “Pick me, SEC!” in North Carolina, Clemson, and Florida State today! Before ACC fans of those schools get too giddy, keep in mind that Disney’s ESPN and ABC own the television rights to SEC football. If LSU were to (shudder) get booted from the SEC over this issue, the Big Ten or the Big 12 Conference (both televised by competitor FOX Sports) would quickly make an offer to the Tigers. LSU might even consider going independent and negotiate its own national television contract like Notre Dame.  Why share the loot when you can keep it all for yourself, right? I fully expect ESPN/ABC to intervene to tamp down the growing SEC anger in short order. This year’s LSU “Black Hat” Tigers will the hottest college football commodity on television.  ESPN cannot afford to lose LSU anytime soon. A good TV soap opera usually contains just a few small weekly plot twists. By contrast, this new sports soap opera based in Baton Rouge has been making-up its own script from week to week.  Who knows where all of this will lead next? Our next episode of “As the Tigers Turn!” should be a dandy.   Stay tuned! The post New Plot Twists in the LSU Football Soap Opera! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

I am continuing efforts to persuade my lovely wife that she REALLY wants to accompany me and watch the new “Coyote vs. Acme” movie at theaters beginning Friday. Like the cartoon duo, we are nearly opposites.  She (similar to the Roadrunner) always seems to find a way to defeat her creatively overthinking and occasionally overconfident spouse. I have upgraded the offer to include a dinner bribe if she will accompany me to an afternoon showing of the movie this weekend.  She is still mulling the offer as of press time. Expect the location for dinner to be renegotiated soon. Is that the sound of me going over the proverbial cliff again?  Poof! Let’s celebrate the large number of “Wile E.” personalities in sports! Those of us with “Wile E.” personality types share a common passion. We chuckle as we come up with yet another absolutely genius idea.  Then we will spend an incredible amount of time and resources to develop our fabulous plan. Finally, we hatch that idea and often end-up with yet another epic fail. The other party seems to come out of the confrontation unscathed and happy to match wits with us again.  Beep-beep! It is now time to honor this year’s nominees and winners of the SwampSwamiSports.com Wile E. Awards! Drum roll, please… Category 1: “Acme Credit Card” Award – for spending billions of dollars and still finding creative ways to fail Nominees: New York Yankees – Major League Baseball Dallas Cowboys – NFL Los Angeles Clippers – NBA LIV Golf – Professional Golf Background: New York Yankees – The Bronx Bombers are frequent visitors to the baseball playoffs.  Alas, their last World Series title came 17 years ago in 2009 when the Yankees downed Philadelphia.  Tampa Bay (with a payroll of $111 million) sits in first place in the American League East today.  The New York Yankees have spent three times that amount ($334 million) for their second place position. Dallas Cowboys – “The Curse of Tom Landry” still lingers over team owner Jerry Jones and his football team.  It has been 31 years and counting since Dallas made its last Super Bowl appearance.  Jerry Jones was the man who fired beloved Cowboys coach Tom Landry.  Landry passed away in 2000.  Dallas has yet to play in an NFC title game since the coach’s passing.  Hmm… Los Angeles Clippers – This NBA franchise was purchased by former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer in 2014 for $2 billion.  The Clippers’ “windows” for winning NBA titles have been stuck in the “clouds” since the year 1970. This team has never appeared in an NBA Finals since the franchise began as the Buffalo Braves 56 years ago. LIV Golf – The Saudi Public Investment Fund rolled out $1.5 billion just to buy enough pro golfers to start this new league five years ago.  LIV Golf has then lost an additional $1 billion every year since the league began playing in 2022.  They are now searching for new investors willing to lose hundreds of millions of dollars with them in 2027. And the winner is… LIV Golf!  This league’s arch-enemy is the stodgy PGA Tour.  The PGA has cleverly avoided nearly every trap which was set for them by upstart LIV Golf.  Never fear, LIV 2.0 is now on Wile E’s drawing board.  The golf league is rumored to be negotiating with “Acme” to provide new financing (a lot of it) if LIV Golf 2.0 returns in 2027. Category 2: “Failure to Launch” Coaching Award – for getting their fans excited about winning a championship but failing to deliver results Nominees: Brian Kelly – former LSU football coach Lane Kiffin – current LSU football coach Lincoln Riley – current USC football coach Bruce Pearl – former Tennessee and Auburn basketball coach Brian Kelly – Kelly has been a very successful college football coach (primarily north of the Mason-Dixon line).  He was never able to get his football teams (Cincinnati, Notre Dame or LSU) into the FBS title game, though.  Brian Kelly (who received $54 million in a contract buyout to leave LSU last year) has become a broadcaster for CBS Sports this fall. Lane Kiffin – Kiffin’s father (Monte) was a very successful NFL defensive coordinator.  The younger Kiffin became the offensive guru of the family.  Lane Kiffin’s teams usually win a lot of games, but he has yet to lead a team into a title game yet.  LSU fans will give him a couple of years – maybe. Lincoln Riley – Much like Lane Kiffin, the sportswriters dubbed Riley as one of the most talented offensive minds in all of college football.  The 42-year old Lincoln Riley has been a big winner at both Oklahoma and USC.  Expectations have remained high for Coach Riley, but his teams haven’t been able to climb that mountain yet.   A better defense would help. Bruce Pearl – This rather animated former college basketball coach won 70% of his games at Tennessee and, later, Auburn.  Known for his colorful clothing choices and “Super Genius” bravado, Bruce Pearl projected a very “Wile E. Coyote” confidence and style.  He retired a year ago without having coached in a national title game. Bruce Pearl now works as a college basketball analyst for CBS Sports. And the winner is… Brian Kelly!  BK has impeccable credentials.  He dressed and looked the part of a successful coach.  However, he also never tamped-down expectations and rarely gave a straight answer about the deficiencies of his LSU football teams.  Brian Kelly’s prickly personality failed to connect with LSU fans or the media.  He is not missed around the Baton Rouge area. Category 3: “Thud” Award – Professional sports team which always seems to go over the cliff every season Nominees: Detroit Lions – NFL Pittsburgh Pirates – Major League Baseball New Orleans Pelicans/Hornets/Jazz – NBA Buffalo Bills – NFL Detroit Lions – This franchise came tantalizingly close to earning a trip to the Super Bowl a few years ago.  However, Lions fans knew (deep down in their breaking hearts) that the proverbial rug would likely be pulled from underneath them.  The Lions are now a perfect 0-60.  They have never played in a Super Bowl. Pittsburgh Pirates – Remember the 1970’s hit song “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge?  If you do, then you also remember the 1979 World Series title for Steel City’s baseball team.  They haven’t returned to the top since then (47 years and counting). New Orleans Pelicans – New Orleans has never seen any of its three NBA franchises play for a title. The New Orleans Jazz (1974-1979) moved to Utah.  Years later, the Hornets (2002-2013) buzzed back to Charlotte.  Even the New Orleans Pelicans (2013-present) have never placed a team into the NBA Finals. Buffalo Bills – This proud NFL franchise earned its way into the Super Bowl in four straight years (1990, 91, 92, and 93).  Alas, they lost each time.  Much like our friend Wile E. Coyote, the Buffalo Bills are resilient.  This team has earned its way into the AFC playoffs for seven consecutive seasons.  The Bills reached the AFC title game on two occasions in 2020 and 2024.  As you might remember, Buffalo lost both times – to the Kansas City Chiefs (meep, meep!). And the winner is… The Buffalo Bills!  The Bills just keep coming back for more every season.  You’ve really got to admire this franchise for its dogged determination.  In September, Buffalo begins its first season of play in a new football stadium.  Based on the team’s history, perhaps the stadium should have been named “Acme Field.” Category 4: Wile E. “Super Genius” Award – National sports media personality who believes that he absolutely positively knows more about sports than the rest of us Nominees: Stephen A. Smith Pat McAfee Colin Cowherd Tony Romo Stephen A. Smith – Remember George Jefferson from the television show “The Jeffersons?”  Listen to Smith and tell me they aren’t related!  Stephen A. Smith is frequently on-point, but it takes him a long time to get there. Pat McAfee – ESPN has been busy laying off staff recently while giving this talented blowhard even more cash.  McAfee (a former NFL punter) comes across like a pro wrestler delivering a promo to get people to come to tonight’s local matches.  He smartly built-up a massive YouTube audience of younger followers prior to joining ESPN.  Pro tip – Watch coach Nick Saban’s face contort whenever McAfee is speaking. It is pure Saturday morning TV gold. Colin Cowherd – Pound for pound, he may be the biggest sports bloviator on television.  Cowherd does his homework, though.  He is on point with most of his commentaries.  It would be nice if Cowherd (and Stephen A. Smith) dialed down the volume a bit. Tony Romo – The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback-turned-CBS analyst earns about $20 million per year (about $1 million per game).  His early years at CBS were fun and insightful.  Alas, Romo’s recent years have him sounding rather unprepared and out of sync with his broadcast partner.  Jim Nantz is one of the few TV professionals who can cover for Tony Romo’s increasing number of miscues every week. And the winner is… Tony Romo!  This particular award is intended for someone whose ideas and comments usually go awry and lead to a crash landing.  Tony Romo’s on-air performances in the last few years at CBS have been about as “Wile E.” as you can possibly get. “Poof!” The post SwampSwamiSports.com “Wile E.” Awards appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It may be hard to believe, but it has been 16 ½ years since Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints captured their one and only Super Bowl title. February 7, 2010 marked the greatest day in Saints history. The New Orleans Saints began play as an NFL expansion team in Tulane Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams on September 17, 1967.  The opening kick-off was returned by Saints wide receiver John Gilliam for a touchdown as 80,000 fans roared their approval. Sadly, the Saints lost Game #1 27-13 and finished their initial NFL season with a 3-11 record. Twenty years later, the New Orleans Saints had yet to post a winning season.  Successful former USFL coach Jim Mora was hired to lead the team.  Coach Mora turned around this franchise and posted five winning seasons over the next seven years. They finally made the playoffs for the first time in 1987. WhoDat Nation was born in the mid 1980’s! Fans gleefully chanted “Who Dat say they gonna beat ‘dem Saints?” as New Orleans had finally became a regular contender in the NFC. Until they weren’t. The 1992 NFL playoffs marked the final post-season appearance for the Saints for another eight seasons.  A surprising 2000 New Orleans Saints team finished 10-6 and finally won the first playoff game in the history of this long-suffering franchise. In 2006, it was new head coach Sean Payton and newly acquired quarterback Drew Brees teamed-up to rebuild the Saints into a long-time NFC powerhouse over the next 15 seasons. Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season.  He was recently inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Coach Sean Payton “retired” a year later. He opted for the television booth with FOX Sports.  The Denver Broncos coaxed him to return to coaching with an eye-popping contract offer in 2022. Sean Payton has turned-around another NFL franchise.  His Broncos have become top playoff contenders in the AFC after only three seasons as the team’s head coach. Those two legends are no longer part of the NFL franchise in New Orleans.  Saints fans still love their football team, but the playoffs seem like a distant memory. Successive years of 5-12 in 2024 and 6-11 in 2025 are making many Saints fans wax nostalgic about “the good old days” of two decades ago. Is Kellen Moore a miracle worker or will he become just another short term coach? The Saints hired and later fired former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen after 2 ½ seasons following the departure of head coach Sean Payton. The 2025 season saw New Orleans hand the coaching baton to Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore with the top job.  Moore was a dynamic quarterback in college with Boise State during the Broncos’ ascension in major college football twenty years ago. Kellen Moore then played five seasons in the NFL before becoming the quarterbacks coach in Dallas.  He would be elevated to the team’s offensive coordinator for three seasons.  Moore earned a Super Bowl ring as the OC for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024. Ironically, that Super Bowl victory came in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Kellen Moore became the new head coach for the New Orleans Saints less than one week later. Moore’s offensive knowledge did not seem to help the Saints’ putrid offense last season.  New Orleans scored only 18 points per game to finish in 28th place in the NFL. Saints fans saw a glimmer of hope after second-round rookie draft pick Tyler Shough (pronounced “Shuck”) was inserted into the line-up for the second half of the season. The Saints offense immediately caught fire as New Orleans won four of its last five games to finish 6-11. An underappreciated Saints defense finished in the middle of the NFL pack (16th) and allowed only 22 points per game for the 2025 season. Off-season moves have firmed-up the Saints offense The 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh saw the New Orleans Saints select: Round 1 – Jordyn Tyson, wide receiver, Arizona State Round 2 – Christen Miller, defensive tackle, Georgia Round 3 – Oscar Delp, tight end, Georgia Round 4 – Jeremiah Wright, offensive guard, Auburn Round 4 – Bryce Lance, wide receiver, North Dakota State Round 5 – Lorenzo Styles, defensive back, Ohio State Round 6 – Barion Brown, wide receiver/return specialist, LSU Round 7 – T.J. Hall, defensive back, Iowa That made three wide receivers and a talented tight end taken with the eight draft picks. Fifth year wide receiver Chris Olave has grabbed passes for more than 1,000 yards in three of his four years with the Saints.  He and quarterback Tyler Shough got their wish in the NFL draft.  There are significant new weapons with this impressive trio of wide receiver draft selections plus a top tight end prospect in Oscar Delp. It’s hard to believe that running back Alvin Kamara is entering his tenth NFL season. The 2017 Rookie of the Year has been slowed by injuries over his career.  Kamara has not played a full regular season since that initial 2017 campaign. The team’s all-time leading rusher will be joined in the backfield this season by newly acquired running back Travis Etienne.  He comes to the Saints from the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Etienne (like Alvin Kamara) is exceptional at catching the ball coming out of the backfield. This tandem should give NFC South defenses plenty to be concerned about. The New Orleans Saints lost long-time offensive standout Taysom Hill to retirement at the end of last season.  This versatile former BYU quarterback had played back-up quarterback, tight end, and running back over his nine seasons with the Saints.  The oft-injured Hill became a fan favorite in New Orleans. Can the Saints defense do it again in 2026? A quick look at this year’s Saints draft picks showed that defense was definitely not a priority for the team. Consider how ineffective the New Orleans Saints offense was in 2025.  The team’s inability to score points kept the Saints defense on the field for longer than the NFL average.  New Orleans’ 16th rated defense may show further improvement this season if the team’s offense stays on the field longer and give the defense more rest. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley (the former head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers) put together an opportunistic and relatively young defensive unit for the Saints in 2025.  The team collected 20 turnovers last season.  It was also ranked #3 in the NFL at shutting down the opposing offense on third down. Former Alabama defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry and former Washington first round defensive end selection Chase Young led a hungry New Orleans Saints defensive unit in 2025. New Orleans’ popular and eight-time Pro Bowl selection Cameron Jordan was drafted in 2011.  Now age 37, he remains a force at the other defensive end position for New Orleans. A lack of depth may unravel the Saints this season Injuries happen – especially in the NFL.  For as optimistic as things look for the Saints first team units, a lack of quality depth (especially at quarterback) could sink the Saints chances in 2026. Preseason games generally feature back-ups so that the coaches can determine which players deserve a spot on the team’s regular season roster. The Saints 34-0 loss to the Los Angeles Rams last weekend in the second preseason game showed just how weak this team’s back-ups seem to be.  They were skunked by the reserves from a Rams team which went 12-5 last year. Seeing the other team’s reserves blank the Saints back-ups raised some warning flags about the upcoming season. Speaking of back-ups, New Orleans is attempting to transform another top first round draft selection into a future weapon at quarterback. Former New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson (the #3 overall pick in 2021 out of BYU) threw more interceptions (25) than touchdowns (23) during his three years with New York.  Wilson was then shipped to Denver in 2024 and moved again last season to Miami as a reserve QB for the Dolphins. Will head coach Kellen Moore (a former NFL quarterback) be able to restore the confidence of Zach Wilson and turn him into productive offensive weapon for the Saints? Prediction time! The first seven games in 2026 will tell us a lot about this year’s New Orleans Saints team. New Orleans opens with two tough road games – at the Detroit Lions and at Baltimore to play the Ravens. They’re likely to be 0-2. However, the next five games are all winnable (home for Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Minnesota), on the road at the New York Giants, and a (fake) home game in Paris against the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Saints are 5-2 or even 4-3 heading into the second half of the season, they have a realistic chance of going 9-8 this year.  That record might be good enough to win a very balanced (but weak) NFC South. I predict the Saints will finish 8-9 this season. Anything better than 8-9 this season will have all Saints fans (me, included) downright giddy about the future of this football team. Put away those paper bags (at least for now), Saints fans. It’s “Who Dat!?” time once again in N’awlins! The post Hype or Hope for this year’s New Orleans Saints? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Perhaps the searing August heat has begun to take its toll.  We have just emerged from yet another weird weekend in sports with an assortment of strange things occurring. Let’s (briefly) venture outside to review a few more odd August sports stories. LSU expected to sign a tight end who was just cut by the Cleveland Browns? Ole Miss football fans were already incensed about former head coach Lane Kiffin’s departure at the end of last season.  The Rebels will host Kiffin’s LSU Tigers in Oxford on Saturday, September 19 in a nationally televised made-for-media marquis match-up. America’s most popular coach (to hate or to love) not only left Ole Miss before last year’s College Football Playoffs.  He brought along a handful of his Ole Miss players and a few dozen of his assistant coaches and staffers to Baton Rouge, too. On Sunday, we learned that Coach Kiffin is about to add a talented former Ole Miss tight end to the Tigers’ roster.  This particular tight end had been spending his summer practicing and playing for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. How can a player who has been playing (even for a few months) with a professional football team be allowed return to play college football? The NCAA recently changed its rules.  Beginning this year, college athletes will now be allowed five years of eligibility over a five year period.  What about college athletes who participated last year assuming they were in their fourth and final year of eligibility?  They left school in the spring believing they had used-up all of their college sports eligibility.  Oops!  Did the NCAA just overlook them in their new rule? In general, there are not a lot of top college football players who started and played for four consecutive years now willing to return to college football this fall for a fifth season.   Some have found paying jobs in the NFL.  Others are finding work outside of football. As you might have guessed, lawsuits have been filed by some of last season’s college athletes arguing that the NCAA’s new rules should allow them the right to return to college to play in a fifth year this season. Former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright played for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin the past two seasons. He finished his fourth year of eligibility last fall and spent the summer trying to make the final roster of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Dae’Quan Wright did not get to play in any of the Browns’ preseason games.  He was just waived by Cleveland. Once he clears waivers early this week (and no other NFL team signs him), Brown plans to return to college to play for his former college coach who now works in Baton Rouge. But wait – doesn’t LSU already have a talented 6’7” tight end on their team? Indeed, they do! Junior tight end Trey’Dez Green was one of LSU’s top receivers last season.  The south Louisiana product became a second team All-SEC tight end after his sophomore season last fall. Green isn’t just 6’7” tall.  He is a talented basketball player who averaged 27 points per game as a center on his high school roundball team.  Green’s unique skills have many professional scouts drooling as he returns for his junior season in Baton Rouge this fall. Why would LSU football coach Lane Kiffin want to add another tight end only two weeks before the Tigers kick-off the new season at home against Clemson? Perhaps another way to look at this is why would Kiffin NOT want to sign another talented tight end right before the season begins. Dae’Quan Wright (the former Ole Miss player) is already familiar with Coach Kiffin’s playbook.  LSU’s acquisition of a second talented tight end would also prevent the former Ole Miss football player from heading back to Oxford (or to Tuscaloosa, Austin, Auburn, etc.) Let’s not fool ourselves.  This isn’t about Dae’Quan Wright’s loyalty to Lane Kiffin. He is likely coming to LSU, because the price is right. Oregon football coach Dan Lanning (like many of us) doesn’t like the court’s decision This year’s AP preseason #2 Oregon Ducks are expected to make a run at the national championship.  Coach Dan Lanning does not care for the court’s ruling which would allow some football players to return to college after being cut by an NFL team this month. Over the weekend, Lanning said, “Once you go to the NFL, I mean, you’re in the NFL.  You don’t get the opportunity to come back (to college football).  So, if you invite somebody back to your team, that means your kicking somebody else off your team, right?” Indeed, it does!  That’s a very noble stance, Coach Lanning! On the other hand, I wonder what the Oregon coach would do if his starting tight end from last year’s team wanted to return after being cut by an NFL team last week? LIV Golf Season 5 ended with a Cinderella story winner! Did you watch the FOX Sports Sunday afternoon coverage of (perhaps) the final round ever to be played by LIV Golf? The upstart golf league has lost $6 billion in five years.  Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulled the plug on the money tree after yesterday’s final event of the 2026 season in Indianapolis.  The league’s future is shaky at best. I watched as LIV Golf’s $300 million bonus baby Jon Rahm and $125 million bonus signee Bryson DeChambeau battled back and forth for the lead.  Rahm fired a nifty 63 on Sunday to edge DeChambeau’s bogey-free 64. While those two very wealthy golfers traded blows Sunday afternoon, a 22-year old golfer on the verge of losing his spot on the LIV Golf tour quietly zoomed past both titans to claim the title. Michael La Sasso won the US Amateur in 2025 after a great collegiate season at Ole Miss.  Winning the US Amateur title last summer earned La Sasso the right to play at The Masters and in this summer’s US Open – as long as he remained an amateur golfer. La Sasso decided to forego his chance to play Augusta National and Shinnecock Hills and turned professional.  He joined LIV Golf to become part of absentee captain Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers golf team. Michael La Sasso struggled this spring and summer in his rookie season as a professional golfer. He was mired in 53rd place in the LIV Golf standings heading into this weekend’s season ending event.  The young golfer was on the LIV Golf chopping block (called “relegation”) if he was unable to earn enough money to move into the top 48 golfers.  He would have been out of a job – regardless of whether LIV Golf returns again in 2027. La Sasso is definitely safe now! He fired a sizzling 10-under par 60 in Round 2 and took a slim lead over tour veterans Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau entering Sunday’s big finale. The climactic 72nd hole saw the rookie golfer calmly loft a nifty 20-yard pitch shot onto the green.  His ball rolled downhill and came to rest within one foot of the cup to insure Michael La Sasso’s one shot victory over Jon Rahm. His 18-under par total carried a first place check worth more than $2 million. Most importantly, the rookie golfer zoomed up to #14 in the final LIV Golf rankings for 2026. Well played, Michael La Sasso! The WNBA has learned well from professional wrestling I will spare you the details concerning a few recent events featuring the Women’s NBA (WNBA), its fans, and several of the players this season.  You have likely read and heard enough. Like professional wrestling, the WNBA has learned that any publicity (generally) beats no publicity. Recent controversies have kept the league front and center in the sports headlines. Quick – Can you tell me which team leads the WNBA today? (Answer – the Minnesota Lynx is 31-7 and leads the league by five games coming down the stretch) The good news has been that WNBA attendance is growing.  Pay for players has been rising.  New teams have been added in the past few years with more new franchises on the horizon. For all of the good news, some of the WNBA’s players and fans have been getting fighting mad recently.  This stuff has been coming right out of the professional wrestling playbook. Sunday’s latest publicity stunt came as Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham and the Indiana Fever visited the Windy City to play the Chicago Sky. Former NBA center Enes Kanter (who changed his last name to Enes Freedom a few years ago) recently declared that he wants to play in the WNBA next season. The league’s current rules are too vague to know whether the 6’10” Enos Kanter-Freedom (his last name could change again by the end of this story) will succeed in joining the women’s basketball league next year. That classic wrestling story line should serve to keep WNBA fans on edge for at least the next six months. The aforementioned “Enes-the-Menace” decided to check-out a WNBA game. He obtained a prime seat near the basket during Sunday night’s game in Chicago. The 6’10” giant was spotted sitting in the crowd late in the third quarter by Chicago Sky guard “Nasty” Natasha Cloud.  Instead of heading toward her bench during a called timeout, an angry-looking 5’10” Cloud walked toward the towering 34-year old former NBA player. Cloud appeared to spew a number of, uh, Chicago-styled greetings toward the giant ticket holder.  That’s when stadium security intervened. “Enes-the-Menace” was escorted out of the building (wonder if he received a refund?). For her part in starting this incident, “Nasty” Natasha Cloud was allowed to remain in the game. As of press time, the WWE (oops, I meant the WNBA) has not addressed the Chicago Sky guard’s unexpected and unnecessary aggressive move toward a 6’10” paying customer. Her distracted Chicago Sky team never recovered.  Caitlin Clark tallied 37 points and ten assists for the winners as Indiana darkened the Chicago Sky with an easy 113-90 victory. Any publicity beats no publicity, right? The post It’s Gotta be this August Heat! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It’s here! The same people who told you that Indiana was the 20th best team starting in 2025 are now suggesting that the defending college football champion Hoosiers will be the sixth best team in 2026. Indiana went a perfect 16-0 last season.  They obliterated “name” football powers like Alabama 38-3 during their stampede to the national championship.  Coach Curt Cignetti is still at Indiana.  Like every other major college football program, IU went shopping to buy another group of talented transfer players using NIL bonus bucks again in 2026. So, why did the Associated Press demote last season’s undisputed champion Indiana from the top spot when they haven’t even played a game yet? This year’s projected top five teams were Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Texas. The top five consisted of two Big Ten schools, two SEC schools, and independent Notre Dame. Interestingly, not one SEC team received a single first place vote in this year’s 2026 preseason AP poll. Ohio State was the top pick on 40 ballots.  Oregon grabbed 14 first place votes.  Indiana (the #6 preseason pick) had eight first place votes, while Miami of Florida (#7 overall pick and last year’s national runner-up) had one first place ballot. In defense of the AP, the poll results are solely the opinions of 60+ writers and broadcasters casting their vote in this national college football beauty contest.  No employees of the Associated Press are allowed to participate. *Shameless self-promotion plug – This is yet another reason why the popular SwampSwamiSports College Football Top 25 Rankings never begins publishing its team rankings until at least four games have been played.  Come back and check-out my rankings once cooler weather and clearer minds return in early October. Preseason rankings are simply a beauty contest intended to spur interest and media hype The NCAA Transfer Portal and the advent of NIL to pay college athletes has really affected the prediction business. Did you know that an estimated 3,700 college football players put their name into the hat to change schools in early January? How could anyone know how good Indiana or LSU or any other top program is going to be this fall after their rosters have changed so much from last season? Twenty years ago, we could take a good look at which teams were returning the most top players following a good season in the previous year. Back then, we could try to assess the incoming freshman class for possible impact players.  Next, it was time to review the team’s football schedule to assess the difficulty of the upcoming opponents. Today’s transfer portal game of musical chairs makes it quite difficult to predict which teams are going to shoot to the top of the charts by season’s end. For example, LSU transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt from Arizona State is expected to provide a boost to the Tigers’ offensive output under new head coach Lane Kiffin. How can anyone estimate Leavitt’s impact until he plays a few games for the Tigers to start the season? Defending champion Indiana lost Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza to the NFL draft.  Will transfer quarterback Josh Hoover from TCU be worth the reported $2 million NIL deal he signed to come to Indiana? Here’s a surprise.  The AP’s #1 team at Ohio State has a fairly tough schedule in 2026.  The Buckeyes will visit #5 Texas in Austin in Week #2.  A three game stretch in mid-October finds Ohio State playing at #6 Indiana, at #14 USC, and at home for #2 Oregon.  Don’t forget the regular season home finale against #16 preseason pick Michigan. It seems likely that Ohio State is going to lose one or more of those games.  That makes me suspicious of why the majority of AP voters handed the Buckeyes the #1 preseason ranking.  Did they even look at the schedule first? If you like easy schedules, check out the playoff-friendly schedule for the AP’s #4 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish won’t play a preseason top 25 team until Week #7 at #14 BYU.  The other two ranked opponents (#7 Miami and #19 SMU) travel to South Bend for games in November. Notre Dame’s schedule appears to be deliciously easy. Alabama comes in at #13?  The heat is building in Tuscaloosa Nick Saban’s Alabama teams were nearly always ranked in the top ten during preseason.  No matter how many players Saban had lost to the NFL draft, a new layer of Alabama’s stockpile of talent was ready to be unveiled during the following season. Not anymore. Coach Saban’s replacement is busy dealing with today’s revolving door of NCAA Transfer Portal players.  More recently, he has been hitting-up Bama boosters for NIL bonus bucks in order to put a more competitive team on the field. Yes, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer is feeling the heat. His 11-4 finish in 2025 included an ugly late season loss to SEC champ Georgia and a drubbing by eventual national champion Indiana.  The combined score in those two trouncings was 66-10. Ouch! Anything less than a spot in this year’s 12-team College Football Playoffs will be unacceptable to BamaFan. Should this year’s team fail to deliver, Coach Kalen DeBoer and his boss will likely be swept out of Tuscaloosa in a (wait for it) crimson tide. Alabama Athletics Director Greg Byrne inexplicably extended the contract for the increasingly unpopular head football coach Kalen DeBoer after last year’s embarrassing season-ending 38-3 loss to Indiana. Kalen DeBoer will still receive an estimated $67.5 million if he should be fired after the coming football season. For his part, Alabama AD Greg Byrne’s contract runs through the year 2031. Byrne’s buyout will be peanuts compared to the bank which will be owed to the school’s football coach. Impatient high rollers within the Bama athletics family may be getting ready to dig deep to raise funds to boot both DeBoer and Byrne should Alabama drop four or more football games again this season. This year’s #13 preseason ranking is another indicator that the proverbial hat is already being passing around the great state of Alabama before the start of the football season. Arch Who? Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning didn’t ask for all of the publicity coming out of Newman high school in uptown New Orleans. Having a legendary grandfather and two uncles who excelled at quarterback in college and the NFL is extremely hard enough to live up to.  The national media then put a bullseye squarely on the back of Arch Manning four years ago upon his signing to play college football at the University of Texas. Arch Manning sat on the bench for most of his first two years at Texas behind Quinn Ewers. Manning was finally named the starter in Austin to begin the 2025 season.  A media-fueled “Arch Manning for Heisman” campaign prior to Week #1 turned into a massive flop. Texas got off to a rocky start.  Manning eventually found his confidence later in the year to end 2025 on a positive note.  Texas finished 9-3.  Their win total included two overtime squeakers in road games at Kentucky and at Mississippi State. Texas was left out of the college football playoffs. Arch Manning now has a chance to deliver a championship season to the Longhorn faithful this fall. The preseason #5-ranked Texas Longhorns are favored to finish in the top two of the SEC along with #3 Georgia. Texas has the talent to have a terrific season. However, Texas has been loaded with talent for years in Austin. It’s time to Arch Manning, Coach Steve Sarkesian, and this year’s squad of Texas Longhorns to step-up and prove it to everyone on the field this fall. Can coach Curt Cignetti help bring a second straight title back home to Indiana? The attention to detail shown by Indiana’s national championship squad last year was reminiscent of some of former Alabama coach Nick Saban’s finest teams. Then again, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was once on Saban’s staff at Alabama.  IU’s coach took very good notes while observing the intense legendary football coach in action – both on and off the field. Indiana’s Heisman Trophy quarterback (Fernando Mendoza) and his favorite receiver (Omar Cooper, Jr.) are gone.  Both were selected early in the first round of this spring’s NFL draft.  They will be replaced by talented incoming transfers at Indiana. Coach Cignetti and his assistant coaches pay incredible attention to every detail on offense, defense, and special teams.  Last year’s 16-0 Hoosiers team played like a well-oiled machine in winning the national championship. In tough games when the talent on the field appears to be nearly equal, Indiana proved an old adage about “The 5 P’s” was still valid. Prior preparation prevents poor performance. Bet against IU this year if you wish.  Not me. The post Says who? Ohio State tops AP Preseason College Football Poll appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

LSU was front and center in national sports headlines in the past week.  Most every day, the stories just kept on coming. “Recent Heisman Trophy winner wants his jersey retired or his Heisman back!” How about this:  “LSU Defensive back replies, “It’s My Number now – Come and Take it!” And then LSU had one of the saddest stories of the week with the headline, “Legendary LSU Baseball coach and Athletics Director Skip Bertman died Friday in Baton Rouge at age 88.” Let’s cover that serious story first. Skip Bertman was a man with a golden touch who quietly built LSU athletics into a national power J. Stanley Bertman loved baseball from an early age.  After his family relocated to Miami, the young “Skip” Bertman became a top local high school baseball player.  He signed to play college ball with the local Miami Hurricanes as an outfielder and catcher.  Bertman earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees at The U in the early 1960’s. Skip Bertman then began his coaching career as a high school baseball coach at Miami Beach High School.  He took the team to a state championship and two runner-up finishes in 11 years. Bertman returned to his college alma mater to work with legendary college baseball coach Ron Fraser.  Skip Bertman became the recruiting coordinator, pitching coach, and assistant head coach for the Miami Hurricanes from 1976-1983.  The Canes won the NCAA national championship in 1982. LSU Athletics Director Bob Broadhead struck gold when he convinced Skip Bertman to leave south Florida and take over the LSU baseball team in the summer of 1983. Over the next 18 years, “The Skipper” led LSU’s baseball team to five national championships (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 2000).  The team made 11 College World Series appearances to Omaha during those 18 seasons. When Bertman arrived in Baton Rouge, LSU baseball was played at the cozy confines of Alex Box Stadium.  This rather unique ballpark was put in service back in 1938.  It was located right across the street from LSU’s monstrous Tiger Stadium football facility.  The ballpark also bordered alongside an active railroad track.  It seemed that a train would rumble by the baseball park during every LSU night game. The success of Skip Bertman’s LSU baseball teams led to several expansions of Alex Box Stadium as sellouts became the norm by the late 1980’s. A larger new facility with nearly 11,000 seats replaced the old baseball stadium in 2009.  This new ball park retained the original name of “Alex Box Stadium.” In 2013, the name of the stadium changed to “Skip Bertman Field at Alex Box Stadium” in honor of LSU’s most successful baseball coach. Coach Bertman coached 41 LSU players who went on to play major league baseball.  Other former players have become successful coaches.  Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco (a catcher at LSU under Skip Bertman) guided his team to the College World Series title in 2022. Skip Bertman became LSU’s Athletics Director from 2001-2007.  His leadership and fundraising skills led to a series of major upgrades to the school’s athletics facilities.  He led a number of local charity fundraisers after retiring from LSU. Bertman had been hospitalized recently with heart-related issues.  He was 88. High…uh…4.999!  It’s the battle for the right to wear #5 on the LSU football team In one of the most bizarre sports stories last week, former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels (now playing for the NFL’s Washington Commanders) demanded that his former college not allow sophomore defensive back DJ Pickett to wear his former #5 this season. After that didn’t work, the quarterback’s family demanded that LSU must stop utilizing Daniels’ name, image, and likeness effective immediately.  They may have also asked for the Heisman Trophy replica on display at LSU to be returned to the Daniels’ family. As of this writing, LSU has not obliged any of those requests.  Nor should they. Daniels was a transfer student from Arizona State who played his final two college football seasons at LSU in 2022 and 2023.  He won the 2023 Heisman Trophy following a brilliant final year with the Tigers. Jayden Daniels became the #2 overall selection in the NFL Draft by the Washington Commanders in April, 2024.  He is entering his third season in ol’ DC. Daniels joined running back Billy Cannon (1959) and quarterback Joe Burrow (2019) as LSU’s Heisman Trophy winners. Jayden Daniels surprised the sports world last week with a demand that LSU not allow a current football player to wear his former #5 jersey this year. For the record, Joe Burrow’s #9 has not been worn since LSU’s 15-0 perfect season culminating in the 2019 national championship. The #9 football jersey for Joe Burrow and the #5 jersey for Jayden Daniels have not been “retired” by LSU.  At least not yet. Billy Cannon’s #20 is the only LSU jersey which has been retired and officially removed from circulation in the football program. LSU has “retired” the jerseys of three additional football players, though.  The jerseys of #4 (Charles Alexander – running back), #21 (Jerry Stovall – running back), and #37 (Tommy Cassanova – defensive back) were ceremoniously retired by LSU football. LSU plans to retire the #7 jersey of quarterback Bert Jones in a ceremony scheduled for November 14 this fall. Those four jersey numbers may still be worn by future LSU players, though.  Only Billy Cannon’s #20 is permanently out of circulation and unavailable for future football players. For the record, this year’s 2026 LSU Tigers football squad will have one player wearing Charles Alexander’s #4 jersey, two wearing Jerry Stovall’s #21, and one who will don Tommy Cassanova’s #37 in the fall. Why did LSU’s DJ Pickett persist on wanting to wear #5 this season? Many major college football teams dress more than 100 players for home games.  Since teams are not allowed to utilize three digits on a football jersey, two players frequently wear the same jersey number in college games.  Most of the time, one will play offense.  The other is usually on defense or special teams. Jayden Daniels played offense at LSU.  Cornerback DJ Pickett plays defense for the Tigers. LSU’s DJ Pickett claims to have worn a #5 jersey from youth football and all the way through high school. He said that former LSU football coach Brian Kelly had “promised” to allow him wear that number once he came to LSU. Coach Kelly has confirmed that the promise was, indeed, made to Pickett.  However, Kelly also said that former player Jayden Daniels had not given the “OK” prior to Pickett’s freshman season in 2025. So, DJ Pickett settled for jersey #3 last year as a freshman at LSU as part of Brian Kelly’s Tigers.  Pickett had a sensational first year at LSU and was named to the freshman All-American team. After Brian Kelly was fired and Lane Kiffin became LSU’s new coach beginning this season, DJ Pickett raised the “You guys promised me I could wear that #5 jersey” issue to his new coach again this summer. Pickett doesn’t seem to care what Jayden Daniels thinks about wearing LSU’s #5 jersey this season. DJ Pickett told the media last week, “It’s the number I was promised (by LSU).  I wish Jayden the best.  Good player, and he did real good here.  So, that’s all.” The father of DJ Pickett was more emphatic. Papa Pickett said last week, “Considering that Jayden is a legend at LSU and it’s out that he’s not supportive of my son wearing his number is very disappointing.  We wish in a perfect world that he (Daniels) would have given his blessing and, Tiger to Tiger, wish my son well.” LSU football coach Lane Kiffin (being the seasoned politician that he has become) confirmed that he checked with LSU administrators and found no reason why Pickett could not wear the #5 jersey for the Tigers this fall. LSU’s new $13 million per year football coach wants to stand up for his current group of players.  DJ Pickett will play an important role within LSU’s defensive unit this season in Baton Rouge. Sports fans are having a field day making fun of this #5 kerfuffle Needless to say, people outside of Louisiana have taken note of the childish back-and-forth going on surrounding LSU’s #5 football jersey. Sports punsters around the country have been making jokes about their own possible unauthorized usage of the #5.  It seems that no one wants to mess with the irate family of Jayden Daniels when it comes to the use of the fifth digit. Baseball’s New York Mets led the way. The major league baseball team won a game over the Washington Nationals last week 4-1.  They declared on the team’s X.com site, “Stopped at 4 (runs) out of respect for Jayden Daniels.” Another originated from sports ticket vendor Stub Hub.  On their website, tickets being sold for the Seattle Seahawks at Washington Commanders NFL game on September 27 will not allow bundling of five tickets together. “Out of respect for Jayden Daniels, we’re only doing 4 or 6+.” You get the picture. One of the more interesting ideas I heard last week was for LSU to auction the replica Heisman Trophy and donate the proceeds to one or more local charities.  If the family of Jayden Daniels still wants the trophy back, they can buy it back from the winner. I like it, but with one caveat. “No bids should contain the number five out of respect for Jayden Daniels.” The post The Big Stink-o over Cinco at LSU appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Those who follow my posts know that I have been a supporter of LIV Golf since Day 1 (Spring, 2022). Every PGA Tour golfer should be thankful to LIV Golf for introducing some much needed competition during the past five years.  The stodgy PGA Tour’s tournament payouts have risen after LIV Golf began poaching several top golfers. The remaining stars of the PGA Tour are now pocketing significant long-term benefits after a new incentive bonus system was instituted two years ago to retain top talent. As of today, LIV Golf will need a major miracle to continue in 2027.  It is officially “Hail Mary” time for the fifth year golf league. Reports continue to circulate this week that LIV Golf is canceling its $40 million season-ending tournament near Detroit, Michigan in two weeks.  That would make next weekend’s (August 20-23) LIV Golf event near Indianapolis the final tournament of 2026. It also might become the final event ever for LIV Golf. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has the most difficult job in professional sports How would you like to be in charge of an organization which just lost 100% of its funding, and your top performers are openly discussing jumping ship? Chief Executive Officer Scott O’Neil took over the top role at LIV Golf after World Golf Hall-of-Famer Greg Norman left in early 2025. O’Neil’s background included running Madison Square Garden Sports (basketball’s New York Knicks and hockey’s New York Rangers).  He later became CEO for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL New Jersey Devils. O’Neil’s latest role at LIV Golf should be titled “Chief Magician” if this golf enterprise is going to survive into 2027. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has lost upwards of $6 billion after five years of bankrolling LIV Golf.  They finally saw the light and are bailing out after LIV’s final event this month. Scott O’Neil has been scrambling for months trying to find new financial backers.  Those interested in LIV Golf will be investing in a sports league best known for hemorrhaging massive amounts of cash. Good luck with that sales pitch! Last week, Scott O’Neil said, “Notably, our next chapter will make our players the majority equity holders in LIV Golf…and gives the league the foundation to keep the game growing worldwide.  We anticipate finalizing terms in the coming weeks.” Let’s analyze that last statement a little closer LIV Golf’s CEO is saying that he wants to make the golfers the MAJORITY equity holders in the organization going forward? My Dad was not a big fan of televised golf.  Though one of his sons (me) fell in love with the sport at age 8, Dad often laughed as golfers agonized over their putts.  He would say, “If those guys were out there playing for their own money, this might be a lot more interesting to watch!” If LIV Golf tees it up again in 2027, my Dad (viewing golf from heaven since 2001) may get his wish with players having their own financial stake in the golf league. The LIV Golf bonus babies may determine the future of their own league LIV Golf was able to get off the ground five years ago only after the Saudi PIF generously opened their wallets to buy talent.  More than $1 billion in bonus money was needed to sign a number of the top PGA golfers. Remember Phil Mickelson?  The six-time major champion was one of the first top golfers to switch to LIV Golf. He received a reported $200 million signing bonus.  Season One at LIV Golf featured the signings of Brooks Koepka ($130 million), Dustin Johnson ($125 million) and Bryson DeChambeau ($125 million). The other fifty LIV Golfers (the league features 54 players) received varying amounts in signing bonuses, too.  Former major champions such as Patrick Reed ($100 million), Louis Oosthuizen ($50 million) and Sergio Garcia ($40 million) came aboard in 2022 to help get LIV up and running (while assuring their own long-term financial futures). Australia’s Cam Smith ($140 million) was added to begin the 2023 season.  Spain’s Jon Rahm ($300 million) followed in Year #3 and became the highest paid golfer in the LIV Golf portfolio. Those nine LIV Golf signees I have mentioned required an outlay of more than $1.2 billion. Let’s say that the remaining 45 LIV golfers were signed for a “paltry” total of $300 million.  That would have brought 2022’s total initial investment (before one hole of golf was even played) to more than $1.5 billion. Each golfer’s LIV contract agreement is confidential.  My best guess would be most LIV golfers received a portion of their signing bonus up front (perhaps 25% or more) with the remainder being paid annually over the term of their agreement. By the way, Jon Rahm’s $300 million agreement apparently covered six years (2024-2029 golf seasons).  He is now halfway through his contractual commitment. SOS – There’s an iceberg dead ahead for the S.S. LIV Golf The biggest problem with LIV Golf (in addition to their lousy TV contract with FOX Sports) is that the tournament payouts greatly exceed the revenues generated.  The cost of tournaments and operations has been unsustainable from Day 1. Some reports estimate LIV Golf has lost upwards of $1 billion annually (excluding the money spent on those signing bonuses). What is likely to happen to each of the highest paid LIV golf stars in 2027? (Note – All signing bonuses and contract terms mentioned here are my own best guesses after reviewing a number of online resources). Jon Rahm ($300 mm) – The most expensive golfer for LIV Golf appears ready to walk the plank and take a financial write-off soon. Rahm is just 31 years of age.  He has at least a decade of top level golf still ahead of him. Rahm is under contract with LIV Golf for another three years.  If LIV Golf should survive into 2027, they must pay Rahm the fourth year portion of his contract/signing bonus.  Should LIV Golf file for bankruptcy at some point, Rahm would be fortunate to receive a dime once the Saudi’s bail out later this month. My best guesses? I predict that Jon Rahm will voluntarily walk away from LIV Golf soon.  He would keep whatever bonus money he has already been paid by LIV Golf.  Rahm would also forfeit the remainder of his contract and join the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) beginning in early 2027.  The talented Jon Rahm will eventually make his way back to the PGA Tour. Phil Mickelson ($200 mm) – Lefty’s signing bonus/contract with LIV Golf was rumored to be for a four year period.  That means that Mickelson had received 100% of his signing bonus money after the 2025 LIV season ended. Phil is now 56 years of age.  He was a non-factor in the majority of LIV Golf events since the league’s initial season in 2022. Mickelson has been dealing with family-related issues in 2026 and did not participate in any LIV Golf events this year.  There are a lot of rumors flying about Phil’s family situation.  Regardless, Phil Mickelson’s competitive playing days appear to be over. Cameron Smith ($140 mm) – The 32-year old Australian golfer won the 2022 Open Championship.  He was the #2 ranked player in the world at the time he signed with LIV Golf prior to the 2023 season.  Cam Smith is captain of the popular LIV Golf Australian team called the Rippers. Smith likely has one or more years remaining on his LIV Golf contract.  I expect him (and his Aussie team) to stick together in 2027 should the league somehow survive.  If LIV Golf goes under, Smith (like many non-US golfers in the league) may attempt to enter the DP World Tour in 2027. Brooks Koepka ($130 mm) – Koepka quietly negotiated an exit deal from his LIV Golf agreement at the end of the 2025 season.  After meeting conditions set by the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka rejoined the traditional golf tour this year.  He is ranked #82 on the PGA’s money list this year with earnings of $1.7 million. Dustin Johnson ($125 mm) – Surprisingly, DJ signed a contract extension to remain with LIV Golf through the 2029 golf season. Johnson is captain of the successful 4Aces golf team and seems to enjoy his role within LIV Golf. Bryson DeChambeau ($125 mm) – Unlike Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau rejected a contract extension request by LIV Golf after the 2025 season.  His initial agreement will expire at the end of the 2026 season (less than two weeks from now). The 32-year old DeChambeau has been the most vocal supporter of LIV Golf since the league began. He might be negotiating to become part of the new ownership team if the league survives into 2027.  Bryson DeChambeau has nearly three million subscribers to his popular YouTube channel.  He is already one of the world’s most popular golfers.  DeChambeau will be fine. Patrick Reed ($100 mm) – Like Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed pulled the plug on LIV Golf once his contract ended at the end of 2025.  He then reapplied for entry to the PGA Tour and, after meeting the Tour’s requirements, will become eligible to play again during September’s fall schedule. All the remaining LIV Golfers – Most of the initial group of LIV Golf signees will have collected their entire bonus by the end of August, 2026.  Others who were added since Year #1 (2022 season) will likely remain with LIV Golf – should the league continue in 2027. Summary Keep your eye on any news involving Jon Rahm and LIV Golf. If Rahm decides to walk away soon (and I think he will), the future of LIV Golf becomes even more doubtful.  Fewer top stars will mean that LIV Golf’s tournament payouts will take an even bigger cut in 2027. The iceberg is in full view for LIV Golf. It’s time to brace for impact! The post LIV Golf – Turn out the Lights – the Party’s (almost) Over appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It’s been 31 seasons since the Dallas Cowboys last played in a Super Bowl game.  That season-ending victory came at the conclusion of the 1995 NFL season on January 28, 1996. Heck, it has been 31 seasons since the Dallas Cowboys have even played in the NFC Championship game! Team owner and billionaire huckster Jerry Jones tried to convince Dallas Cowboys fans last summer that trading away the team’s best defensive player was a smart move.  Micah Parsons wanted ol’ Jer to pony-up with another high dollar contract to remain in Dallas. Instead, the owner shipped Parsons to the Green Bay Packers right before the 2025 season began.  The defensive rushing specialist received what he wanted, though. Micah Parsons signed a new contract in Green Bay last fall paying him $188 million over four years (a whopping $47 million per season). Dallas received Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark from Green Bay plus two first round draft picks as part of the deal. After losing Micah Parsons, Big D’s defense became a league-wide joke in 2025.  You can’t consider your team a title contender with a defense which allowed an NFL high 30.1 points per game last season. Cowboys fans were understandably upset after team owner Jerry Jones dealt the team’s “lone star” defensive player one year ago.  Jones’ history of meddling with the team’s roster has backfired plenty of times during this 31 season title drought. Despite the absence of a competitive defense, Dallas still finished with a fairly respectable 7-9-1 record last season.  Only the prolific offense of the Cowboys saved the 2025 team from being a total disaster. Something feels different this year… In April, Dallas selected safety Caleb Downs from Ohio State with the 11th pick in Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft.  A two-time college football All-American, Downs was expected to be taken earlier in the first round.  The Dallas Cowboys appear to have capitalized on a little bit of good fortune. Dallas then added another defensive pick with its second selection during Round 1.  Defensive edge rusher Malachi Lawrence played college football for UCF under the watchful eye of the Cowboys’ new defensive line coach, Demeitri Brim. Last season’s “defenseless” Cowboys had just made two first round solid defensive picks in the NFL Draft. Over the past week, the Cowboys re-signed defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (who was acquired from the New York Jets last season) to a new three-year deal worth $106 million. Williams played college football at Alabama under Coach Nick Saban.  He is well liked by his new teammates in Dallas. Is Maxx Crosby still a possible addition? It’s no secret that Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro defensive end Maxx Crosby would like to come play for the Dallas Cowboys.  The former fourth round selection out of Eastern Michigan played his high school football in Colleyville, Texas – just north of Fort Worth. Maxx Crosby plays his position with incredible effort and intensity.  He is a five-time NFL Pro Bowler entering his eighth NFL season – all with the woeful Raiders franchise.  He was briefly traded earlier this year (for two first round selections) to the Baltimore Ravens.  Unfortunately, Crosby failed the physical exam after rehabbing a knee injury incurred last fall.  That nullified the deal and required Crosby to return to the Raiders. Dallas made a competitive offer to the Raiders for Maxx Crosby (a first round and second round pick) but fell short.  Crosby’s knee injury may be healed sufficiently by now to warrant another trade offer from Dallas owner Jerry Jones over the next month. There’s no doubt that Maxx Crosby would represent a significantly upgrade to the Dallas defensive front.  His intense style of play would quickly make him a fan favorite in Dallas.  Keep an eye on this development in the weeks ahead. Cowboys made Brandon Aubrey the highest paid kicker in the NFL Seven million dollars per year sounds like a lot of money to pay for a field goal kicker. That’s what Dallas placekicker Brandon Aubrey will receive for the next four years after recently becoming the NFL’s highest paid kicker. Aubrey’s path to riches came without kicking a football in either high school or college.  He was a talented soccer player at Notre Dame and played professionally in Canada. The USFL’s Birmingham Stallions gave Brandon Aubrey a pro football tryout and signed him.  Aubrey delivered booming kick-offs and field goals in Birmingham over his two seasons with the spring football league team. The Dallas Cowboys signed him in 2023.  Brandon Aubrey made the NFL Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons.  He has booted six field goals of 60 yards or more in his career and provides the potent Dallas offense with a reliable scoring weapon. What about Dallas wide receiver George Pickens? Pickens (who played wide receiver in college at Georgia) was a second round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.  His first NFL contract paid him nearly $7 million – over a four year period. George Pickens and former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t seem to get along very well.  Pickens occasionally displayed less than 100% effort on the field at times.  That put him into the coaches’ dog house.  He compounded his own troubles with the Steelers and their loyal fans by posting “Free Me” comments on social media. The Steelers obliged and sent “Pouty” Pickens packing to Dallas in 2025. For just a lowly 6th round draft pick, the Cowboys inserted George Pickens into the starting line-up last season and saw his on-field talent.  He snagged 93 passes for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns for Dallas last year. Dallas’ primary wide receiver, CeeDee Lamb, benefited from having the speedy George Pickens on the field at the same time running routes to keep defenses off balance. Following his productive 2025 season, Pickens demanded a new long-term contract from Dallas owner Jerry Jones. Instead, the Cowboys recently placed its “franchise” designation on their new wide receiver. The team likely wants to see more than one season of positive results prior to plunking down big bucks for a long-term deal. Don’t feel sorry for George Pickens. He will receive nearly $24 million for the upcoming 2026 season.  That “franchise” designation requires Dallas to pay him the average of the five highest paid wide receivers in the entire NFL. Dallas fans should watch closely to see if George Pickens will continue to show improvement this season or return into his former disgruntled self while playing in Pittsburgh. Can quarterback Dak Prescott finally lead the Cowboys to an NFC title game? Prescott is entering his 11th NFL season in Dallas.  His impressive personal stats and friendly personality have made him a fan favorite. That said, Dak is only 2-5 in playoff games during his first decade in Big D. The former Haughton High School (Shreveport area) and Mississippi State product is being paid $60 million per season.  A four-time Pro Bowl quarterback, Dak Prescott is now being paid at a high level that team owner Jerry Jones, head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and Dallas fans now expect a deep run into the NFL playoffs. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, Prescott has not delivered – yet. Is Dallas a legitimate contender to win the NFC East this season? Absolutely! The NFC East has been dominated for the past several years by the Philadelphia Eagles.  Philly’s dominant defense and efficient offense has produced 50 wins against just 18 losses in the past four NFL seasons.  They won the 2024 Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Philadelphia’s core of top players on offense and defense has been dwindling by the year.  The Eagles posted an 11-6 record last season but were quickly bounced out of the playoffs in the opening round (at home) by San Francisco. Wagering lines posted by Las Vegas oddsmakers show the Philadelphia Eagles remaining the favorite to once again capture the NFC East title in 2026.  The Dallas Cowboys are projected to finish one game behind. Dallas must apply early pressure this fall to nudge the Eagles off their perch atop the NFC East standings. The Cowboys’ 2026 schedule appears somewhat favorable. Dallas plays nine home games and eight road games in the NFL’s 17-week regular season.  A pair of late season road games at defending Super Bowl champion Seattle and at the NFC runner-up Los Angeles Rams will likely decide the playoff fate for the Cowboys. To the surprise of no one, “America’s Team” (ugh) will play in six nationally televised prime time night games.   Three (including the season opener at the New York Giants) will be featured on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.   Dallas will appear twice on Monday Night Football (ESPN) and one time on Thursday night (Amazon Prime).   Prediction: There is no doubt that Dallas has an excellent opportunity to return to the playoffs in the 2026 NFL season.  The defense will improve (it can’t be worse than last season’s 32nd place showing).  Dallas’ productive offense (2nd in the NFL in scoring last year) is back and seems ready to roll once again. Regardless of whether defensive weapon Maxx Crosby comes aboard this year, I see Dallas improving to a record of 10-7 in the regular season. That means that Dallas should make the playoffs – either as NFC East champions or as a Wild Card entry. I have no clue about the playoffs.  Recent history would suggest that you might not wish to place any wagers on the “Boys” once the post-season begins. Buckle up and enjoy the ride this season, Cowboys fans! Perhaps this might even be the year when Dallas ends that 31-season “no titles” streak. The post Will the Dallas Cowboys finally end “The Streak” this season? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

I’m ba-a-a-ck! Being a grandfather isn’t something that you train for.  It was quite challenging last week to go outside and shoot basketball for an hour in the summer heat with an 8-year old intent on dispatching his creeky ol’ Grandpa in morning games of one-on-one. He took the overall 3-game series, but Grandpa held his own (at least for this year).  Now, where did I put that tube of SportsCreme? In fact, the past month has found my lovely wife and I spending a full week with each set of our five young (10 and under) grandsons.  We have enjoyed a total summer blast! Now, the house is quiet again.  Our eight-year old rescued Old English Sheepdog (Molly) seems to be mourning the loss of our fine young gentleman visitors and their very patient Dad. Molly enjoyed extra company during her morning and evening dog walks every day. It has been difficult to keep close tabs on sports while traveling to visit or hosting our very sharp and fun-loving grandsons over the past month. Some things appear to have changed a lot.  Others didn’t. It’s time to catch-up. Good news!  Saints legend Drew Brees was inducted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame! New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees led the Black and Gold to their only Super Bowl appearance and title in February, 2010.  He set numerous NFL passing records during his stellar 20-year pro football career. The Texas-born Brees was an excellent student as well.  He majored in Industrial Management at Purdue University.  Drew Brees quarterbacked the Boilermakers football team to the Rose Bowl in 2001 as the team won a share of the Big Ten title. The San Diego Chargers selected Brees with the first pick in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft. It’s hard to believe that he played in San Diego for the first five years of his pro football career. A trade to the New Orleans Saints in 2006 also paired Drew Brees with new head coach Sean Payton.  It would be a match made in WhoDat Heaven for us Saints fans. Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in August, 2005.  The Louisiana Superdome was painstakingly repaired and refurbished the following year as New Orleans welcomed home its beloved football team along with a new quarterback and head coach. Drew Brees’ infectious positive attitude and leadership skills helped the Saints improve every season leading up to that Super Bowl victory. More importantly, the Saints’ rise served to boost the spirits of the entire Gulf South region during recovery efforts from both Hurricane Katrina and, a month later, Rita in southwestern Louisiana. Sorry, Archie Manning supporters.  The true GOAT (greatest of all time) for the majority of New Orleans Saints fans is Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees.  Congratulations! Red-hot Red Sox are blazing in baseball’s American League! The Boston Red Sox have won 27 of their last 32 baseball games through Sunday, August 9.  Boston was at the bottom of the American League East standings earlier in the season. The BoSox are still seven games behind the Tampa Bay Rays with 45 games left to play in baseball’s seemingly never-ending 162-game regular season.  Late inning comebacks have been the rule during Boston’s recent hot streak during July and into early August. Will the Boston Red Sox remain hot during this hottest month of the year?  Stay tuned! The eight team UFL recently packed-up and left Houston and Birmingham.  Why? Spring pro football’s United Football League (UFL) quietly exited two of its long-time markets less than two weeks ago. The Birmingham Stallions won three straight spring football titles from 2022 through 2024.  A brand new college football stadium for UAB featuring nearly 40,000 seats played host for Stallions home games in each of the past five seasons. The UFL’s billionaire owner and apparent league spokesman, Mike Repole, jousted with Birmingham football fans earlier this season about their lack of support for the team. It’s no surprise that Repole just pulled the plug after attendance declined this year.  His excuse for leaving Birmingham is what has raised eyebrows in Alabama. He said, “With Birmingham, this decision was 100% about the wrong sized venue.  Even on opening day, when 16,000 Stallions fans showed up, the energy, passion, and game atmosphere was not felt due to the size of the venue.” Here’s a question for you, Mr. Repole. Doing just as you requested, the Houston UFL franchise vacated its college football stadium at the University of Houston.  The Houston Gamblers moved into the city’s downtown soccer venue with 20,000 seats this season.  How do you explain why less than 7,000 fans attended Houston Gamblers football games this spring?  The team did exactly what you asked for and had even less success.  Houston’s UFL franchise is now defunct. Perhaps Mr. Repole might consider that the UFL’s on-field product is simply not very good.  It is also played during increasingly hot spring weather – especially in the league’s southern markets.  UFL games – which are (generally speaking) low scoring and not very exciting to watch – have trouble attracting local fans when tickets were priced as low as $20 apiece. The market, sir, has been and continues to speak to you quite loudly. Golf – Welcome to the winner’s circle, Jackson Koivun and Asterisk Talley! Two weeks ago, former Auburn All-American golfer Jackson Koivun picked-up his first PGA win at the 3M Open in Minnesota.  It was only his third professional start! After Sunday’s middle-of-the-pack finish in his fourth PGA start at Greensboro, NC, the 21-year old Koivun has earned enough FedEx points to qualify for this week’s first round of PGA playoffs beginning Thursday in Memphis. Let’s also welcome a 17-year old upcoming high school senior golfer to the winner’s circle. Asterisk Talley (yes, that’s her real name) easily won her first USGA championship by taking the US Women’s Amateur title in Tennessee with an 8-up victory.  She had previously finished runner-up in the 2024 US Junior Girls Amateur and the US Women’s Amateur. Congratulations to Ms. Talley!  Yes, there will forever be an Asterisk next to her last name on the US Women’s Amateur trophy. LIV Golf remains on life support but wants to tee it up again in 2027 In this continuing soap opera, LIV Golf (completing its fifth season in late August) will lose its Sugar Daddy financial backers.  The Saudi Public Investment Fund (with over $1 trillion in assets) has lost more than $5 billion to start, fund, and prop-up this worldwide golf venture.  They are skedaddling by no later than the end of August. Last week, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neal announced that a new lead investor has been secured.   Before you say, “Hooray!”, the golf league’s boss did not reveal a lot of specifics.  We don’t know who the investor is, how much money was actually being injected, or any other details which translate into a viable 2027 LIV Golf campaign. Golfers expecting to participate in LIV Golf during 2027 (assuming there is a season) will be playing for smaller prize money and will likely be asked to share in the risk (and, if possible, the rewards) of the revamped league. The future still looks shaky for LIV Golf. The US Senate punted on 4th down to go on vacation and leave the future of college athletics hanging in the balance When you woke up on Saturday morning, the United States Senate had adjourned to take a well-earned (sarcasm intended) full month of vacation. Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) were finally able to bring their college sports bill to the floor of the US Senate over the past few weeks.  It showed some encouraging signs of passage. The SEC and Big Ten finally jumped aboard to support the Senate’s “Protect College Sports Act” last week.  That was the equivalent to a two-minute drill in hopes of getting this bill across the Senate’s goal line prior to the legislative body’s annual August recess. College sports conferences have been unable to get their primary rule maker and enforcement arm (the NCAA) to take consequential actions in recent years.  Guidelines and enforcement of rules in today’s transfer portal and NIL high dollar environment have many mid-sized and smaller universities considering dropping sports altogether.  The SEC recently suggested it was willing to break away from the NCAA and establish its own set of rules if something doesn’t change soon. With the proverbial play clock running, some Senators (as they are prone to do) tried to add amendments to the college sports bill last week.  They wasted too much time and failed to bring it to a full Senate vote prior the month-long adjournment. However, the Senators are promising to bring this college sports bill to a vote when they return in early September. If that occurs, the sports bill must still be approved by the House of Representatives and then obtain the President’s signature to become law. Sounds like a Hail Mary could be needed to complete this legislation with the mid-term elections coming up in November! The post Let’s Catch up! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Speedy Gonzalez would love playing a round of golf with newly-crowned Open Championship winner Ryan Fox. A round of golf at last week’s British Open at Royal Birkdale averaged a snooze-worthy 5 ½ hours.  Don’t blame the weather.  All four days of this year’s event were played under benign conditions.  No rain or high winds affected play. The final player on the golf course on Sunday was a relative unknown named Ryan Fox. The native New Zealander was already tied with clubhouse leader Cameron Young at 9-under par as he sized-up an 11 foot birdie putt to win the tournament.  A massive throng of British fans surrounded the green to watch the drama unfold. It took 39-year old Ryan Fox (seeking just his third professional victory) just 22 seconds to line-up and execute the most important putt of his golfing career.  He drained the birdie putt, won the Claret Jug trophy, and captured (on paper) more than $3.2 million in first prize money. Unfortunately, the British government absconded with nearly 45% of his payday.  The take home pay for the new “Champion Golfer of the Year” was sliced to $1.76 million. Great Britain’s His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs group had already pilfered $1.44 million on behalf of the host country’s bank account. And you thought the I.R.S. was tough? Ryan Fox has now become the people’s champion to help end slow play! Weekend warriors at public golf courses are monitored by an oft-times surly roving ranger who tries to keep rounds at four hours or less. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a 4-hour pace of play in professional golf? Why should professional golfers (who require significantly fewer shots, utilize personal caddies and play with the latest high-tech equipment and golf balls) take 25% longer than a player who requires 30% more swings? New Zealand native Ryan Fox is the exact opposite of today’s sloth-like pro golfers.  He is already thinking about his next shot while moving toward the golf ball. Fox said, “The less time I have to think about it, the less bad stuff can creep in there.”  He added, “It’s not that difficult to pick a shot and pick a club.” Indeed! It must be maddening for Ryan Fox to play golf with many other professional golfers who seem to agonize over every single shot. Sure, today’s “Slow Poke Pro Golfer Brigade” tries to defend its slower pace of play by saying the higher tournament payouts require more time to consider each shot. The Slow Pokes would chuckle and say that you, too, would take longer if standing over a $1.4 million putt (the difference between a first and second place finish) for a major championship win. Oops!  That analogy just went down the drain.  Speedy Ryan Fox stepped right up and sank the winning putt on hole #18 in just 22 seconds on Sunday. Other golfers have taken note of Ryan Fox’ faster pace. PGA golfer Min Woo Lee played with Fox in an earlier round.  He was excited for Ryan Fox’s victory and the message it should send to golfers at all levels. Lee said, “He just plays his own game, and that’s something that everyone can learn.  Whenever a fast player wins, it’s the greatest thing ever!” Should we blame the greatest golfer of all time for today’s slow play? Jack Nicklaus is best remembered for his 18 major championships and being one of the most focused golfers of all time. The Golden Bear had a tendency to stand over his putts for what felt like an eternity during his heyday in the 1960’s and 70’s. Nicklaus famously received a two stroke penalty for slow play during his first year as a professional golfer in 1962. A rules official at the Portland (Oregon) Open gave Nicklaus a two-shot penalty for failing to speed-up his play during the second round of that tournament. The PGA official told him, “Jack, you can take as long as you want when you’re over the golf ball, but be ready when it’s your turn!” Nicklaus had believed that it was poor etiquette to prep for his next shot when it wasn’t officially his turn to play. Jack Nicklaus ended up winning the tournament in Portland by six shots.  He said he learned a valuable lesson from being penalized for slow play. Lee Trevino is the same age (86) as Nicklaus.  He laughed about his friend receiving that two-shot penalty for slow play in 1962. “It didn’t make a difference.  But at least they had the guts to penalize a superstar!” Trevino (winner of six major titles) was one of the fastest golfers of his generation.  Lee made a number of suggestions to improve the pace of play. Golfers should take two or less waggles prior to beginning their backswing.  They should be required to putt-out on every green without marking their golf ball again.  Trevino was one of the earliest advocates of “Ready golf”.  That means that the first player ready to hit the ball should go right ahead. Former European Tour star Colin Montgomerie won 54 professional events – mostly in Europe.  He had a second place finish at the Open Championship, the Masters, and the US Open. Monty (who plays on the PGA Champions Tour today) ripped into the slow play seen at last week’s major championship. “TV hates it and specatators hate it,” he voiced.  “Too long is the chat between the caddie and the player…it goes on forever!  The (yardage) book comes out. How many times do they get that bloody book out?” Is it time for pro golfers to ditch their caddies? The role of a professional golf caddie has grown significantly in the past half century.  A caddie originally just toted a heavy 40-pound bag of clubs for five miles every round for a sometimes temperamental golfer. Today’s caddies now function as the chief meteorologist (wind speed and direction) and sports psychologist (“Stay in the moment!”). Many of the top professional golf caddies earn $500,000 per year or more for their efforts. Most receive a weekly minimum payday from $1,500 to $3,000 plus a sliding percentage of the player’s earnings from the week’s golf tournament. The caddie for Open Championship winner Ryan Fox was expected to receive a 10% share of the winner’s check. I wonder if the caddie’s $320,000 earnings were taxed by the Brits, too? Perhaps we may soon see an AI-based rolling golf bag cart to follow the players around. It could spew yardages, provide wind speeds and directions, and offer encouraging words to the golfer.  Especially those who just dumped their approach shot into a lake in front of the green! Too much time is being wasted in conversations between today’s pro golfers and their caddies prior to nearly every shot.  There is zero evidence that the additional time spent in consultation has resulted in lower scoring in professional golf. Let’s fix it!  Penalties to dock the golfer’s paycheck are the most effective way to increase speed of play This weekend, I watched as one pro golfer marked his golf ball less than six inches away from the hole rather than just tapping it in. I kid you not.  The distance about the width of his hand. Most golfers wear spikeless shoes.  It shouldn’t matter if the player briefly stepped into the line of his playing partner in order to quickly complete that short putt. This seemed like a perfect example of today’s slothful play. Slow play has been fostered by a lack of tough rules and a lack of enforcement. The United States Golf Association (USGA) rules do not spend a lot of space addressing the pace of play. However, Rule 5.6 was adopted to limit golfers to 40 seconds to make a stroke after the player is ready to hit. Let’s say that Rory McIlroy has just completed his second shot from the fairway.  Now it’s now my turn.  Rule 5.6 states that I should complete my shot within 40 seconds after Rory’s golf ball coming to rest. Pro tip – Put a stopwatch on any golfer while you watch a PGA or LPGA event.  Most will hit their tee shots in the allotted 40-second time.  However, more than half will exceed 40 seconds on every subsequent shot until they complete the hole. Did you know that there is already a (human) walking scorer assigned to follow each group in men’s and women’s professional golf tournaments? The PGA and other pro tours can and should provide a stopwatch to the scorer to record the time for each golfer’s shot.  That information (in addition to the golfer’s score) could be reported after every hole. Upon the first violation, a rules official should advise the player that they are being warned about slow play.  Every subsequent 40-second violation should come with a one-shot penalty for that hole. Players receiving two or more penalties during a round of golf will quickly get the picture.  I wouldn’t be surprised if tournament scoring might be just as good or even better than today. Newly crowned Open Champion Ryan Fox would heartily agree! The problem (much like in politics) is getting the PGA and LPGA to pass rules providing for specific penalties enforcing the pace of play It is akin to seeing someone in the US House or Senate voluntarily introduce a bill on term limits or to require a balanced federal budget. Should it happen?  Yes.  Will it happen?  Not if the players have their way. Enforcing the pace of play with legitimate penalties will also have a trickle down effect.  Increased speed of play on the golf course will improve college, high school, and junior golf, too. With less wasted time, more people might consider playing golf again.  That would translate into more revenue for golf courses! If Ryan Fox can help bring an end to slow play in professional golf, then consider me one of his biggest fans. The post The Quick Kiwi Fox jumped over the pokey Open Championship Field appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Raise your hand if you saw this one coming. LIV Golf has been downright invisible for more than a month.  The last action featuring the upstart golf league took place on June 7 in Spain. The next LIV Golf event (perhaps) is expected to take place next Thursday, July 23 in the United Kingdom.  August will feature three tournaments in New York, Indianapolis, and Michigan to end the 2026 season. In case you missed it, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has already told the LIV Golf players that Daddy Big Bucks won't be around to lose another billion or more next year to support the league. There has been chatter during this one month LIV Golf lull that the Saudis might even pull the plug prior to next week's golf tournament in Staffordshire, England. Stay tuned! This week, the fourth major golf tournament of the year is being held at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale (located 50 miles northwest of Liverpool, England). After two rounds, nine members of the LIV Golf contingent have made their presence known at The Open – loud and clear Leading the Open after two rounds was none other than LIV Golf's Lucas Herbert at eight under par.  Who dat, you ask?  The unassuming Herbert is an Australian golfer who participates as a member of the LIV Golf's popular “Ripper GC” team. Lucas Herbert is only 30 years old.  He won a single PGA Tour event in October, 2021 in Bermuda against a less-than-stellar field.  Herbert then moved over to LIV Golf in January, 2024 to team up with fellow Aussies Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, and Elvis (Smiley, that is). Herbert (whose caddie looks like a guitar player for ZZ Top) won the May, 2026 LIV Golf tournament in northern Virginia.  His blazing 24-under par total produced a four-shot victory. Lucas Herbert tied the Open record on Friday with a second round 8-under par 62.  He missed a three foot birdie putt on the 18th hole which would have given him a new record with a sizzling 61. He told the assembled press afterwards, “It's a pretty good problem to have – to be disappointed you shot a 62!” When the second round ended, Herbert took a one shot lead into the weekend over fellow LIV Golf star and team captain of the “Crushers” team, Bryson DeChambeau. Well, at least for a few minutes… Bryson DeChambeau rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole on Friday to post a 7-under par total and take solo second place.  He was expecting to be paired with LIV Golf's Lucas Herbert on Saturday as he walked off the 18th green following Round 2. Royal & Ancient tournament officials visited with Bryson DeChambeau as soon as he walked toward the clubhouse to sign his scorecard.  They wanted to discuss a possible rules infraction which happened way back on Hole #5 of the second round Friday. Bryson DeChambeau bombed a long tee shot, but it was far off line to the right side of the fairway.  His golf ball landed in a marshy area surrounded by knee-high fescue grass.  As DeChambeau walked around and then behind the ball to line-up his second shot, he accidentally stepped onto some of the fescue behind the ball.  The rules officials deemed the temporarily depressed grass to give the golfer an unfair advantage. DeChambeau gave a passionate explanation of his version of the story.  He pleaded with the officials that the shot he played was not affected by the squished-down nearby grass.  No matter.  He was still assessed a two shot penalty to balloon his bogey 5 into a triple bogey 7 on Hole #5. Those extra two shots changed his second round total score from -7 to -5.  It dropped DeChambeau from solo second place into a three way tie for fifth place. Afterwards, he said, “Obviously disappointed with the ruling.  I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is.  This fires me up.  Onto the weekend.  Let’s get it!” It wasn't the only time that DeChambeau was in the news this week at The Open Bryson DeChambeau is a former US Amateur champion and has won two US Opens.  His unusual golfing style (extremely long drives, a set of irons which are all the same length, and a wonky upright putting stance) make him easy to notice on the golf course.  His bright smile and affable personality have added to his popularity – especially with younger golf fans. One former golfer who isn't enthralled with DeChambeau's golf style is former champion Nick Faldo. Earlier in the week, Faldo took to the microphone to say that Bryson DeChambeau had little or no chance of winning the Claret Jug trophy which goes to the winner. The six-time major champion commented, “I’d say it to his face.  DeChambeau has zero clue of strategy.”  He added, “He (DeChambeau) said last year, ‘I’m going to go out and attack the links.’  Well, I’ve never attacked the links.  You thread it…feed it down the fairway.” To his credit, Bryson DeChambeau didn’t directly respond to Nick Faldo’s barbed remarks. LIV Golf’s “Hot Temper Twins” haven’t disappointed, either What’s the first thing you think of when I say, “Terrell Hatton?” Some might say, “Who?”  Golf fans like me think of “Hot Head Hatton.” The club-flinging, four-letter-word-hurling Hatton found himself at -3 heading into Saturday’s third round. The LIV Golf competitor was paired with Scottie Scheffler (-4) and Bryson DeChambeau during the first two rounds at this year’s Open.  The cameras found Hatton on the verge of club-chunking a few different times during Thursday’s opening round. Then there’s LIV Golf’s $300 million bonus man, Jon Rahm.  Like Hatton, the intense Spaniard has a long history of temper eruptions on the golf course. Friday’s second round featured Jon Rahm (-4 for the tournament) flinging an iron which bounced off the tee box on the par-3 15th hole. Rules officials handed Rahm an official warning afterwards. The four major golf championships are (yeah, right) cracking down on bad behavior on the course.  Rules officials now have the option of issuing a warning, a two shot penalty, or, if warranted, a disqualification. With Rahm being a two-time major golf champion, he was fortunate not to be assessed a two-shot penalty after Friday’s latest temper outburst. A LIV golfer may not hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday, but they’ve stolen the show The other five LIV Golf players who made the cut at The Open were Thomas Detry, Josele Ballester, Victor Perez, Peter Uihlein, and Laurie Canter. You can say a lot about LIV Golf, but several of the nine players who made the cut at this year’s Open Championship have definitely spiced-up this week’s competition. A perilous financial future lies ahead for LIV Golf at the end of August (assuming they are still in business at that point). The economics of the league are not sustainable.  Saudi’s fat wallet (now more than $5 billion lighter) will be unavailable soon after enduring four years of massive losses.  Defections by Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed this season have also hurt LIV Golf.   Don’t forget that Bryson DeChambeau’s contract expires at the end of 2026. All signs point to a rough landing ahead for LIV Golf. Let’s enjoy their contingent of talented and spicy golfers this weekend at The Open – while we still have time. The post It's a LIV Takeover at the Open Championship! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The previous post covered my grades on how the strength of today’s four largest college athletic conferences compare with their previous versions twenty years ago in 2006. Here's a brief recap. In my estimation, only the SEC (which expanded from 12 to 16 teams over that 20 year period) has shown an upgrade in competition levels since 2006.  I awarded the SEC a “B” grade. The Big 12 (which lost four of its prominent members to the SEC) received a C+ for their nimble addition of several relevant regional sports schools. A “D” grade was handed down to the Atlantic Coast Conference.  Their nonsensical addition of West Coast newcomers Cal (Berkeley) and Stanford in 2024 crashed the ACC's overall score. Speaking of lousy grades, I awarded a D- to the Big Ten Conference as its recently-annexed properties have resulted in a BIG thud.  From the east (Maryland and Rutgers) to the west (Nebraska, Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington), the Big Ten’s new coast-to-coast configuration has failed to improve this conference for either sports fans or student/athletes. How have the five mid-major conferences fared with recent expansion issues? These other conferences (nicknamed the “Group of Five”) can be quite entertaining but rarely win national championships.  They must compete against the “Big Four” major conferences featuring the wealthiest college sports programs. American Athletic Conference (AAC) The AAC has only been around since the year 2013.  There were 10 initial AAC members and now 14 in 2026. Only Memphis, South Florida, and Temple remain from 2013.  The ACC raided Conference USA to obtain several of its new members. Army and Navy – What's not to like about these two additions?  They bring the focus of the entire college football world to their annual game played in early December.  Grades – A Charlotte – The 49ers have been perpetual cellar dwellers in most sports.  Charlotte, North Carolina sports fans are more likely to follow UNC, Duke, and Clemson.  Yawn.  Grade – D- East Carolina – The Pirates have made the NCAA baseball playoffs ten times since 2013 and have occasionally contended for the AAC title in football.  A hearty fan base makes ECU a fun place to watch sports.  Grade – B Florida Atlantic – A member of the AAC since 2023, this school is best known for its men's basketball team and having a great beach nearby.  Sadly, most local sports fans don’t give a hoot about the FAU Owls yet.  Grade – C- North Texas – The Mean Green had a brilliant 12-2 football season in 2025 in the school's third year as part of the AAC.  The other sports are lagging behind.  Grade – C Rice – Another third year AAC member, the Houston-based Owls have been an athletics flop in their new conference.  Grade – D Tulane – Green Wave football program has rejuvenated Tulane athletics down in the Crescent City.  Unfortunately, the remainder of the school’s sports teams rarely lead the AAC.  Grade – C Tulsa – Golden Hurricane football and men's basketball programs have been on the decline in the past decade.  That's a shame, because Tulsa fans desperately want to get behind the city’s lone major college athletics team.  Grade – C- UAB – Try as I might, I'm having trouble remembering any recent sports successes for the Blazers.  Grade – D- UTSA – Like Tulsa, the Roadrunners have the entire San Antonio market ready for their athletics programs to take off.  Other than some recent success in football, UTSA sports still appear to be taking a siesta.  Grade – C- AAC overall grade for expansion: C- Conference USA (C-USA) I am not going to provide individual grades to Conference USA member schools.  It is not their fault that C-USA management has done such a lousy job of keeping this conference together and relevant in major college sports. The conference has seen a 100% turnover in the past 20 years. Schools being added have generally been former FCS top teams such as Delaware, Sam Houston, and Jacksonville (AL) State. Things have declined so badly in Conference USA (“How badly have they declined?”) that longtime member Louisiana Tech recently agreed to pay a reported $8 million to buy its way out of C-USA.  The Bulldogs’ jubilant athletic department and fans are rejoining the Sun Belt Conference this fall.  Louisiana Tech will save more than $1 million annually in travel costs formerly required to travel to schools within the far-flung Conference USA. Longtime C-USA holdovers Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State deserve a better fate.  Save your money and call the Sun Belt in a couple of years! C-USA overall grade for expansion –  F- Mid-American Conference (MAC) In contrast to Conference USA, the MAC has remained remarkably stable for the past 20 years. Eleven of the dozen MAC members in 2006 remain a part of the conference today.  Northern Illinois (which had been part of the MAC for 30 years) is leaving this fall to become part of the Mountain West Conference. In a couple of curious moves, the Mid-American Conference has added two new members recently. UMass – The 2025 addition of the University of Massachusetts (which is at least in regional proximity to longtime MAC member Buffalo) was rather questionable.  Athletic success at Umass has been nearly invisible over the past decade.  After just one year in the MAC, the Minutemen have been a net negative in sports for the Mid-American Conference.  Grade: D- Sacramento State – Seriously?  Yes, the Mid-American Conference will add this longtime FCS member from California to its football schedules this fall.  Sacramento (the #20 TV market) is 2,500 miles from the middle of Ohio. The Hornets will be a football-only member of the Mid-American Conference.  For the usually stable MAC, this is a rather bizarre expansion move.  Grade: F MAC overall grade for expansion:  D- Mountain West Conference (Mountain West) The Mountain West has survived a few departure tremors in recent years.  Of the nine Mountain West members 20 years ago, only Air Force, New Mexico, UNLV, and Wyoming remain.  Let’s review the teams which have come aboard since 2006. Hawaii – The Rainbow Warriors (2012) have posted winning football records in just four of their 14 seasons in the Mountain West.  The other athletic squads are nearly invisible in the post-season tournaments.  Hawaii remains a dream road trip destination for visiting teams and their fans, though.  Grade: C- Nevada – At least the men’s basketball team has appeared in the NCAA March Madness event five times over the past nine seasons.  Otherwise, fans of the Nevada Wolfpack (which joined the Mountain West in 2012) haven’t had much to howl about lately.  Grade: C- North Dakota State – This former FCS division powerhouse football program is stepping-up to play against the big boys beginning this fall.  The move is for football only. The Bison are a terrific geographic fit for the Mountain West Conference, too.  This makes sense.  Grade: A Northern Illinois – The Huskies will join the Mountain West this fall after 30 years in the Mid-American Conference.  Northern Illinois’ sports resume has weakened in recent years.  Other than bringing the #3 TV market (Chicago) to the Mountain West, this move makes little sense.  Grade: D San Jose State – The Spartans (members since 2013) have appeared in four bowl games over the past decade.  On the other hand, the men’s basketball team has won just 33% of its conference games over the past 13 years.  Grade: C- UTEP – This longtime Conference USA member joins the Mountain West this fall.  UTEP’s football team has been downright awful in recent years.  Despite a sports slump, UTEP bring strong fan support from the El Paso area.  They should be a fine geographic fit for the Mountain West.  Grade: C Mountain West overall grade for expansion:  C Sun Belt Conference (Sun Belt) The Sun Belt has been nicknamed the “Junior SEC”.  This conference has grown from 10 members in 2006 to 14 today. Only Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, Troy, and UL-Monroe remain from 2006. Appalachian State – The Mountaineers (members since 2014) have been a top football contender in the Sun Belt.  Their enthusiastic fans make road trips to Boone, North Carolina a fun stop.  Grade: B Coastal Carolina – Speaking of fun stops, how about a visit to Myrtle Beach to play Coastal Carolina?  The 2017 Sun Belt addition of the Chanticleers has been a terrific addition for the conference.  Coastal’s football team has played in six straight bowl games.  The baseball team won the men’s College World Series in 2016.  Grade: A Georgia Southern – Would it surprise you to learn that the Golden Eagles from Statesboro, Georgia have played in seven bowl games over the past eight seasons?  The other sports programs at Georgia Southern need to step it up.  Grade: B Georgia State – The 2013 addition of the Panthers from Atlanta has not added a lot of sports notoriety.  However, the men’s basketball program has earned four invitations to March Madness in the past 11 seasons.  Grade: C Louisiana Tech – The Bulldogs paid dearly ($8 million) to escape Conference USA beginning this fall.  Louisiana Tech brings several highly competitive sports teams. They are a perfect geographic addition to the Sun Belt Conference Western division.  Grade: A Marshall – This begins Marshall’s fourth year in the Sun Belt Conference.  The Thundering Herd has been a top football competitor and competes well in other major sports.  Grade: B Old Dominion – ODU came into the Sun Belt in 2022.  The Monarchs from Norfolk, VA posted a nifty 10-3 football record in 2025.  Old Dominion has been relatively quiet in its other sports, though.  Grade: C Southern Miss – The Golden Eagles (Sun Belt members since 2022) have been a dominant team in recent NCAA college baseball post-season tournaments.  Last season’s 2025 football team improved from a miserable 1-11 record in 2024 to a hopeful 7-6 mark.  Grade: B Sun Belt overall grade for expansion:  B+ Bonus Conference!  The newly revived Pac-12 Conference “states” its case in 2026 The most prominent names of the long-time Pac-12 Conference bolted for better TV money into the Big Ten and ACC in 2024.  That left holdovers Oregon State and Washington State “homeless”.  The Beavers and Cougars have bagged a few top teams from the Mountain West Conference to help them rebuild the Pac-12 starting this fall. Boise State is the biggest name coming to the new Pac-12.  The Broncos have fielded a nationally ranked football program several times in the past few decades. Other Mountain West migrants include Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Washington State. Texas State (formerly of the Sun Belt Conference) will also join the Pac-12 this fall. In case you didn’t notice, each of the eight new Pac-12 schools has the last name of “State”! Summary Only the Sun Belt Conference has earned a positive score (B+) from SwampSwami among the “Group of Five” mid-major conferences. The Sun Belt is the only major college athletic conference opting to maintain two divisions (East and West) to minimize travel expenses for its member schools and lessen the travel impact on their student/athletes.  Bravo! The post Grading the Mid-Major Conference expansions – Part 2 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

We are in that brief summertime window where college athletics have gone on vacation. The men’s and women’s College World Series ended last month.  Football season begins again in late August. I have been reflecting on the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. Even just twenty years ago, the major college sports conferences looked a whole lot different than they do today.  Schools have been shifting to new conference locations primarily to maximize revenues. A few have switched conferences primarily to reduce expenses (I’m looking at you, Louisiana Tech!) The question remains as to whether the recent decades of musical chairs has resulted in improvements for college athletic fans and athletes?  Or have these changes primarily benefited the wallets of major universities and the media companies who quietly wink and nod after bigger TV markets have been added to the portfolios of the largest conferences. Let’s jump into the Wayback machine today and return 20 years to 2006.  We will take a look at each major college athletic conference as it was in 2006 and how it is structured today in 2026. Have these additions been for the better or worse for each conference? Today, let’s examine the top four (by money) major football conferences.  We will review the group of “mid-major” conferences in my next report. Southeastern Conference (SEC) New teams:  Missouri and Texas A&M (2011); Oklahoma and Texas (2024).  Interestingly, each of those four teams moved from the Big 12 Conference to the SEC. Analysis by Team: Missouri – has been a geographic misfit in the SEC from Day 1.  The Tigers have not competed at a high level in most sports nor do they have a lot of trophies to show for the past 15 years in the SEC.  Grade: D Texas A&M – made a lot of sense coming to the SEC in 2011.  The Aggies needed to move along from its constant obsession about being compared to intrastate foe “Texas University”.  SEC leaders were able to snag the huge Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth TV markets.  A&M has proven it “belongs” in the SEC over its 15 years in the league by earning several league titles and staying relevant annually.  Grade: B Oklahoma – The Sooners played in the College Football playoffs last year and just claimed the men’s College World Series title in June.  OU’s long history of athletic success has already been felt around the SEC.  Grade: B+ Texas – The Longhorns are annually contending for the College Football Playoffs in recent seasons.  Texas also brought the growing San Antonio and Austin TV markets into the SEC.  The Longhorns have quickly become top SEC competitors in basketball, baseball, and other sports.  Grade: B+ SEC overall grade for expansion: B Big Ten Conference (Big Ten) New teams: Nebraska (2011); Maryland and Rutgers (2014); Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington (2024). It took a long time for the stodgy Big Ten Conference to finally invite Penn State to become its 11th team in 1990.  Since that time, the poorly named Big Ten has grown to 18 schools today.  The league picked-up several large TV markets in New York City and Philadelphia (Rutgers), Washington DC/Baltimore (Maryland), Los Angeles (UCLA and USC), and Seattle (Washington).  Those new schools have produced relatively little in terms of sports titles for the conference, though.  Analysis by Team:  Nebraska – The Cornhuskers left the comfy confines of the Big 12 Conference in 2011 and quickly saw their national stature in sports take a beating in the Big Ten.  Despite lofty expectations, Nebraska has been a disappointment.  Grade: D Maryland – Ditto.  Just substitute “ACC” for “Big 12”.  Grade: D Rutgers – Rutgers was lousy at most major sports prior to joining the Big Ten.  They were added to the Big Ten simply to attract television viewers from the New York City and Philly TV markets.  Athletically speaking, Rutgers has been a Big Ten bust.  Grade: F Oregon – The Big Ten’s raid of the former Pac-12 snagged one of the nation’s top football teams in Oregon.  The Ducks have given the Big Ten a much needed bolt of energy.  However, I can’t give a top grade to Oregon when its athletes must travel thousands of miles just to participate in Big Ten events.  Grade: C+ UCLA – The Bruins’ women’s basketball and softball teams have been been excellent.  However, the men’s sports programs haven’t made much of a dent in the Big Ten yet.  Grade: C USC – There were lofty expectations for the Trojans’ football team.  They have under-performed.  Like UCLA, USC has not been a difference maker in the Big Ten.  Grade: C- Washington – The Huskies’ football team has regressed the past two years with a 14-11 overall mark.  Washington’s other sports teams have been nearly invisible in the 18-team Big Ten Conference.  This is yet another school spending a ton of money on jet fuel.  They are forcing student/athletes to travel across the country to play in athletic events just to grab more money from television.  Grade: D- Big Ten overall grade for expansion: D- Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) New teams: Pitt and Syracuse (2013), Louisville (2014), SMU, Stanford, and Syracuse (2024) Exiting team: Maryland (2014) to Big Ten *Notre Dame:  The Irish joined the ACC in 2013 but remained independent in football.  The current 17-team Atlantic Coast Conference has, by far, the worst geographic fit of any major college conference in America.  Twenty years ago, the ACC’s 13 teams (Maryland has since left) were located along the Atlantic coast.  Adding SMU (Texas) and West coast entries Cal and Stanford in 2024 has been one of the most puzzling decisions in recent years.  Analysis by Team: Louisville – This school (since 2013) has been surprisingly competitive in football but surprisingly non-competitive in men’s basketball recently.  Overall, the Cardinals have been a solid addition to the ACC.  Grade: B+ Syracuse – The Orange (coming aboard in 2013) has produced just four winning seasons in football after 13 years in the ACC.  Some early ACC basketball success has faded in recent years.  Grade: C- Pittsburgh – Pitt (which arrived in 2014) had a good run in football a few years ago with Kenny Pickett running the offense.  Otherwise, their addition to the ACC has been “OK” at best.  Grade: C- Cal (Berkeley) and Stanford – these two Pacific Coast schools (added in 2024) have brought zero titles to the ACC since joining the league.  They remain a waste of jet fuel.  Grades for both schools: F SMU – The Mustangs effectively bought their slot in the ACC in 2024 with the help of their wealthy financial backers.  SMU made it into the 2025 College Football Playoffs but hasn’t been a factor in other sports.  Grade: D+ *Notre Dame – The Irish baseball team made it into the College World Series in 2022.  Notre Dame’s financially prudent but quite selfish decision not to participate in football in the ACC comes with a marked-down score. Grade: D ACC overall grade for expansion: D Big 12 Conference (Big 12): Only seven of the Big 12 Conference members remain from 2006.  Within that group, Colorado left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 in 2011 but returned in 2024. Analysis by Team: Arizona – The Wildcats came to the Big 12 in 2024 as a refugee from the dying Pac-12 Conference.  Arizona went 9-4 in football last season.  It’s too early to give the Cats a good grade.  Grade: C Arizona State – Same story as Arizona.  Grade: C BYU – The Cougars came into the Big 12 in 2023.  They have rolled-off 11-2 and 12-2 football records in 2024 and 2025.  The BYU basketball team has appeared in the NCAA tourney in all three seasons after joining the Big 12.  Despite its geographic distance from other longtime Big 12 members, Brigham Young has been a positive addition to its new conference.  Grade: B+ Cincinnati – They entered the Big 12 in 2023.  The Bearcats haven’t been a major sports factor in their three years in the conference.  Cincy has been a good geographic fit for the Big 12, but a sports dud.  Grade: D- Houston – The Cougars also came into the league in 2023 along with the valuable Houston television market.  The Coogs have been competitive in football and a regular national championship contender in men’s basketball.  U of H has been a solid addition to the Big 12.  Grade: B TCU – Texas Christian joined the Big 12 in 2012.  In addition to bringing the Dallas-Fort Worth TV market into the league, the 2022 Horned Frogs’ football team played in the national championship game (and lost).  TCU’s other athletic programs have been regular contenders in the Big 12.  Grade: A- UCF – Central Florida (added 2023) hasn’t posted a winning season in football in three years in the Big 12.  The other sports teams haven’t been very competitive, either.  This school was added primarily due to its enormous size (70,000 students) and the Orlando television market.  Despite those pluses, the school is 1,000 miles east of Houston (the nearest Big 12 city).  This addition has been puzzling since Day 1.  Grade: F Utah – The Utes football team finished 11-2 in 2025 (the school’s second year as part of the Big 12).  Utah’s sports programs are generally quite competitive and bring enthusiastic fans.  Grade: B- West Virginia – Mountaineers entered the Big 12 back in 2012.  In the past 14 years, West Virginia has posted a winning football record 50% of the time.  Like Utah, this is a school with passionate sports fans who have been a plus for the Big 12.  Grade: B- Big 12 overall grade for expansion: C+ Conclusion – SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 conferences After the questionable addition of Missouri in 2011, the SEC’s expansion to add both Oklahoma and Texas in 2024 has made their conference a bit stronger.  OU and Texas jumped from the Big 12 to the SEC in 2024 after huge piles of money were being pushed in their direction to incentivize the move.  It still saddens me that these two long-time anchor tenants of the Big 12 Conference aren’t around any longer. Speaking of the Big 12, let’s give that conference credit for adding several new schools within relatively proximity of the league’s Midwestern stalwarts.  However, the addition of UCF (Central Florida) made absolutely no sense in 2023.  It is still puzzling today. Both the Big Ten and ACC moved to add schools located west of the Mississippi River in recent years.  The Big Ten’s addition of four former Pac-12 universities still feels odd.  Meanwhile, Cal and Stanford have brought zero value to the ACC. Instead of buying their way into the ACC, SMU should have remained patient.  The Mustangs could have bought their way into the Big 12 at some point and be competing with nearby TCU and other regional rivals instead of jetting their athletes up and down the Atlantic seaboard. All in all, expansion has generally served to water-down the four major college conferences – at least on the playing field.  The recent moves have all centered on universities pocketing more money from television and media companies. Let’s examine the American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt conferences during our next visit! The post Grading the College Conference expansions – Part 1 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The temperatures across the South are still scorching (as usual). World Cup Fever across the United States seems to be abating quite a bit today. The three host countries in North America (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) for the 2026 World Cup soccer advanced into the Round of 16.  That was a pleasant surprise and some very good news for fans in North America. Sadly, the soccer teams for the three host countries all bit the dust over the past few days.  None reached the quarterfinals, Elite Eight, or whatever the FIFA soccer people call this next round. Action on Saturday July 4th saw Canada get skunked 3-0 by tiny Morocco.  The Moroccans converted on three of their four shots on goal to capture the win.  Canada only attempted three shots on goal as they bowed out of this year’s competition. On Sunday, Mexico lost at home to England 3-2 in a very tightly contested match.  The home team out passed England by a 2-1 margin.  The number of completed passes by Mexico (418 to 195 for England) was impressive but didn’t lead to enough points. As golfers might translate, “Pass for show, but kick goals for dough.” The final host country bowed out of World Cup 26 on Monday in Seattle. World Cup host United States had all eyes focused on Seattle Monday evening for its Round of 16 game against Belgium.  Team USA was coming off a raucous Independence Day weekend filled with fireworks and patriotic enthusiasm as the nation celebrated 250 years. Apparently, America’s soccer team failed to receive a fiery jingoistic pregame message.  Belgium breezed to a surprisingly easy 4-1 win over an American team which looked like it had a case of World Cup stage fright on Monday night. The US was attempting to reach the quarterfinals (round of 8) for the first time since 2002. Belgium’s Red Devils (yes, that’s their nickname) had never even reached the quarterfinals – before Monday night’s game against Team USA. Despite having a very loud advantage playing in the home stadium of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, the American team laid a proverbial egg Monday night in losing 4-1 to Belgium. The team looked lethargic (overconfident, perhaps?) and did not appear ready for a game of this magnitude. Much like the European golfers have dominated golf’s Ryder Cup matches the past few decades, the European soccer teams seemed more cohesive and better prepared. The quarterfinals will feature seven European teams and just one South American squad.  All of these games will be shown on FOX Television. Times are CDT: Thursday – France vs. Morocco (3PM) in Foxboro, MA Friday – Spain vs. Belgium (2PM) in Los Angeles, CA Saturday – Norway vs. England (4PM) in Miami, FL Saturday – Argentina vs. Switzerland (8PM) in Kansas City, MO Team USA’s bubble was burst on Monday night by a Belgian team which was not considered to be one of the top European squads. America once again proved that their team has exceptional ability, but their team resolve in tough matches isn’t quite as determined as other top competitors. Perhaps the US should hire Olympic Dream Team members such as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird to help prepare the soccer team next time? Question – Will Americans still watch the remaining World Cup games without Team USA involved? The World Cup soccer television ratings have been a success for FOX Sports.  Last Wednesday’s 2-0 win by Team USA over Bosnia-Herzegovina drew 26 million viewers. Early reports indicated that more than 30 million viewers tuned into FOX on Monday night during the American team’s 4-1 loss to Belgium. That’s about 1/3 of the number of viewers for a Super Bowl game.  That is quite impressive.  The total exceeds the viewership of nearly every NFL regular season game. But… Are you planning to tune in for the afternoon quarterfinal games on Thursday and Friday?  The next night game on the schedule won’t occur until Saturday night’s quarterfinal game in Kansas City featuring Argentina and Switzerland. The Swiss won a 0-0 game over Colombia Tuesday afternoon following a 4-3 shootout success. I will be surprised if World Cup soccer will lure 15 to 20 million American viewers for the upcoming quarterfinal round of games. Red Card Outrage! The US team was given (theoretically) an advantage before Monday’s game with Belgium. A dreaded Red Card was handed to an American player by a referee in the previous game after two players got their legs tangled-up.  The Red Card would have disqualified the American player from participating on Monday night against Belgium. Following a call from US President Donald Trump asking for an executive review, a FIFA committee rescinded the Red Card and reinstated the American player.  The Belgian team was outraged by that decision.  It added more motivation to take down the US squad in Monday night’s game. Have you noticed the unique grammar involving World Cup sports stories? I was reading a news story posted on ESPN Sunday and ran across the following sentences (among many): “Norway were stronger, better organized, and more capable with the ball.” “Norway are a very good team” What is going on here?  Who is writing this stuff? The best answer I could find is that Europeans (who speak “proper” English, of course) refer to their national soccer/football team as if it was a plural noun. I’m not picking on ESPN in particular for this odd writing style during the World Cup.  Other major news outlets have been doing the same thing. I’ll counter with this suggestion. If the soccer match is being played in Europe, write the story any way you prefer.  That’s fine. When the game is being played in Kansas City, Missouri, or another American city, please write your story utilizing the preferred grammar used by American readers. Fakery Bakery is open for business again this year at the World Cup Soccer is played without protective pads except around the lower legs.  Contact between the players while they run at full speed or jump into the air to hit the ball with their head is inevitable.  Legitimate sports injuries affect every team. However, the sport continues to hone fakery to new levels of acting in order to draw a penalty from the game’s referees.  Feigning an injury on the field to draw a sympathetic penalty from the refs has become too commonplace in soccer. A 0-0 defensive struggle like Tuesday’s epic (Zzzz…) between Switzerland and Colombia can tempt players to feign injury to help their team get a better shot on goal. Winning a “World Cup Academy Award” in the category of Overacting seems to be a must for many players. For fun, keep your eyes on those “injured” players.  Once they receive that penalty call on an opponent, their injured leg, back, or other body part seems to heal almost immediately.  It’s a miracle!   Mexican fans performed their version of the Texas A&M Aggies’ Midnight Yell Mexican soccer fans pulled out all the stops last week in trying to win their World Cup games in Mexico City.  During some recent games, the home team’s zealous fans camped outside of the hotel which was hosting the opposing team. From late at night until the wee hours of the next morning, a throng of Mexican fans threw a loud party replete with Mariachi bands, singing, chanting, and air horns all night long.  They were trying to disrupt the sleep of the team’s next day opponent. The Mexican fans’ version of a Texas A&M Midnight Yell practice was in excessively bad taste and displayed rather poor sportsmanship. In the end, England ended Mexico’s midnight serenade with a 3-2 win to eliminate the host country. Life is much quieter today in Mexico City. The post This Ain’t your “Grammar’s” World Cup! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The past week has featured a number of rather important sports stories.  Some are quite newsworthy and will have lasting impact.  Others seem to be overblown stories being pushed by the media just to meet deadline requirements. How do you view these stories?  News or Snooze? Oklahoma Sooners downed North Carolina to claim the men’s College World Series title A: Newsworthy The SEC just won its seventh consecutive men’s College World Series baseball title after unseeded Oklahoma blasted the favored and #5 seed North Carolina Tar Heels 13-2 on Monday night in Omaha. OU’s “Slugging Sooners” K-O’d every opponent they faced during the postseason in their unprecedented march to college baseball’s national title. Oklahoma barely made it into the NCAA 64-team tournament field.  OU finished in 11th place in the SEC regular season with a lowly 14-16 conference record. The Sooners took advantage of their good fortune to make the college baseball playoffs and took down #2 seed Georgia Tech in Atlanta in the opening round. They next traveled to #15 Kansas in the Super Regionals and swept the Jayhawks right out of the tournament. In Omaha, OU took down #7 Alabama and #3 Georgia to earn a spot in the best-of-three title series against #5 North Carolina. Yes, Oklahoma definitely caught fire at the right time of the season.  It was their first baseball title since 1994. Well done, Sooners! Last week, troubled college QB Brendan Sorsby entered the NFL Supplemental Draft.  This week, the NFL canceled their own Supplemental Draft. A: Snooze worthy I just can’t muster up a lot of tears for either Brendan Sorsby or Texas Tech right now.  If anyone was wearing the black hat this week, it was definitely the NFL. Brendan Sorsby (as we’ll explain later) made a timely application to the NFL before the league’s Monday, June 22 deadline to enter the Supplemental Draft. On Tuesday, the pro football league completely hosed this young man by abruptly canceling its annual Supplemental Draft.  The event is normally conducted in August for a handful of eligible football players who did not participate in April’s seven-round selection process. As you may recall, Brendan Sorsby was the young man who admitted to betting on college football games (including those of his own team) along with many other sports. This spring, he acknowledged having a gambling addiction and went away for counseling and treatment.  Upon completion of the program, the NCAA ruled that Sorsby was still ineligible to play football this fall at Texas Tech as an incoming transfer student.  Sorsby then sued the NCAA in a final attempt to regain his eligibility. With unprecedented speed, a court in northwest Texas ruled that Brendan Sorsby could, indeed, play football this fall for the Red Raiders.  His trial vs. the NCAA was generously moved to begin during February, 2027 (long after this year’s football season ends). The Big 12 Conference objected, too.  They wanted Sorsby banned this season for breaking the rules on gambling.  The conference met to determine an appopriate punishment for Texas Tech if Sorsby hit the field this fall for the Red Raiders. Sorsby (as we predicted) did the right thing last week.  He said adios to Texas Tech and declared his intention to participate in the NFL’s Supplemental Draft.  The NFL then pulled the rug on this event and left Sorsby homeless (football-wise) for this fall. Don’t feel sad for Brendan Sorsby, though.  Texas Tech (whose athletics program is supported by several wealthy energy leaders) agreed to pay the young man the estimated $5 million his 2026 NIL deal is worth anyway. Invest it well, young man! Speaking of drafts, the NBA held its annual player draft this week A: Snooze worthy Quick!  Tell me the first round NBA selection made by your favorite NBA team on Tuesday night. Even many of the players being selected during the first and second rounds of the NBA Draft didn’t even know where they would be playing. That’s because an incredible 27 of the 60 players taken in Rounds 1 and 2 of the NBA Draft were immediately traded by the team which had just selected them. What’s going on here? The first 12 selections in Round 1 will be playing (for now) for the teams which drafted them.  Ten of the next 18 players selected were shipped to another team moments after receiving a ceremonial team cap and shaking NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s hand on-stage. Round 2 was an even bigger mess.  A total of 17 of the 30 players (57%) picked in the second round were immediately traded to another team. Outside of the first 12 players selected in Round 1, the majority of basketball players picked in this week’s NBA Draft apparently were not highly coveted. Cheap advice – Keep your bags packed! The NCAA recommends college athletes be allowed to play for five seasons over five years?!! A: Newsworthy College athletes have long been given four years of athletic eligibility to participate in varsity athletics.  A flawed concept called taking a “red shirt” was used to allow underutilized players (generally freshmen) to participate in team practices for an extra year prior to playing in games. This concept kept getting pushed to the limits.  Players injured before the midway point in a season started requesting the NCAA to grant them an extra year of eligibility. This week, the NCAA’s Division 1 Cabinet issued a proposed rule change to make this issue much simpler (we hope).  The athlete will be allowed five years to participate in college athletics from the earlier of the date of full-time enrollment or the academic year following his/her 19th birthday. This “Five in Five” concept is expected to begin this fall. Yes, it means that a healthy athlete could (potentially) play five consecutive years of major college athletics. The NCAA has finally acted on a relevant issue for college athletics.  Unsurprisingly, there has already been some legal pushback filed by players. Stay tuned to see if this change to college athletics is actually implemented this fall. The PGA Tour announced some radical changes to its structure beginning in 2028 A: Newsworthy LIV Golf has been criticized by many, but the upstart league has forced the stodgy PGA Tour to make some radical changes. The PGA Tour announced on Tuesday that there will be two “tracks” for top pro golfers beginning in the year 2028. A new “Championship” division will feature up to 24 tournament events from February through August. This grouping will feature the top 100 ranked golfers playing 72 holes with a 36-hole cut (as before).  The prize money in these events will total at least $20 million. There will also be a new “Challenger” level that will play at least 20 events from February through August. These will have larger fields (144 golfers) and 36-hole cuts, but the tournament prize money will be about $4 million per event. Players who win two tournaments in one season at the “Challenger” level will immediately be promoted up to the Championship division. Golfers in the Championship upper division who finish their season ranked #91-100 will be demoted to the Challenger level for the following year. More details are expected to be announced in the coming months. This announcement quietly confirms that the PGA Tour continues to struggle attracting its top golfers to appear in some of its mid-level tournaments.  Those events usually offer a lower payout than average, too. In case you were wondering, LIV Golf (which might fold at any time) is paying its golfers a total tournament purse of $30 million in 2026.  However, LIV Golf is only playing 14 tournaments worldwide this year. Caitlin Clark’s latest WNBA assailant gets suspended for one game A: Snooze worthy Many fans of the Women’s NBA (WNBA) want to watch the talented scoring outside shooting machine named Caitlin Clark produce plenty of points like the NBA’s Steph Curry. The WNBA’s television ratings and attendance rise whenever third-year shooting guard Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever is featured on national TV or playing in an opponent’s arena. Unfortunately, many players in the WNBA just don’t like Clark.  Some have made her life exceedingly difficult by playing excessively physical defense against the 6′ shooting guard. The number of dirty plays involving Caitlin Clark on the receiving end are becoming far too commonplace in the WNBA.  Worse yet, the three referees on the court are letting a lot of the rough play go without even blowing their whistles. Can you imagine if talented NBA offensive stars such as Pistol Pete Maravich or Larry Bird were being routinely mugged and injured by opposing players?  The men’s pro basketball league understood the value which those stars brought to their league. On the other hand, the WNBA doesn’t seem to have a clue. Another scary moment involving Caitlin Clark (fifth in the WNBA in scoring at 21 points/game) occurred Wednesday night as the Indiana Fever played the Phoenix Mercury. Clark was tripped while handling the basketball. As she laid on the floor, Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas (who is listed at 6’2” and weighs 202 pounds according to the WNBA website) “recklessly made contact with her fist to the throat area of Caitlin Clark.” That quote was issued by the league AFTER the game when this play was reviewed. For her part, Alyssa Thomas was assessed a Level 2 Flagrant foul and then received a one game suspension. Question:  How could three highly trained WNBA referees miss all of that mayhem on the floor?  What were they looking at?  Or, perhaps, were they instructed before the game to overlook it? None of the officials blew a whistle on the play despite the rather obvious unnecessary roughness imparted by Caitlin Clark’s opponents. Whether the WNBA players like Caitlin Clark or not, they better hope that she doesn’t vanish to play go basketball in Europe next season. If that she should leave, fan interest in the WNBA may quickly revert back to the mediocre levels it had before Clark entered the league just three years ago.  *Ol’ SwampSwami and his long-suffering sports wife will be out next week babysitting a couple of our energetic grandsons in N. Louisiana.  We’ll visit again after the July 4th holiday.    Happy 250th birthday, America!  The post Newsworthy or “Snooze worthy”? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Sports fans in the South are likely familiar with “The Paul Finebaum Show.”  If you’re not, you are about to learn more. Paul Finebaum is a graduate of the University of Tennessee.  He has enjoyed a lengthy and very successful career as a popular sportswriter for newspapers across the South. In the mid-1980’s, Finebaum was discovered by a new audience.  His vast knowledge on college sports helped make him a popular guest on sports talk radio stations in the Southeast. He eventually became a full-time radio sports talk host in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1990’s. Paul Finebaum’s unique radio show relied on the host’s deep knowledge of college sports and, especially, the SEC.  He would tee-up one or more issues or topics every hour.  He interviewed guests with relevant expertise on today’s important sports stories. A third element to Paul Finebaum’s radio show was a growing legion of occasionally intense and always unique callers to the program. Their contributions helped to make it one of the more entertaining shows on the air. Paul Finebaum’s local radio show became so popular that he began syndicating it to a number of radio stations in the South beginning in 2001.  New listeners and callers started to show up, too. “The Paul Finebaum Show” reached new heights again in 2014.  That’s when his afternoon sports radio program (1-5 PM Central Time) started being simulcast on television’s SEC Network. After a dozen years on cable television, this show remains true to its roots College football has always been the bread and butter of this program.  SEC football fans are well known for their passion and pride in support of their favorite college teams.  Seasonal sports topics are discussed, but college football is king twelve months of the year on the “The Paul Finebaum Show.” Finebaum’s national television platform has brought new guests and, of course, a host of new callers. Hour #4 of his weekday show is generally dedicated to the radio callers and their takes on the issues of the day. Some callers choose to take verbal snipes at one another instead. Several of the show’s regular callers can come across like seasoned professional wrestlers cutting “promos” trying to sell tickets for upcoming matches. Let’s start with “Legend.” He has been a Paul Finebaum regular caller for decades.  Legend was recently voted as the Top Caller to the show over the past year.  Legend is a loyal supporter and a fierce defender of the Alabama Crimson Tide.  In recent months, he has been equally upset about the team’s current football coach, Kaylen DeBoer.  Legend enthusiastically comes across a bit like WWE superstar, Ric Flair. He can make you laugh as he intensely sells his take on just about any topic. Another top caller goes by the name of “I-Man.”  The I-Man is much more laid-back than Legend.  He always seems to bring some quality insights about the show’s daily topics.  I-man (like Legend) has been calling the Finebaum radio program for many years. One of the callers I like to hear from is a gentleman who goes by the name of “Handsome Joe.” He leads off every call with a heartfelt “Roll Tide Roll, Paul!”  He does a good job of helping the audience try to make sense of what some of the other callers have been trying to convey. Another interesting regular caller to the show goes by the handle of “Squirrel.”  This caller is generally rather low key in his style. Like I-Man, Squirrel can deliver some exceptionally insightful and entertaining takes about the day’s topics.  He is also known to take a few shots at some of the show’s weaker callers, too. There are dozens of regular callers contributing to “The Paul Finebaum Show” Each day is a different roller coaster ride for listeners of the show. The guests and show callers can make the show soar at times.  Other days, a series of pointless calls can send the show crashing down, too.  That usually happens whenever a series of callers spend too much of their air time sniping at previous callers rather than adding something new to the show. Finebaum regular callers also include several insightful female contributors.  They generally make some excellent points and bring a little bit of sanity back to the proceedings. For his part, Paul Finebaum functions as the ringmaster of his own four hour weekday radio circus. He generously allows his guests and callers to be the stars of his show.  I have great admiration for the way he pulls it off.   A few decades ago, yours truly worked as a weekend radio talk show host for several years.  It is very tricky to balance the proper amount of input from the host, the show’s guests, and the callers to craft a product which is pleasing to the average listener. It’s even harder to do this for four hours every day for five days per week like Paul Finebaum does. The majority of Paul Finebaum’s callers agree on one thing… Heaven help the occasional caller who happens to gloat about the Big Ten Conference winning its third consecutive national championship in college football last January. Alabama and LSU fans may despise one another every November.  Likewise, Georgia and Florida supporters dislike each other with a passion, too. However, when a Big Ten supporter calls in to the Finebaum show to say that the SEC’s dominance in college football is now over, these SEC fans quickly band together in support of their beloved sports conference. Some callers to “The Paul Finebaum Show” seem to me a bit like WWE’s Royal Rumble annual wrestling event.  One caller jumps into the ring first to make a point.  The next caller follows to disagree with the previous caller’s position or introduce a different topic to the show. And so it goes for four hours every weekday.  It’s a wild ride. What should be the “Rules for Callers” for the Paul Finebaum show? Tuesday, June 23rd’s final hour of “The Paul Finebaum Show” featured one caller asking the host if anyone had ever written a rule book to help callers to his radio show.   Finebaum suggested that the caller should, perhaps, write that book.  Listeners were also teased by the host to try their hand at it, too. I have listened to enough Finebaum’s show over the years to understand what this caller meant. So, let’s tackle that issue today.  Perhaps my list will find its way to the host of the show.  Feel free to use it! Ten Rules for Callers to “The Paul Finebaum Show” Do… 1. Listen to the show on the day you are making your call.  (Understand what is the primary topic(s) of the day before calling the program.) 2. Think about what you are going to say prior to calling the show. (A highly respected radio program director at a music station I worked for years ago posted a sign in the control room.  It read, “Do not open this microphone unless you have something worthwhile to say.”) 3. Have your own distinct opinion on the subject being discussed. (Tell us why you agree or disagree on the issue.  What would you suggest doing differently?) 4. Feel free to pose a fresh question or topic to the show’s host. (Paul may welcome a change of subjects at certain times of the show.  He will either answer your question directly or encourage other callers to provide their opinion on that topic, too!) 5. Be succinct.  (You generally have up to 60 seconds to make your point.  It is up to the show’s host and producer to ascertain whether your call is deemed entertaining enough to continue any longer than that.) Now, for the “Don’t” set of my rules when calling the show… 6. Imbibe any adult beverages prior to making your call. (Slurring your words – even if you are making a great point – is a turnoff to most of us listeners. Try again tomorrow, please.) 7. Spend your entire call tearing down what a previous caller just said.  That’s boring! (Instead, start with “I disagree with “X” on this issue. Here’s why he/she got it wrong”.) 8. Read from scripted comments or points or ramble. This is a phone call – not a speech! (Use brief notes to stay on track if you feel nervous prior to making the call) 9. Speak past the show host!  Have a real live conversation directly with Paul Finebaum. (Talk as if Paul is the only one on the telephone line, because he is!   Your call will come across much better to us listeners as a result.) 10. Call the show solely to agree with another caller’s point on a particular issue. (It’s boring to hear, “I totally agree with Legend’s comments about …”.  So, exactly why did you take the time to call the radio show today?  What are your own thoughts on the subject being discussed?)  Bonus – Don’t take yourself too seriously!  The post Paul Finebaum Show – “Rules for Callers” appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It was downright ugly at times on Sunday watching the US Open leader play his final round in front of dozens of obnoxious, heckling New York City area golf fans. In the end, it was Wyndham Clark getting the last laugh. He two-putted from nearly 60 feet on the 18th hole to edge a late-charging Sam Burns by one stroke to win the 2026 US Open golf title.   Wyndham Clark led the tournament field by a whopping six shots entering Sunday's final round at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island.  He was at 7-under par and paired in the final round with the crowd favorite, Scottie Scheffler (-1). Those brash New York golf fans were quite aware that: a. World #1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was trying to win his first US Open to complete a career Grand Slam. b. Scottie Scheffler (who has two young children) was playing on Father's Day Sunday – which also happened to be his 30th birthday.  The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to him on several occasions during the day Sunday. c. Wyndham Clark (who won the 2023 US Open) caused significant locker room damage one year ago at the US Open in Pennsylvania after missing the cut.  He apologized for his temper outburst several times afterwards and paid to repair the damage. d. Wyndham Clark's now-famous temper could, perhaps, be exploited.  The New York crowd might be able to get under his skin during Round #4 and help him lose a six shot lead in the final round. The fans nearly got their wish Clark bogeyed three of his first seven holes on the opening nine to squander most of his lead.  Shreveport's Calvary Baptist Academy and LSU product Sam Burns did just the opposite on Sunday.  Burns started the final day at even par and seven shots behind the leader.  He birdied three of the first five holes to quickly move into second place and turn the back nine of the US Open into a tightly contested match. Police arrested a number of New York area golf fans who were openly taunting and pulling against Wyndham Clark early during Sunday's fourth and final round. One arrest came on the #4 tee box after one fan yelled “Don't choke, Wyndham!” Any shot which Clark hit which failed to reach the fairway or green at Shinnecock Hills was met with cheers from many in the crowd on Sunday.   He dropped three shots to par to finish at -4 and won by a single stroke.   Afterwards, Clark openly addressed the rudeness of many fans during the final round. “New York really didn't like me.  I love you guys.  But, you know, I get it.  I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret, and I've been sorry multiple times…maybe I can win you guys back over eventually”, said the two-time US Open champion. That new (and very heavy) putter carried Wyndham Clark to victory this weekend The heaviest putter in use at this weekend's US Open belonged to the winner. Using something called an “Eye Q” alignment, the new putter from Ping is destined to become the hottest product on the market this summer.  Wyndham Clark just won his second event in the past two months using it. He legally adds lead tape to the bottom of his flat stick to make it even heavier. The golf putter manufacturer and Clark agreed to an exclusive contract with this particular model just days before the US Open started last week. Talk about good timing – for both parties. Wyndham Clark's incredible putting success on both Saturday and Sunday saved countless pars and kept him from falling back to the field. You, too, can own this putter.  For the low, low price (just joking) of $397, the Scottsdale TEC Alley Blue model from PING is now available nationwide. Sam Burns keeps getting closer to winning his first major championship That naughty New York crowd should have gotten behind hard-charging Sam Burns instead of holding out hope for a Scottie Scheffler rally which never came. Sam Burns shot a 3-under par 67 in windy conditions as he navigated the treacherous Shinnecock Hills greens as well as anyone in the field.  His second place finish is the third consecutive year where he has finished inside the top 15 in the US Open.  Burns' birdie putt on the 18th hole trickled by the cup by only an inch.  In the end, it would have resulted in a tie for first place with Wyndham Clark had the Burn's birdie putt dropped into the cup Sam Burns was distraught after missing the putt.  However, he takes away a record second place prize of $2,430,000 as a consolation prize. Meanwhile, Keith Mitchell set a unique record which may never be tied Thursday’s opening nine holes at Shinnecock Hills found Keith Mitchell posting a nightmarish 6-over par score of 41.  On his second nine of the day, he turned it around to shoot a record of 6-under par 29!  How’s that for a nifty even par 70? Mitchell posted another 70 in Round 2 to make the cut at even par.  Then he shot a 70 on Saturday in Round 3. Keith Mitchell completed his fourth round on Sunday with, yes, another 70!  His 70-70-70-70 finish established a US Open record for posting four consecutive even par scores. Mitchell tied for fourth place with Scottie Scheffler and J. T. Poston.  He will receive an automatic invitation to next year's US Open to be played at Pebble Beach in northern California. About NBC's biased coverage… I am old enough to remember when Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus dueled each other on the golf course in the late 1960's and into the 1970's.  The limited television camera coverage of that era did not permit the networks to show every single shot from golf's two biggest stars.  That gave viewers a chance to become familiar with other top players in the field. NBC's cringe worthy pom-pom waving on behalf of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler this weekend was truly over-the-top. Saturday saw Rory moving up the leaderboard into contention on the front nine after carding three consecutive birdies. That's when NBC's commentators hoisted one plaudit after another as to Rory's golfing brilliance. Sadly for NBC, McIlroy then shot a 5-over par 40 on the back nine to drop out of contention heading into Sunday. Sunday's final round featured the New York fans razzing eventual winner Wyndham Clark.  I also noticed that NBC's announcer team of Dan Hicks and PGA veteran Kevin Kisner were nearly as critical as they critiqued nearly every wayward shot during Clark's final round. Time after time, Wyndham Clark responded with a clutch chip shot or a lengthy putt to save his par.  The NBC announcers acted as if Clark was simply lucky to have survived another calamity. Would they have the same things had the golfer been named Tiger Woods?  Of course not. Winners – Wyndham Clark, Shinnecock Hills, and SwampSwami! Congratulations to Wyndham Clark for going wire-to-wire and never surrendering the lead during the final 54 holes of this year's US Open.  A few wayward tee shots and approaches on Saturday and Sunday caused a lot of heartburn, but Clark deserved this year’s trophy. Shinnecock Hills is a brilliantly designed golf course and becomes extremely difficult when the winds come up. One of America's oldest courses proved its worthiness again this week.  This year's event featured significant widening of several fairways after the players grumbled following the 2018 US Open held here.  The result?  Wyndham Clark's 4-under par winning score was a five shot improvement over the +1 final score posted by 2018 winner Brooks Koepka.  Clark capitalized and used every inch of those wider fairways this week. Finally, it's time for ol' SwampSwami to take a bow! Yours truly listed Wyndham Clark as the hottest player in the field coming into the US Open during last Wednesday's post. I’m just pleased that I didn’t jinx him.   Congratulations to Wyndham Clark!  As Jerry Reed once sang, When you're hot, you're hot! The post “Win ‘em” Clark Ignores NY Knuckleheads – Claims 2nd US Open Title appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

My Father’s Day isn’t complete until I plop down after lunch on Sunday to watch the final 18 holes of the US Open golf tournament. My wife and sons became quite familiar with my annual Father’s Day afternoon ritual.  I have to grind the final five hours of this golf tournament (on television, of course) until a winner is crowned. In the event of a tie, a two-hole playoff will be held immediately following the final round.  Prior to 2018, there was an 18-hole playoff conducted on Monday. The US Open is usually played on the toughest golf course which the professional golfers face all year.  The last ten US Open champions have posted an average winning total of just six under par. This year’s US Open returns to a windswept tract near the eastern tip of New York’s Long Island. Shinnecock Hills was founded in 1891 and is one of the oldest golf courses in the United States.  They were also one of the first American golf clubs to admit women members from its inception. This will be the fifth US Open conducted at Shinnecock Hills since 1986.  Ray Floyd won that one with a one under par total.  Corey Pavin won in 1995 (even par).  Retief Goosen took the 2004 event at Shinnecock Hills with a four under par score.  The most recent US Open held at this course was in 2018 and captured by Brooks Koepka with a one over par score. In other words, this fascinating US seaside links has a long history of playing tough for professional golfers. Watch for these holes to cause the golfers significant trouble this week Hole #7 (Rodan) – Listed at 185 yards, the par-3 7th hole at Shinnecock is a devilish short hole. The winds play havoc with shot selection off the tee.  The green features a unique rodan design.  That means that the green slopes away from the front portion and toward the back left side.  A bad tee shot is quite likely to result in a bogey or worse here. Hole #9 (Ben Nevis) – Ben Nevis is the name of the highest peak (4,400′) in Scotland.  The final par-4 on Shinnecock’s opening nine holes involves golfers playing their second shot uphill by some 20 yards against a prevailing wind into an elevated green.  Once on the putting surface, some players will face a downhill putt with the wind now pushing their golf ball even faster to make par an exceptional score. Hole #11 (Hill Head) – You wouldn’t think that a short 150 yard par-3 hole would cause many of the top golfers in the world to get jittery standing on the tee box. Missing this elevated green (which looks like inverted bowl from the tee) quickly brings a bogey or double bogey into play.  There are four deep sand traps surrounding the 11th hole.  Add a gusty wind on the tee, and this short par-3 can wreck someone’s round in a hurry. Hole #14 (Thom’s Elbow) – This difficult par-4 plays a lengthy 520 yards and moves uphill on your second shot into the green.  Don’t forget the ever-changing 15-25 mph winds which will affect both your tee shot and approach into the green. The hole was named for Shinnecock’s 55-year Scottish head golf pro named Charlie Thom.  Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw once asked Mr. Thom why the 14th hole was named after him. Thom replied, “Look at my elbow. It’s crooked.  They named the 14th hole after me, because it’s crooked like my elbow. It goes back up the hill.” Which golfers are “hot” coming into the US Open? Let’s cover a few golfers who are playing well right now. Wyndham Clark – He won the US Open in 2023.  Clark then went into a lengthy slump but has returned to form recently with a win at the Byron Nelson tournament in Dallas. He also posted a third place finish at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio a few weeks ago along with an 11th place finish last week at the Canadian Open.  When you’re hot, you’re hot! Russell Henley – The quiet Henley won the Colonial in Fort Worth a month ago.  He followed it up with a 22nd place finish at the Memorial. Henley has a tendency to play well on difficult courses.  Shinnecock Hills will provide a great test of his skills this week. Matt Fitzpatrick – The winner of two events this spring on the PGA Tour, Fitzpatrick shot a closing 66 and 64 in the final two rounds of last week’s Canadian Open to finish in second place.  Did you remember that this English golfer won the 2022 US Open title?  His game is peaking at the right time this year for a possible second major championship win. Cameron Young – A product of nearby Scarborough, New York, Cameron Young is another two-time winner on this year’s PGA Tour. Young is going to have a boisterous crowd of New York area fans rooting for him all weekend. Now for a few top golfers who haven’t sizzled recently but may contend this week Scottie Scheffler – The world #1-ranked golfer has failed to score a victory since late January.  That doesn’t mean that he’s playing poorly, though.  Scheffler’s last five tournaments have produced two runner-up finishes, a third place, 12th place, and 14th.  Scottie Scheffler could complete his personal career “Grand Slam” with a win at this week’s US Open.  He’ll be ready. Jon Rahm – LIV Golf’s top player in 2026, Rahm won the 2021 US Open title on another tough layout at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Spain’s Jon Rahm, like Scottie Scheffler, has a way of pushing his way to the top of the leaderboard in major championships.  He broke an 18 month slump with two wins on the LIV Golf tour this spring. JJ Spaun – The defending US Open champion finished sixth and 12th in his two most recent golf tournaments.  Spaun’s focus and gritty style is reminiscent of another past US Open winner at Shinnecock Hills.  Corey Pavin captured the 1995 US Open on this same golf course with a memorable four wood second shot from the 18th fairway to seal the victory. Tommy Fleetwood – After finally breaking through in 2025 with a win at the Tour Championship, Fleetwood’s sights are now set on winning his first major golf title.  The Englishman is quite familiar with seaside links after beginning his professional golf career on the European circuit.  Fleetwood is overdue for his first major championship triumph. Don’t overlook these former US Open winners this week! Rory McIlroy – Rory’s first major title was a US Open.  He won the 2011 US Open at Congressional near Washington, DC by a whopping eight shots.  The deep rough at Shinnecock Hills will punish Rory if his recent issues with errant drives continue. Bryson DeChambeau – Inconsistency has been the only consistent portion of Bryson DeChambeau’s game this season. The two-time US Open champion (2020 and 2024) missed the cut at both The Masters and PGA Championship this year.  However, he won twice in March on the LIV Golf Tour. DeChambeau, like McIlroy, must hit more fairways off the tee this week at Shinnecock Hills to get into contention. Justin Rose – The 45 year old Rose is playing in his 100th consecutive major golf tournament this week.  That’s a record bested only by Jack Nicklaus.  The Golden Bear played in an incredible 146 straight appearances in golf’s majors. Justin Rose is the seventh ranked golfer in the world. He won the 2013 US Open at Merion Golf Club near Pittsburgh.  His maturity in pressure situations could give him a chance this week. Brooks Koepka – He won the 2018 US Open on this same golf course eight years ago.  Koepka has played well at times this year but hasn’t registered a win in 2026.  His five major championship wins have usually been on difficult golf courses. He knows Shinnecock Hills well.  If he makes the weekend cut, Brooks Koepka might be a factor on Sunday afternoon. US Open weather: The National Weather Service is calling for: Thursday – 40% chance of rain.  High near 76.  South winds gusting to 35 mph. Friday – Sunny.  High of 77 degrees.  West winds at 10-15 mph. Saturday – Sunny.  High of 75 degrees.  West winds at 10-15 mph with higher gusts Father’s Day Sunday – Sunny.  High near 74.  West winds 10-15 mph. US Open television coverage (all times CDT): Thursday – USA Network – 5:30AM through 4PM NBC Sports Network 4PM – darkness Friday – NBC Sports Network – 5:30AM through 12:30PM NBC Television – 12:30PM – 6:30PM Saturday – USA Network – 9AM through 11AM NBC Television – 11AM through 7PM or conclusion Sunday – USA Network – 8AM through 11AM NBC Television – 11AM though 6PM or conclusion Happy Father’s Day on Sunday to all of you Dads!  Enjoy the golf! The post US Open Preview – Shinnecock Hills is going to win! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

World Cup fever?   No way. As the saying goes, I'd rather watch paint dry. Soccer may be a fun game for kids to play, but it can be downright boring watching it in person and, moreso, on television.   But if you enjoy watching the World Cup soccer on television, go for it!  You still have another 35 days to go.  I'll tune in whenever I need a nap. My weekend television viewing was spent watching more traditional sporting events.  Let's jump right in. NBA Finals – New York Knicks took the title 94-90 on Saturday night The New York Knicks have won their first NBA title since 1973.  Finals MVP guard Jalen Brunson played like a dead ringer for Knicks legend Earl “The Pearl” Monroe from that 1973 title team. The now 81-year old Earl Monroe was named one of the NBA's top 50 players of the 20th century. He was known for his uncanny ability to “shake and bake” defenders in order to get his shots away.  He and teammate Walt Frazier were both inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall-of Fame. Jalen Brunson (who is generously listed at 6'1”) weaved his way in, around, and through the giant San Antonio Spurs defense for one great shot after another during this series.  His 45 points in Saturday night's deciding Game 5 in San Antonio accounted for nearly half of his team's 94 point total. The San Antonio Spurs came into this series considered as a slight favorite after knocking-off defending champion Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals. San Antonio played like Wile E. Coyote for this entire series.   I blame their coach for that. Every game in this five game series had the San Antonio Spurs racing out to a double digit lead.  In each game, the New York Knicks patiently waited for their chance to blow past their unfocused opponent. Much like legendary cartoon character Wile E. Coyote, the Spurs looked and acted overconfident at the beginning of every game in this series.  At the end of all but one game, it was the Spurs going over the proverbial cliff and going “poof” at the bottom of the canyon. San Antonio's coaches and players should have learned a few lessons during home losses in Games 1 and 2 of this series. After grabbing a close win in Game 3 in New York, these “Same Old Spurs” reappeared in a big way midway through Game 4 last week.  San Antonio blew the largest lead ever in an NBA Finals game (29 points) to fall behind 3-1 in the series. There was no way that San Antonio could lose a third straight home game in Game 5, right? Saturday night's Game 5 in San Antonio had the Spurs doing exactly the same thing they had done in every other loss. They raced to an early double digit lead (16 points in Game 5) and then folded like a cheap beach chair during the second half once again. I place the blame for poor strategy and on-court execution on the San Antonio coaches for making the same second half mistakes in this series over and over again. The feckless Spurs appeared dazed during the fourth quarter of these five games.  They averaged a paltry 21 points during the all-important fourth quarters of these NBA Finals. When the chips were down, the Spurs functioned like a rudderless ship, while their head coach seemed to push all the wrong buttons.   San Antonio guard De'Aaron Fox is paid $51 million per year.  He averaged nearly 19 points per game in the regular season but tanked to just over 14 points per game during the NBA Finals.  Fox tallied only 7 points on 3-15 from the field in Game 5 in San Antonio on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Spurs 7'4” center-turned-point guard named Victor Wembanyama continued to take and miss a significant number of unnecessary 3-point shots. Why is he allowed to shoot those shots instead of play closer to the basket?   The coach allows it. These collapses occurred under the watch of San Antonio's 39-year old head coach Mitch Johnson.  He took over the head coaching job after apprenticing under Spurs 5-time NBA champion coach Gregg Popovich.  Mitch Johnson took over this team in 2025.  This was his first time coaching a team in the NBA playoffs. Coach Johnson curiously kept Spurs' dynamic sixth man Dylan Harper on the bench to start pivotal Game 5 while leaving ineffective De'Aaron Fox as the starter.  Harper (who scored 25 points in 31 minutes of action) was clearly the better player in this series.  Why wasn’t he played more? ESPN’s Charles Barkley asked the same question during halftime of Game 5.  The former NBA player-turned-commentator said the Spurs would be better off putting De’Aaron Fox on the bench in the second half. That didn’t happen.  Barkley turned out to be right. The Spurs are now done for this season. Congratulations to the New York Knicks.  A ticker tape victory parade for the team will take place on Thursday in Manhattan. Carolina Hurricanes won the 2026 Stanley Cup title Sunday night The Carolina Hurricanes took a 3-0 road win to close out the Stanley Cup four games to two over the Las Vegas Golden Knights. It was the second title for the Raleigh-based NHL team in the past 20 seasons.  Congratulations to the Canes! (OK – I don't watch enough hockey to have any further thoughts on this subject) Surprising Louisville Kings dethrone DC Defenders in UFL United Bowl III title game The expansion Louisville Kings started their first season 0-3.  This team came together to finish the regular season at 6-4 and earn a spot in the UFL playoffs. Louisville was just 2-3 at home but a solid 4-1 on the road during the regular season.  The Kings had to travel to Washington DC to play the 2025 champion DC Defenders in the UFL title game on Saturday. A sellout crowd of more than 19,000 fans at Audi Field in Washington saw Louisville come from behind after halftime to take a 27-20 win over ol' DC. The Defenders led 16-7 at the intermission and were clinging to a 16-13 advantage after three periods.  Louisville then tallied two fourth quarter running touchdowns to win the title in Season #3 of spring’s United Football League. DC finished their season with a 7-5 record. PGA journeyman golfer finally wins.  This Bud's for you, Mr. Cauley! Bud Cauley was a three-time college All-American golfer at the University of Alabama.  He turned professional 15 years ago in 2011.  He played well enough during his first few years on the PGA Tour to keep his playing card despite no first place finishes. Cauley suffered a broken leg, five broken ribs, and a collapsed lung in an automobile accident while playing in Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament in 2018.  After several complications in his recovery, he finally resumed playing professional golf six years later in 2024. Bud Cauley was winless in his 238 career PGA Tour starts prior to last weekend's Canadian Open near Toronto. The 36-year old journeyman golfer rediscovered his youthful putting stroke on Sunday. Cauley’s birdie barrage (along with a few key breaks) led to a closing round 65 and his first PGA Tour win.  His 17-under par total was two shots better than Matt Fitzpatrick and three better than Viktor Hovland. Bud Cauley's first win came at the same golf tournament which was also the site of golfing great Arnold Palmer's first victory. Arnie pocketed $2,400 for his win back in 1955. Guess how much money that would be this year in 2026?  Answer: $30,000 Bud Cauley's win on Sunday carried a first prize of $1,764,000.  Even the worst finisher in the field (74th place) at the 2026 Canadian Open took home more than $19,500. Sunday's first triumph will bring some nifty fringe benefits, too. The win put Cauley into this week's US Open at Shinnecock Hills.  He will also be in the field for July's Open Championship (British Open) and next spring's Masters.  More importantly, the win made Bud Cauley exempt from having to qualify for future PGA Tour events for two years after this season ends. Cauley's wife and his two young sons ran onto the 18th green to greet him and celebrate after he tapped in for the win. It's now off to Long Island in New York and a spot in Thursday's US Open for the rejuvenated Bud Cauley! The post A Weekend of Champions appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

We're hearing an awful lot of talk the past several days concerning the behavior of both athletes and the fans who claim to be supporters of those athletes. The New York Knicks (with the help of a top notch choke job by San Antonio) came from 29 points behind in the second half Wednesday night to beat the Spurs 107-106.  It was a mesmerizing comeback for the Knicks with an “out of nowhere” tip-in sealing the win with 1.2 seconds remaining. The Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history. New York hasn't won an NBA title since 1973.  They now have a 3-1 lead over San Antonio in this best-of-seven series.  The Spurs will host Game 5 on Saturday night at 7:30PM on ABC. That's the good news. Taylor Swift, Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld and a host of celebrities partied inside Madison Square Garden.  Meanwhile, thousands of loco locals took to the streets of New York City to cheer and, sadly, cause significant property damage following the game. Remember – this was just Game 4. The Knicks haven't won anything yet. San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama had eggs thrown at him while walking into the team's hotel following the game. He said, “I mean, we can't forget it's a game.  And I'm all for passion, but to the respect of each other.  It's unacceptable”. There were 56 arrests in New York related to outdoor crowd antics following Wednesday night's NBA Finals game. You have to believe that the crazies are just warming up. One way or the other, New York fans are likely to tear-up Manhattan whether the Knicks win OR lose this series The city of New York hasn't won a major sports title in 15 years since the NFL's New York Giants won the 2011 Super Bowl.  Sports fans in America's largest city are enthralled by the playoff run of the New York Knicks basketball team. A combination of youthful enthusiasm, excessive alcoholic refreshments, and a faction of seasoned troublemakers could, quite literally, set New York on fire in the next week. Jubilant fans will likely turn cars upside down and do massive property damage in Manhattan if the Knicks should close out this series in Game 5 Saturday night in San Antonio. Can you imagine the property damage the Knicks Knuckleheads might do if their NBA team should somehow blow a 3-1 series and lose in San Antonio in Game 7 next Friday night? If this series should go to seven games, building owners in downtown Manhattan should board-up their windows prior to next Friday (if they aren't already doing so today). Meanwhile, in Lubbock, Texas… The legal and moral issues surrounding Texas Tech's $5 million transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby boiled over this week. In a nutshell, the former University of Cincinnati QB has admitted that he bet more than $90,000 on college football games (and on most every other sport) during his first four years in college. He even bet on his own team at the time (Indiana) to win on more than one occasion while riding the bench as a back-up quarterback for the Hoosiers. The NCAA recently ruled Brendan Sorsby ineligible to play college football this fall due to violating a number of collegiate rules concerning gambling. The young man voluntarily entered and has completed a gambling addiction treatment program in recent months. After the NCAA made him ineligible to play college football this fall, Sorsby sued the NCAA in an effort to regain his final year of eligibility (and the $5 million NIL money). In a surprising ruling earlier this week, a Texas judge granted Brendan Sorsby an injunction which will allow the transfer quarterback to suit-up for the Texas Tech Red Raiders this fall. Even more ironic, the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, Texas (where every judge is a graduate of Texas Tech Law School) scheduled the actual trial to hear Sorsby's case on February 8, 2027.  That would be a few weeks following the upcoming season's college football championship game. As NBC Saturday Night Live's legendary Church Lady might say, “How conveeeeenient?” Most rational sports fans expected that Brendan Sorsby would lose this week's legal skirmish.  As a consolation prize, the quarterback is still eligible to enter the NFL after playing last season for the University of Cincinnati. The NFL will hold its annual Supplemental draft in August. Sorsby must declare his intention to enter that Supplemental draft by June 22.  The talented college quarterback is likely to find a pro football team willing to take a chance on him this fall. While many in the Texas panhandle celebrated this week's legal outcomes, the majority of other major college sports programs are angry and/or in a state of shock. Athletic directors at major universities such as Georgia and Ohio State have advised their departments to not schedule any future games (in any sport) against Texas Tech. The board of directors for the Big 12 Conference (home of Texas Tech) will hold a conference call on this subject this coming Monday, June 15.  Big 12 members such as TCU and Kansas State have voiced the possibility that their schools might decline playing football against Texas Tech this fall if Sorsby participates. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (who is running for the US Senate in November) decided to weigh in on the Brendan Sorsby matter Thursday. He warned Big 12 Conference leaders from taking any legal action against Texas Tech or be sued by the state of Texas (reminder – Texas Tech is a public university). Not be outdone, the state of Oklahoma’s Attorney General called-out Texas AG Ken Paxton on Friday.  The Oklahoma AG wants the Big 12 Conference to immediately and permanently suspend Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby for gambling violations. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said that the Big 12 Conference was not a party to the Sorsby vs. NCAA proceedings.  The league should send a message to college sports by suspending Sorsby for the upcoming season. “It’s leadership (Texas Tech) has prioritized winning over sport, over honor and integrity. If Texas Tech will not do the right thing, the Big 12 should,” said Drummond. Meanwhile, Fort Worth energy billionaire Cody Campbell (a Texas Tech alumnus) is fully supporting the legal position of Sorsby and his alma mater. Campbell gives millions to the university and its athletic programs annually.  The school’s athletics department can pay for the best lawyers money can buy. SwampSwami believes that Brendan Sorsby should consider moving on to the NFL for a different (but very good) reason Texas Tech's transfer quarterback will become the biggest target of every defensive football player in college football this fall.  Every school which plays football against the Red Raiders in 2026 will focus on ending Sorsby’s season on the field. Bounties are not legal or ethical.  That said, the player who ends Brendan Sorsby's college football career will be long remembered. The Sorsby Circus is bringing the worst type of spotlight to Texas Tech University’s football program along with the entire athletics department at the school. Like it or not, Texas Tech is now wearing a villain's (red and) black hat due to the school's vigorous defense of an expensive transfer quarterback who admittedly violated NCAA rules on gambling. Don’t forget.  There is one person who can quickly put an end to this mess Brendan Sorsby made many mistakes over the past several years.  He has admitted to having a serious gambling addiction.  He entered and completed a treatment program and is hopefully on the right track. As the public focuses on Sorsby, there are countless other college athletes in the same boat.  We just haven’t heard their names yet. This young man accepted an NIL offer of $5 million to transfer to Texas Tech to utilize his final year of college eligibility.  That large sum of money is much higher than Sorsby would have earned as a middle-round draft pick in April’s NFL draft. Texas Tech made it into the College Football Playoffs last year for the first time in school history.  The West Texas school is excited about its chances to make it that far again this year, too. Did you know that there are five other quarterbacks on the Texas Tech football roster today?  Brendan Sorsby is the most experienced, but the Red Raiders do have a number of other options available at their quarterback position. The June 22 deadline to enter the NFL’s Supplemental draft is a little more than one week away. Brendan Sorsby could announce that he is moving into the NFL.  That would end all of the bickering surrounding his college playing status this fall. There is also a chance that Texas Tech – without Sorsby – still might have an outstanding year with one of those five other quarterbacks emerging to lead the Red Raiders football team this season. Now, wouldn’t that be interesting? The post What Happened to Sportsmanship and Class? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Saturday marks the final game of the 2026 season for the United Football League. The UFL’s United Bowl III kicks off at 2PM CDT Saturday on ABC. Spring professional football’s championship game will take place in Washington, DC at Audi Stadium.  The hometown DC Defenders (7-4) defend their 2025 UFL title against the upstart expansion Louisville Kings (also 7-4). Abundant sunshine and a steamy 90 degrees will greet the players and fans at Saturday’s championship game to end the UFL’s third season. There will likely be a good crowd of more than 15,000 in the stands (the stadium holds 20,000) and a television audience of more than 1 million watching on ABC. At some point soon, the UFL owners will meet to review the season and make decisions about the future. Let’s give a preview of what I think that meeting will entail. A review of the 2026 UFL season – the OK, the “Meh”, and the downright ugly The third year for any new business should show its owners that the venture is making positive strides.  If the business is not already profitable, the annual losses should be getting smaller by the year as the business gains favor with the buying public. For the UFL, those primary measures are home team attendance (and revenues) and national television ratings. Let’s start with the Ugly. Home attendance dropped again in 2026 Each of the eight UFL teams played five home games in the 10-game regular season. The St. Louis Battlehawks (playing in a 60,000 domed football stadium) drew more than 23,000 per game to lead the UFL in home attendance once again in 2026.  Despite the positive attendance, the cost for the lease at the Dome at America’s Center (formerly known as the Edward Jones Dome) in St. Louis is also likely the highest paid by the UFL. The expansion Louisville Kings came in second with more than 11,000 fans per home opener. Another expansion franchise, the Columbus Aviators finished third with 10,362 paying customers per home game in 2026. The other five UFL franchises failed to average 10,000 fans per game with the two Texas teams (Dallas and Houston) coming in last with 6,185 and 5,683 per game respectively. Birmingham (which plays in UAB’s home football stadium) and St. Louis played their home games in traditional football stadiums. The other six UFL franchises played the 2026 season in smaller soccer venues.  Lease costs for these soccer stadiums are lower than the cost of most traditional football stadiums.  Home television viewers are less likely to be turned-off by seeing small crowds if played in a 20,000 seat soccer stadium. The UFL home team attendance figures have declined in each of the league’s three seasons. The 2024 season produced an average of 12,800 fans. In 2025, the UFL dropped to 12,168 per game. This year’s 10,500 average marked a 14% decline from 2025. Ouch. It means that the public (even with affordable ticket prices of $20-30 available) simply is not very excited about the UFL’s on-field product. Now for the “Meh” – Television ratings in 2026 were relatively flat vs. 2025 I remember reading an article a few years ago which claimed that the UFL needed to draw more than one million television viewers per game in order to have a chance to turn a profit. Well, that didn’t happen again this year, either. The Friday night prime time game on FOX produced consistent numbers. The ratings showed a reliable audience of 600-700,000 viewers on Friday nights during the 7PM to 10PM Central time period. That may sound good until you know the rest of the story.  The FOX Friday night audience for UFL games was mired in last place all season when compared to programming on competitors CBS, NBC, and ABC. FOX Sports (a part-owner of the UFL) cannot be pleased with their investment after three seasons. Ditto for Disney’s ESPN brand. The sports giant also owns a piece of the UFL.  They televised one or more weekly UFL games via ESPN and/or corporate affiliate, ABC. The 2026 ratings for the Saturday and Sunday UFL games on ABC continue to show the highest viewership.  At least four regular season games on ABC topped the one million mark during the first nine weeks of the UFL season. That meant only 11% of the first nine weeks of UFL games in 2026 produced a television audience of one million or more. If the league’s original goal was to reach one million viewers per televised game, the UFL continues to fall woefully short of that target. The “OK” – the spring football league continues to innovate and try harder UFL ownership includes the aforementioned FOX Sports and ESPN along with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his ex-wife Dany Garcia, Redbird Capital Partners, and billionaire Mike Repole. Repole bought his way into the UFL following the 2025 season.  His ownership percentage and who he purchased it from have yet to be disclosed. It has been new owner Mike Repole who pushed to move UFL teams into smaller soccer venues in 2026. He also gave the green light to relocate UFL franchises away from San Antonio, Memphis, and Detroit in favor of Columbus (OH), Louisville, and Orlando for this season. Those three non-NFL cities produced slightly improved attendance figures and saved money with significantly lower lease costs.  However, none of the three teams turned a profit based on their gate receipts. Despite his personal energy, Mike Repole’s promotional skills and tinkering with the UFL simply hasn’t paid off.  League attendance went down in 2026 while television ratings were flat. The effort is commendable. The UFL’s massive annual losses, though, continue. What should the UFL owners do at their next meeting following the 2026 season? Let’s make an assumption that the UFL loses (just my guess here) $50 million in 2026.  That would mark the third consecutive year of significant losses for the latest spring football experiment. Non-corporate UFL owners such as Dwayne Johnson and his ex-wife, Dany Garcia, should be ready to exit as owners by now. They cannot be pleased with losing millions of their own money every year.  The cash losses by the UFL show no sign of abatement should the league continue into 2027.  Johnson and Garcia lost big bucks with the XFL, too.  They have now been losing even more money with the UFL for three seasons. Why should they stick around? Redbird Capital Partners might fly away at the next owner’s meeting, too. The private equity investor claims over $10 billion in managed assets.  Redbird’s website currently displays the UFL as one of 36 different major investments for the company.  The UFL’s continuing annual losses are a negative.  Don’t be surprised if they, too, wish to move on at the next UFL owners meeting. FOX Sports may have a different perspective on the UFL. The NFL on FOX could end within the next five years at the end of the network’s latest contract. FOX Sports could, perhaps, envision the UFL becoming a potential future fall competitor for the NFL.  The fledgling American Football League of the 1960’s did it.  However, it took ten years for the NFL to eventually gobble-up their competitor. Let’s say that I’m wrong about FOX Sports’ long-term thinking on the UFL.  They really don’t need the UFL for programming and might be ready to pull the plug at the next owners meeting. How are ESPN and ABC feeling about the UFL right now? Mounting annual losses by the UFL are (effectively) petty cash for Disney.  The current spring positioning of the UFL season fills a major weekend programming need for ESPN and ABC.  There aren’t a lot of major sports events available to fill air time on ESPN from April through June. An important item to remember is that the NFL sold its NFL Network to ESPN earlier in 2026 in return for a 10% ownership stake in ESPN.  ESPN and ABC must now seriously consider doing whatever the NFL wants with respect to the UFL.  They could vote to stick with the UFL or decide to shut it down for good this summer. That leaves the enthusiastic billionaire UFL investor Mike Repole. Repole jumped into the UFL dumpster fire with both feet last year.  Most billionaires get rich by being very shrewd in business. I suspect that Mike Repole (if he sticks around for another year or more) sees the UFL eventually becoming a partner with the NFL down the road.  He appears to be a risk-taker willing to swing for the fences. Should the NFL ever decide to invest in the UFL as a spring football partner, Mike Repole’s investment gamble could pay off handsomely. Than again, the NFL has plenty of its own billionaire owners, too.  Their luxury cruise liner isn’t likely to throw a life preserver to Mike Repole or any of his other UFL ownership partners anytime soon. The UFL’s third year financial condition reminds me of a 1977 Harry Chapin song. “The Dance Band on the Titanic” featured some rather clever lyrics and an upbeat melody.  In the musical version, the ship’s band was trying to create a musical diversion just as the massive boat began to sink. One line of the song says,“The iceberg’s on the starboard bow – Won’t you dance with me?” This next meeting of the UFL owners is likely to be a dandy. The post Previewing the upcoming UFL Owners Meeting appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

College sports has become a runaway freight train in recent years. Money and greed (as always) have emerged as the primary villains.  Everyone involved wants more. Several years ago, the NCAA began to allow student-athletes to transfer schools as often as the average student.  Prior to that, athletes were required to sit-out one full year after transferring schools.  It was supposed to encourage college athletes to think hard prior to making the decision to transfer.  Colleges also claimed that this was done to give the student-athletes enough time to acclimate themselves to the academic rigors of their new college environment. R-i-g-h-t! Today’s new NCAA Transfer Portal is becoming busier by the year Upwards of 50% of some sport’s athletes are putting their names in the Transfer Portal.  They are in search of more money and playing time elsewhere. These athletes want the right to transfer as easily as all other college students.  The processing of transferring by athletes seems to take place at blazing speed, though. An average college student has to prepare an application, supply academic performance (grades) along with a mountain of paperwork prior to being admitted as a transfer student at most major universities.  The process usually takes several months. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how (and why) these “ASAP” Transfer Portal college athletes get their paperwork processed by their new universities within just a matter of days or weeks? Then there’s the new wheel of fortune game called Name, Image, and Likeness The federal courts have allowed college athletes to be compensated based on their theoretical NIL value. The original concept of NIL sounded downright noble.  Our theoretical college football player simply wanted to have a little spending money to be able go out and enjoy an occasional burger and shake down at Arnold’s. Within years, the compensation being offered to athletes for their (cough) NIL rights has exploded.  Some players are receiving offers of hundreds of thousands of dollars from top college football, basketball, baseball, and even softball programs. The athletic conferences say they don’t like this, either.  However, they spend much of their time renegotiating television and media contracts to generate even more cash to pad their own pockets. That’s why the College Football Playoffs have risen from two teams to four to 12 today.  The conferences are battling with each other today trying to expand the football playoffs from 12 to 24 teams.  Why? More television money, of course. The athletic conferences, schools, administrators, coaches, players, and, of course, the media companies are focused on more and more money for college athletics.  The former systems are broken.  No one is showing much in the way of self restraint or leadership in attempting to resolve growing problems. Who is going to help control this mess?  Did someone say “Congress?” Of course!  Let’s ask America’s legislative body to intervene since the college sports community cannot seem to regulate its fast-growing greed. We know that the 435 House and 100 Senate members rarely agree on anything. Well, they do seem to find enough votes (usually after midnight) in late December to raise their own pay.   They won’t object when a motion for a multi-week recess is raised, either. Heaven forbid if any member of the House or Senate dares to propose a vote concerning (gasp!) term limits. So, why should anyone believe that the US Congress will be able to regulate college sports? Over the past year, the US House of Representatives has tried and recently failed.  A bill entitled the “Student Compensation through Rights and Endorsements” Act was floated.  The “SCORE” Act slithered its way through the halls of Congress at snail-like speed.  The House of Representatives couldn’t even muster enough support to force a full floor vote on the measure a few weeks ago.  That bill is now officially dead. But never fear!  The US Senate wants to “Protect” college sports! Move over, House of Representatives!  A bipartisan bill drafted by Senators Ted Cruz of Texas (R) and Maria Cantwell of Washington (D) finally emerged this past week.  It is now being contemplated by the extremely deliberative (slow moving) body called the US Senate. This bill is called the “Protect College Sports Act of 2026.”  You can read it by clicking here. The 111-page document was introduced in the Senate on Wednesday, June 3. Former University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban and several other heavyweights of college sports testified before the Senate in support of the measure.  The President is also in favor of the proposal.   Advocates believe there is a chance that it could pass by August 1, 2026.  That is less than 60 days after it was introduced to the Senate. Personally, I think there is a higher probability of seeing Charlie Brown finally kick that football that Lucy is holding this fall! Let’s review several of the primary portions of the Protect College Sports Act of 2026: Name, Image, and Likeness – The agreement would serve to put NIL under federal jurisdiction.  That is needed, because many states have already implemented a variety of different enforcement provisions and loopholes.  The proposed federal legislation would require NIL agents for athletes to be registered with the government and cap their fees at 5%.  Athletes must disclose their NIL compensation above $600 per year. Medical coverage for athletes – Colleges would be required to pay for out-of-pocket medical costs for athletes for five years following the athlete’s final competition for the school. Transfers – Each athlete would receive one transfer without losing athletic eligibility.  Subsequent transfers may be considered in the event of coaching changes, discontinued sports at a school, and for graduate students. Academics – The legislation requires athletes to complete their eligibility within five years beginning with the earlier of (a) high school graduation or (b) turning age 19.  Exemptions would exist for military service, religious missions, etc. Coaching changes – The Senate proposal would prohibit college head coaches from leaving their school prior to the end of the season to coach, recruit for, or otherwise take over at a different FBS (large division) program. Yes, this is now being called the Lane Kiffin provision. Local television for football and basketball teams – There must be at least one free local television broadcast outlet televising football and basketball games for major universities within their local market. Anti-trust protection television rights for schools and conferences – This would afford college athletics to function in the same way in which the NFL, NBA, and other national professional sports leagues operate.  However, at least 75% of the current FBS schools must sign-off on this provision for it to become effective. Bars major athletic conferences ($1 billion or more in annual revenues) from merging or acquiring each other – The Senate legislation wants to preserve and promote regional rivalries and stop major universities from changing athletic conference affiliations. College football season must end by January 8 – This provision is intended to allow for a smoother transition for students (and transfers) prior to the start of the spring semester. What I like: Restricting athletic transfers to only one time is a winner. This will keep players and the coaches from shopping around so much.  Instead, there should be increased focus on player development (and, perhaps, academics).   The proposed provision for medical coverage for athletes continuing for five years following their college participation seems like a solid idea.  The schools earn revenue from athletic competitions.  They should be required to provide catastrophic insurance coverage for athletes who are injured while playing for the school. A hard cap on five years of college eligibility is also very smart.  There is a significant physical and mental difference between an 18-year old football player coming out of high school and a 24-year old who may have been granted a sixth year of eligibility. The football season ending by January 8 is a definite winner!  Cut the regular season to 11 games if you need more time for the playoffs. (Yes, I realize that won’t happen) Local “free” television coverage for local teams sounds good. This is what the NFL does during Monday Night Football games on ESPN.  The local market’s ABC affiliate generally provides coverage for viewers who are not ESPN subscribers.  When considering this provision for college football, would all Louisiana cities not named Baton Rouge also be considered “local” for LSU football games?  Taxpayers in other Louisiana cities would also like to watch LSU (the state’s flagship public university) football games on their local TV station.  Expect a battle over this issue. I’m not so sure about… Many people are asking why we haven’t dropped the entire NIL charade and consider the players to be paid employees of the university.  The primary authors of the Senate legislation intentionally omitted this issue.  That’s because the recent House legislation dared to address this thorny issue. Arguments on the subject caused the entire bill to go down in flames. Perhaps the Supreme Court will eventually decide the matter. Another roadblock will be in getting 75% of the current 136 member FBS (major college) group of football schools to agree on the anti-trust protection issues. The Big Ten Conference and SEC (much like the House and Senate) can’t seem to agree on just about anything in recent years. With regard to college coaches leaving for other schools, shouldn’t there also be a provision that coaches cannot be fired prior to the end of the team’s season, too? I think the minimum NIL amount for reporting purposes should be raised from $600 per year to $1,200.  That would be only $100/month for an athlete.  Spend more time reviewing the larger NIL transactions. Finally, I believe that most rational adults would prefer not having the federal government getting involved in issues such as this.  Can you imagine the resulting circus of governmental regulatory requirements and exorbitant administrative costs to implement this bill if signed into law? The Senate deliberation of the proposed Save College Sports Act of 2026 might serve as a much needed wake-up call right now. The major athletic conferences should voluntarily come together ASAP to address and implement several of this bill’s best provisions. They could end the push for unwanted federal oversight and regulation by simply taking this matter into their own hands.   Hey, Big Ten and SEC!  It’s time to lead and end your petty turf wars before the Senate addresses these problems for you.  Time to get to work! The post The US Senate…Tackles College Sports??? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

While on a brief visit to see two of our grandsons and a side trip to Arkansas, I had the chance to watch a few exceptional college softball and baseball games along with a very tense Game 7 NBA Western Conference final. It’s time to enjoy the next couple of weeks as the window is quickly closing on the seasons for these three sports. This year’s NBA Finals began Wednesday night. The surprising San Antonio Spurs and streaking New York Knicks began their best-of-seven title series.  New York came into Game 1 with an 11-game playoff winning streak. The Knicks left the Spurs’ home arena Wednesday night with a 12-game playoff winning streak. The Women’s College World Series softball best-of three finale also got underway Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.  Last weekend, Texas Tech’s never-say-die Red Raiders had to fight back from the brink of elimination twice to defeat #1 seed Alabama just to reach the finals. They will now get a chance to do that once again on Thursday night and, perhaps, on Friday night. That’s because Texas Tech lost to intrastate rival Texas 7-3 in the opening game of the best of three final series.  Texas is the defending national champion. On the men’s side of college bats and balls, this week marks the Super Regional round for the NCAA college baseball season. Eight winners from this weekend’s best-of-three weekend series will advance into the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska next week.  There were a number of surprising winners and losers during last week’s opening round. New York’s Amazin’ Knicks have now won 12 straight playoff games! San Antonio Spurs 7’4” center Victor Wembanyama is ending his third NBA season.  Much like Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal (who, by the way, played his high school basketball in San Antonio), Wemby just led his team into the NBA Finals.  He is now being hailed as the top big man in the NBA. The 5-time NBA champion Spurs are much more than just a one-man show.  They utilize their bench as well as any NBA team and play solid defense for the entire 48-minute game. The New York Knicks are seeking their first NBA title since 1973. To say that New York sports fans are hungry for a title is a huge understatement. “The City that Never Sleeps” is in the midst of a rather lengthy championship drought.  Eli Manning’s New York Giants football last won a Super Bowl title in 2011.  Baseball’s New York Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009.  The crosstown rival New York Mets haven’t claimed a baseball title since 1986.  Broadway Joe Namath was the quarterback for football’s New York Jets in their only Super Bowl victory in 1969. NBA’s New York Knicks came into the playoffs as the #3 Eastern Conference seed behind Detroit and Boston.  After losing two of its first three playoff games to Atlanta in Round 1, the Knicks won the final three games to advance.  They would sweep #5 seed Philadelphia and #4 Cleveland in eight straight wins to claim the NBA Eastern Conference title. San Antonio is playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since June, 2014. The path to the championship round has been increasingly difficult for the Spurs.  San Antonio (the #2 seed in the Western Conference) needed just five games to dispatch the Portland Trailblazers in five games.  It then took six games for San Antonio to subdue the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Last weekend, the Spurs required a full seven games to win a tense Game 7 battle against the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Wednesday night’s Game 1 in San Antonio was won by the New York Knicks 105-95 in a game which was much closer than the final score reflected.  The veteran Knicks scored the last 11 points to end the game.  New York stepped-up in the final quarter to score 29 points as the younger Spurs tallied only 19 over the last 12 minutes. New York’s Villanova connection featured guards Jalen Brunson (30 points) and Josh Hart (an incredible 15 rebounds) leading a fourth quarter rally to give the Knicks their 12th consecutive playoff victory. As a result, San Antonio lost its home court advantage after that Game 1 loss.  ABC will televise Game #2 at 7:30PM Friday night from San Antonio.  The series moves to New York’s Madison Square Garden for Games 3 and 4 on Monday and Wednesday next week. Make sure to stick around for the post-game coverage on ESPN. The award-winning “Inside the NBA” show features NBA legends Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Shaquille O’Neal breaking down the action along with host Ernie Johnson.  You never know what’s going to happen. Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City… The Women’s College World Series best-of-three finals began Wednesday night. Defending national champion Texas (52-12) defeated Texas Tech 7-3 in Game 1. The Red Raiders fell to 61-9 and are on the verge of elimination once again.  They have become quite familiar with this position over the past several days in Oklahoma City. The #11 seeded Red Raiders rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday to vanquish #8 national seed UCLA 8-7.  On Monday, Texas Tech had to defeat #1 seed Alabama twice to earn a spot in the championship finals. The Red Raiders won the opener 5-4 over Bama by scoring a run in the bottom of the 7th inning.  They also grabbed the second game 2-0 on a two-hit pitching gem by two-time college player-of-the-year NiJari Canady to earn a spot in the finals. The second seeded Texas Longhorns didn’t have an easy road into the Women’s College World Series finals, either. They had to defeat #7 Tennessee Volunteers twice on Monday to advance.  Texas won the opener 5-2 and then shut-out Tennessee 4-0 later in the afternoon to advance to the championship round. The Longhorns and Red Raiders competed for the Women’s College World Series championship last year as well.  Texas Tech is trying to avenge last year’s loss to Texas in the best-of-three title series. Game 2 will be played Thursday at 7PM on ESPN.  A deciding Game 3, if necessary, will be played Friday night at 7PM on ESPN. What happened to the top seeds in the men’s college baseball tournament? UCLA had been ranked #1 in college baseball all season long. The Bruins were 51-6 heading into the opening round of the NCAA college baseball playoffs.  They faced #4 regional seed St. Mary’s (35-25) in their opening playoff game at home last Friday. The Gaels scored a run in the top of the ninth inning to shock UCLA 3-2.  On Saturday, UCLA had to score three times in the bottom of the ninth to take a 6-5 win and stay alive against 30-26 Virginia Tech. St. Mary’s and UCLA were matched again on Sunday.  This time, the Gaels scored a run in the bottom of the 10th inning to end UCLA’s season with a 6-5 win. Ironically, St. Mary’s was eliminated on Sunday 5-2 by the Cal-Poly Mustangs of San Luis Obispo.  Go figure. It wasn’t any better for #2 national seed Georgia Tech The 50-10 Yellow Jackets were playing at home in Atlanta and trying to advance into the Super Regional round for the first time in 20 years.  Georgia Tech would have hosted a Super Regional this weekend – if only they had won their own opening round regional. The Oklahoma Sooners rallied in consecutive games to dispatch the heavily favored hometown Yellow Jackets to advance into this weekend’s Super Regional to be played in…Kansas? Kansas has rarely been known for its baseball prowess. This year’s baseball Jayhawks are now 45-16 after winning its opening round of games.  KU will host Oklahoma Saturday in the Lawrence, Kansas Super Regional.  The Jayhawks have made it into only one College World Series (1993) in the school’s long history. Kansas plays baseball in relatively small Hoglund Ballpark.  This stadium features just 2,500 permanent seats.  The school recently took down the left field wall and installed a chain link fence.  That allows about 1,000 additional fans to stand or sit in their own lawn chairs in “The Backyard” to watch Kansas baseball games. Expect ticket prices in Lawrence, Kansas to be sky high for this weekend’s Super Regional. Did you pick the Trojans to make it into the Super Regionals? Last weekend, there were the Trojans from the University of Southern California, the Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference, and the Little Rock Trojans from the Ohio Valley Conference. Incredibly, all three of these Trojans baseball teams will be part of the 16 squads competing in the second round “Super Regional” college playoff games this weekend. At least one Trojans team is guaranteed a spot in Omaha at the College World Series next week.  The 36-30 Troy Trojans will host the Little Rock Trojans (39-26) at 4PM Friday on ESPNU.  Troy shocked #5 national seed Florida 10-2 in the final game of the Gainesville Regional last week.  Little Rock won the Hattiesburg Regional after #9 seed Southern Miss was sent packing after two consecutive losses. The USC Trojans (47-16) will travel across the country to play at the University of North Carolina (48-11-1) on Friday at 2PM CDT on ESPN2. Here are all eight Super Regional match-ups (first game starting times are CDT) Friday’s Opening Games: Morgantown – Cal Poly (39-22) at #16 seed West Virginia (43-15) at 11AM on ESPN2 Chapel Hill – USC (47-16) at #5 North Carolina (48-11-1) at 2PM on ESPN2 Troy – Little Rock (39-26) at Troy (36-30) at 4PM on ESPNU Auburn – Ole Miss (39-21) at #4 Auburn (42-20) at 7PM on ESPN2 Saturday’s Opening Games: Athens – #14 seed Mississippi State (43-17) at #3 Georgia (49-12) at 10AM on ESPN Lawrence – Oklahoma (36-22) at #15 Kansas (45-16) at 1PM on ESPN Austin – #11 Oregon (43-16) at #6 Texas (43-13) at 7PM on ESPN Tuscaloosa – St. John’s (36-24) at #7 Alabama (40-19) at 8PM on ESPN2 The post Enjoy A Week filled with Terrific Games! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

One week ago, the state of Louisiana’s Legislative Auditor’s office released its annual fiscal review of Grambling State University’s athletics program for the year ending June 30, 2025. The school was cited for a few audit irregularities and quickly announced that changes were being made.  That wasn’t the biggest news, though. Grambling’s athletics department lost $5.1 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.  Revenues were reported at $9.2 million versus annual expenses of $14.3 million. In percentage terms, Grambling’s revenue was only 64% of the amount needed to sustain the athletics programs at the current level. Grambling wasn’t the only north Louisiana public university whose athletics spending exceeded revenue last year The same Louisiana Legislative Auditor also filed reports earlier in 2026 for Louisiana Tech University, Northwestern State University and the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Each of these four football-playing state universities located north of Alexandria reported losses in their athletics programs for the year ending June 30, 2025.  Grambling’s massive deficit grabbed the recent news headlines, but there is a troubling commonality among Louisiana public schools not named LSU. Louisiana Tech recently cut an expensive deal (rumored to be in the vicinity of $8 million) in order to exit Conference USA and join the more geographically-suitable Sun Belt Conference. That move may turn out to be prudent for the Bulldogs over the long-term.  Louisiana Tech’s annual travel expenses as part of Conference USA totaled nearly $3.5 million.  Nearby Sun Belt rival UL-Monroe’s travel costs for the same year were $2.3 million.  Louisiana Tech is expected save $1 million or more annually on its travel expenses beginning this fall by moving to the Sun Belt Conference. Let’s look under the hood at each of these four universities’ athletics spending.  We’ll finish with a few common sense (cheap) ideas on how to achieve break-even in the future. Grambling State University – 5,200 students (2024/2025 school year) Grambling is nationally known for its athletics and its exceptional marching band.  It was bit surprising to learn that Grambling’s football program had lost $2.5 million in the most recent year.  That amounted to about 50% of the athletic department’s annual deficit of $5.1 million. The football team’s travel costs of $1.1 million last fall were higher than all three of the other north Louisiana pubic schools. The expense summary also showed nearly $160,000 was spent to cover the costs of the school’s spirit groups (for one or more road trip performances). Grambling’s men’s and women’s basketball teams each posted losses in excess of $900,000 for the most recent year. Grambling (like Northwestern State) participates NCAA’s FCS small college football division.  The G-men play in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Louisiana Tech University – 12,145 students (Fall, 2025) The Bulldogs are based in Ruston.  Louisiana Tech’s campus is less than six miles east of Grambling via Interstate 20.  The Bulldogs have been competing in Conference USA and a part of the NCAA FBS major college football division.  As mentioned earlier, Louisiana Tech moves into the Sun Belt Conference this fall. Audit results for Louisiana Tech’s athletics department last year showed a loss of $11.875 million. Football lost “only” about $1.6 million for the year.  Louisiana Tech’s men’s and women’s basketball teams each ran a deficit of about $700,000 apiece.  Other competitive sports at Louisiana Tech lost another $2.6 million.  The school’s income statement showed “non-program specific” athletic costs with a $6 million shortfall. As noted earlier in this report, Louisiana Tech’s overall travel costs playing in far-flung Conference USA were easily the highest in the group.  The Dogs’ annual total of $3.5 million for travel exceeded Grambling ($2.6 mm), UL-Monroe ($2.3 mm) and Northwestern State (less than $1 million). Northwestern State University – 8,402 students (Fall, 2025) The Demons from Natchitoches, Louisiana came the closest to break-even within its athletics programs among these four state schools.  Northwestern State participates in the NCAA’s FCS small college football division in the regionally-aligned Southland Conference. Northwestern State posted a relatively benign loss of $167,245 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.  The Demons’ men’s basketball program ran the largest deficit at more than $300,000.  The football team came up short by $280,000. Noteworthy, Northwestern State collected nearly $1.5 million in annual student fees to help support athletics.  That was about 10% of the school’s athletics spending.  It was the highest total among these four north Louisiana state schools. University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM) – 8,678 students (Fall, 2025) Sun Belt Conference member ULM (like Louisiana Tech) competes in the NCAA’s FBS major college football division.  ULM is expecting to benefit from Louisiana Tech’s arrival in the Sun Belt Conference this fall with increased attendance and revenues expected at home games in all major sports. The Warhawks’ athletics budget is the smallest among the NCAA’s 136 FBS major colleges.  ULM’s overall school budget has been prone to massive shortfalls in recent years, too.  That means that ULM’s $1.5 million athletics department loss in fiscal year 2025 is much harder to cover. Audit results showed the UL-Monroe football program lost a whopping $3.8 million in the most recent report.  The Warhawks’ men’s and women’s basketball teams lost a combined $2.5 million.  Ouch! The school’s institutional support has kept the ULM athletics department afloat for years.  Significantly higher fan support for the Warhawks football and basketball programs is needed immediately.  Otherwise, the school may have no other choice but to consider returning to the NCAA FCS small college athletics division. A few suggestions from SwampSwami to achieve fiscal break-even These four north Louisiana state universities are located within 100 miles of each other.  Each school is a very large and important employer in its home city. These state schools must immediately address their athletics spending and move quickly toward achieving fiscal balance.  At the same time, they must also work harder and more creatively to raise sports revenues over the long-term to grow the athletics programs. First things first – Take immediate cost cutting measures – The simplest and fairest way is to voluntarily reduce athletics spending by cutting a certain percentage across the board.  That could come in the form of job reductions or, perhaps, an across-the-board pay cut for staff making more than $30,000 per year.  For example, a 5% mandatory spending reduction in Year 1 may spur some voluntary budget trimming beyond that level.  Yes, this likely means one less assistant coach, one fewer support staffer, one less charter flight, etc.  The athletics departments must take a hard look at streamlining operations.  Learn to do more with less. Refuse to play long-distance road games unless the school earns a significant profit by participating – UL-Monroe’s football team hits the road for at least two “Clobbering Time” payday games every season. They are often paid more than $1 million to play at large universities such as LSU, Texas A&M, and Alabama with huge stadiums.  ULM receives more money from some of these massive “visitor” paychecks than playing a home game in front of a sold-out stadium.  There are also downsides from being on the receiving end of a couple of massive road losses every season, too.  The football team and local fans can become a bit demoralized about the team’s chances for the remainder of the season. Now, let’s try to grow the revenue side with a few cheap ideas Stimulate increased student, alumni, and hometown support – Student and local support for the athletics programs within each of these four communities (Grambling, Ruston, Natchitoches, and Monroe) must improve.  Local fans want to see their sports teams having a chance to win more than they lose.  Identify sports which are cost-effective and give the school the best chance to hang a new (and long overdue) championship banner. Success in any of the major sports at these four schools can go a long way in rejuvenating and expanding the school’s athletic support base. Improve local marketing and promotion – It may sound corny but handing out free tickets to youth at local elementary, junior high school and high schools gets parents and guardians to purchase tickets, too.  A positive game day experience for that youth can plant a valuable seed about attending that college some day.  Each of these four north Louisiana public universities have thousands of empty seats available at football and basketball games.  A purposeful campaign to encourage and engage more youth at nearby college sporting events will pay future dividends. Inject more game day excitement – Utilize the pregame, quarter breaks, halftime, and post-game times to get fans more engaged.  Experiment with creative new (and inexpensive) ideas to keep the game experience fresh for all ages of fans. They will be more likely to return if they are having more fun at the games. Relentlessly promote ahead – There are only a few home football games played each fall.  Make each game special with its own promotion.  There are, perhaps, twenty home basketball, baseball or softball home games, too.  Give thought as to how to make each home game unique for fans. Target every recent (last few years) ticket purchaser by sending a weekly email.  Remind them of the school’s upcoming weekly sports schedule, special promotions, and discounts.  Utilize all types of social media to reach a wider audience to spread the word about upcoming college athletic events and team opponents. Depend on your own athletics staff to get the word out – Sadly, we live in a world with fewer and fewer exceptional local newspapers.  It is incumbent on each school’s athletics department to take an aggressive role in publicizing and promoting all ticket-based sporting events.  Fans want to know about the school’s upcoming games and events, so take the initiative! The post North Louisiana’s College Sports Programs are Underwater appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Congratulations to NFL fans in nine cities across America!   Commissioner Roger Goodell has just given you the proverbial one finger salute. The man in charge of America’s fall pro football league has no problem asking you to pay up, shut-up, and watch meaningless August preseason football games at your NFL stadium every year.   Meanwhile, Commissioner Goodell and his band of merry billionaire owners have just pilfered a league record nine regular season home games this fall and moved them them overseas.  That’s two more games than in 2025 and four more than in 2024 or previous years. Notice the trend? I was excited a few weeks ago in reviewing the list of 2026 NFL opponents for each team.  My two favorite black and gold NFL teams (the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers) were slated to play this fall in the Louisiana Superdome. Until… The greedy NFL pirated the Saints’ Week 7 home game against the Steelers and moved it to be played…in Paris, France!?? Sacre Bleu! Yes, we know that French explorers founded New Orleans in 1718.  In 1803, the United States acquired the city and a vast region located west of the Mississippi River in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase for a bargain price of $15 million. New Orleans’ tourist appeal relies heavily on its French roots.  The city’s famous French Quarter features street signs reminding visitors and locals of the city’s French history. You can stroll down Rue Royale (Royal Street) to enjoy a few biegnets and Community Coffee at Cafe Du Monde. Magnifique! Even the New Orleans Saints’ team logo features a French fleur de lis. Yes, I will begrudgingly give credit to someone in the NFL’s scheduling office for coming up with the idea of sending the New Orleans Saints to play a game in Paris. But why did the NFL rob Saints fans of a chance to watch our beloved WhoDats play the vaunted Pittsburgh Steelers in the Superdome? Saints fans wouldn’t be nearly as torqued if the league had selected a different home game this fall against (let’s say) the Cleveland Browns or Las Vegas Raiders. C’est parti pour les Steelers… (Here we go Steelers…) Pittsburgh Steelers fans aren’t necessarily thrilled about moving the road game in New Orleans all the way to France, either.  The six-time Super Bowl champions have one of the NFL’s largest traveling contingents. Visitors to New Orleans in late October are treated to some of the best weather of the year in the Crescent City.  Local hotels, restaurants, bars and retailers are going to miss cashing-in on 10,000 or more fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers that weekend, too. Thanks for nothing, NFL! The Week 7 game on October 25 in Paris, France will probably still feature thousands of Terrible Towels being waved by fans in attendance. You have to wonder how much money those French football fans will be charged to buy them, though. This migration onto the world stage by the NFL is quite deliberate Commissioner Roger Goodell (it’s OK to “boo” right here) first sent the Arizona Cardinals to play a regular season NFL game vs. the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City in 2005.  Since then, the league has continued to add more and more regular season games played outside of the United States. London is the leader in number of NFL games played outside the continental United States. A total of 48 NFL games have been played in London since 2007.  In fact, a minimum of two NFL games have been played in London annually since 2013. This year will feature three consecutive weeks of NFL regular season games being played in London during October.  But why? The unfortunate Jacksonville Jaguars have been dispatched to London a total of 14 times over the past 13 seasons.  As usual, J-ville travels to Jolly ol’ England again this fall.  The Jaguars are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Eagles on October 11 in London. Many observers (including me) believe that the Jacksonville NFL franchise is going to be relocated to London at some point in the not-too-distant future. Germany has become a popular recent destination for NFL teams.  Five games have already been played on German soil since 2022.  The New England Patriots and Detroit Lions will play in Munich this season on November 15. Mexico City has hosted four NFL regular season games since 2016.  The Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers will play a Sunday night game in Mexico City on November 22. Brazil will host its third NFL regular season game in three years. The Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys will play in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, September 27. Australia gets its first NFL game, too.  The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams are being dispatched to Melbourne for a Week 1 encounter on September 10. Rounding out the NFL’s frequent flier schedule will be the Cincinnati Bengals and Atlanta Falcons flying to Madrid, Spain for a game on November 8. The NFL’s nine game international schedule is a new record.  There were seven games played overseas in 2025 and “just” five in 2024. Have you figured out why the NFL is doing this? If you guessed, “To make even more money!”, you are correct! Don’t believe the NFL’s baloney about “growing the game internationally”.  It’s all about this massive financial private enterprise growing their already bloated bank accounts. The NFL earns millions from the ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, and rights it receives to play regular season games in international venues. Even more importantly, the league is setting the proverbial hooks right now.  They want millions of new international fans to become addicted to American pro football each fall. These countries represent fresh sources of potential income for the NFL. Online broadcasters such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, Peacock, and Paramount+ are expected to generate massive new international revenue sources for the NFL. Math lesson – How many people are watching these online providers in the US and other countries? These numbers may surprise you.  Let’s start with Netflix. According to one source, these six countries have the most Netflix subscribers: USA – 66.7 million United Kingdom – 18.4 million Brazil – 16.6 million Germany – 16.6 million Mexico – 13.9 million France – 13.6 million Purely by coincidence (cough), the NFL will be playing at least one regular season football game in each of those countries this fall! Did you know that Amazon Prime Video has more than 160 million viewers in the United States alone?  It is already available in 240 other countries worldwide. As for YouTube, I was surprised to learn that India is their number one country for viewership with 491 million YouTubers.  They claim that the US has 253 million YouTube customers.  Next comes Brazil (144 mm), Mexico (84 mm), and Japan (79 mm). Peacock (owned by NBC Universal) boasts of 36 million mostly-US subscribers.    Paramount + (which also owns CBS) claims have 79 million subscribers in 29 different countries. Traditional NFL television outlets better watch out – soon! That villainous NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (feel free to “boo” him again here) dropped hints recently that the NFL may utilize its right to opt-out of several existing television deals as early as the fall, 2029 football season. The NFL’s current TV deals began in 2021 and run for 11 years.  That means that Fox Sports, CBS, and NBC should be “safe” through the football year 2032. Maybe. A voluntary renegotiation with one or more of the current broadcasters to extend their deals (at a significantly higher price, of course) may be underway even now. The NFL has begun receiving greater pushback from the public recently. Last week, restaurant and bar associations in Iowa and Wisconsin demanded congressional investigations as to the NFL’s “one-size-fits-all” new distribution plan for its Sunday Ticket package.  The NFL will provide just one untested internet-based online distribution this fall after retail customers enjoyed years of service via satellite. Smartly, the football giant wants to avoid closer oversight now as franchise owners focus on a gigantic pot of international gold on the horizon. The crafty NFL is playing a game of chess with football fans and US broadcasters There is no reason for the NFL to push too hard right now.  Franchise owners are booking record profits.  The NFL doesn’t have a viable competitor trying to steal some of their massively popular pro football audiences. Yet. The NFL has built a 32-team professional football monopoly in the United States.  It is seeking to expand its empire worldwide and reap even greater profits and franchise valuations. Football fans can still have the last laugh The NFL has slowly grown interest in its product over several decades.  Traditional television networks now have advertisers salivating to reach an average of 19 million mostly male viewers generally within the prime buying demographic of ages 25 to 49. The NFL has quietly grown a new audience.  Millions of casual and professional gamblers are now wagering on weekly NFL games via a variety of online betting providers. Tapping into the international market is another attempt by this behemoth sports enterprise called the NFL to expand its financial reach into more untapped markets. “Joe NFL Fan” in the United States must prepare for these changes.  Should he spend more money to start watching a growing portion of his weekly slate of NFL games online or simply go on an NFL TV diet soon? Barring any new fall football competition, the NFL appears confident that the loss of any former US-based viewers will be minimal when compared to adding millions of new international customers. This process is unfolding right in front of your eyes like a deliberate game of chess. The NFL confidently believes they have you trapped.  They have not declared, “Checkmate” just yet. The giant sports enterprise called the NFL is going to eventually force you to start paying to watch their product soon.  Or, you can opt out and enjoy your weekends without the NFL. Those choices are coming – sooner than you think. The post Welcome to the in-FL appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The second golf major championship of the year will tee-off Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club near Philadelphia.  In 1962, the PGA Championship was played on this same golf course. Future Hall-of-Famer Gary Player won that year with a 2-under par total. Aronimink Golf Club was designed by the legendary Donald Ross and completed in 1928.  The superb layout has been stretched to well over 7,300 yards and will play as a par 70. Though Gary Player’s total of 2-under par total was a reasonable score in his day, don’t be surprised if this year’s winner is at least 15-under par.  Today’s vastly improved golf equipment and balls are turning classic layouts such as Aronimink Golf Club into glorified drive, pitch, and putt tournaments. The PGA Championship features a large field of 156 golfers.  That total includes 20 PGA club professionals who earned their way into this week’s tournament by finishing in the top 20 at a recent PGA club professional qualifying event. Much like The Masters, past winners of the PGA Championship are allowed to participate in this event for as many years as the golfer desires to compete. This weekend’s weather forecast looks delightful. Abundant sunshine with moderate temperatures in the 70’s will slowly increase into the middle 80’s by Sunday.  The benign weather conditions will likely create a Philly birdie festival. The PGA Championship has produced a number of champions who “came out of nowhere” to win their one and only professional major in this event. Of the four golf major events, the PGA Championship has produced a large number of surprise winners in recent decades. Let’s review some of those one-and-done major winners and, later, try to identify a few underdogs to win this year’s PGA Championship. Rich Beem – 2002 – Hazeltine (MN) 10-under par Then:  Rich Beem was fortunate just to have a PGA Tour playing card entering 2002.  He played well during the opening three rounds and trailed third round leader Justin Leonard by three shots entering Sunday’s final 18 holes.  Tiger Woods also charged up the final round leaderboard on Sunday to post a 67 and apply some serious pressure.  Rich Beem was able to hang on with a final round 68 to win by one shot over Woods. Now:  The 55-year old Rich Beem will not be playing in this week’s PGA Championship.  In recent years, Beem has been doing golf commentary for Sky Sports.  He has not appeared recently on either the PGA or Champions (Senior) golf tours. Shaun Micheel – 2003 – Oak Hill (NY) 3-under par Then:  You may remember that Shaun Micheel hit the 7-iron of his lifetime on the 72nd hole at Oak Hill in Rochester, NY in 2003 to win the 27-pound Wanamaker trophy.  That was Micheel’s lone PGA Tour victory during a lengthy professional career.  He would often finish in the top ten, though.  Shaun Micheel recently admitted that he struggled for many years by putting too much pressure on himself to perform well on the golf course.  Micheel lamented, “I played every shot like it was life or death.” Now:  The 57-year old Shaun Micheel plays in a few PGA Champions Tour events each season.  As a past PGA Championship winner, he will be in Philadelphia and plans to tee-it up on Thursday. Y. E. Yang – 2009 – Hazeltine (MN) 8-under par Then:  South Korean Y. E. Yang’s victory at the 2009 PGA Championship was memorable for two big reasons.  He became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major men’s golf championship.  Yang also gained worldwide notoriety by rallying in the final round to win by three shots over a highly-favored golfer named Tiger Woods. Now:  The 54-year old Y. E. Yang remains active in professional golf.  He just finished in 14th place at last weekend’s PGA Champions Tour event in The Woodlands, Texas.  He has posted seven top 25 finishes this season on the senior tour.  Yang, like Shaun Micheel, will be playing in this week’s PGA Championship field on Thursday.  Y.E. Yang will be trying to make his first cut at the PGA Championship since the year 2015. Jason Dufner – 2013 – Oak Hill (NY) 10-under par Then:  Former Auburn University college golfer Jason Dufner had already won twice on the men’s tour coming into the 2013 PGA Championship in Rochester, New York.  The laid-back Dufner grabbed a two shot lead over Jim Furyk entering the final nine holes in Sunday’s final round. That  duo battled back and forth over the closing holes.  Dufner held on to claim the only major championship of his career. Now:  The 49-year old Jason Dufner has won five times on the PGA Tour.  This year, he has played in only three PGA Tour events (missing the cut each time) prior to this week’s PGA Championship.  You may remember that Jason Dufner gained a different type of national notoriety during the spring of 2013.  At a Dallas-area PGA publicity event, Dufner appeared before a group of elementary school children.  While the teacher was busy talking (and talking), Dufner was photographed sitting on the floor alongside some of the kids.  He appeared in the picture to be slumped over in a rather relaxed, sleepy posture. The term “Dufnering” was born.  “Dufnering” became even more popular among golfers a few months later after the ultra laid-back Jason Dufner won the 2013 PGA Championship. Jimmy Walker – 2016 – Baltusrol (NJ) – 14-under par Then:  Jimmy Walker took the lead at the 2016 PGA Championship with a blistering five-under par 65 in Round 1.  He would play well in each day of the tournament.  Walker posted a wire-to-wire victory and held off a fast-closing Jason Day.  It was Jimmy Walker’s first and only major championship title. It was also his last win on the PGA Tour through this week. Now:  At age 47, Jimmy Walker is no longer playing regularly on the PGA Tour.  After his 2016 win at the PGA Championship, Walker went hunting with some friends.  Upon returning home, his health began to deteriorate.  Jimmy Walker told a reporter that he had contracted Lyme disease (generally transmitted by ticks).  His recovery was extremely difficult and very slow.  Walker’s return to professional golf was hampered by newfound difficulties with his chipping and putting games.  Nevertheless, Jimmy Walker is expected to be in the field on Thursday at Aronimink Golf Club. Could there be another underdog winner at this week’s 2026 PGA Championship? Absolutely!  Here are four golfers seeking their first major title and not receiving a lot of pre-tournament love from the media pundits this week.  I will also provide a fifth undervalued golfer looking to break into the winner’s column again this week with the 2026 PGA Championship title.   Sam Burns – The former Shreveport resident is one of the tour’s finest putters. If Sam Burns can keep the ball in play off the tee this week, he is quite capable of shooting some very low scores and winning his first major. Thomas Detry – This 33-year old Belgian golfer plays on the LIV Golf Tour. He just posted a solid sixth place finish last weekend.  That golf course in northern Virginia is very similar to this week’s layout at Aronimink. Anthony Kim – Another LIV golfer who is coming off a hot finish last weekend in Virginia. Kim shot a closing round of 10-under par 62 to post another top ten finish. Brandt Snedeker – The 45-year old just won in Myrtle Beach last weekend for his first PGA win in nearly eight years. When you’re hot, you’re hot, right? Jordan Spieth – OK, I admit it.  I would LOVE to see Jordan Spieth find a way to win this weekend.  He hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since 2022. More importantly, Spieth would finally complete golf’s career Grand Slam (The Masters, US Open, The (British) Open, and, finally, the PGA Championship) with a victory on Sunday afternoon. Enjoy this weekend’s PGA Championship! The post PGA Championship Preview – Watch out for Underdogs! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

For one 2025 national champion LSU baseball team, last weekend’s games ended any remote chances that they will qualify for the upcoming playoffs with a chance to repeat. For the other 2025 national champion LSU baseball team located in the northwest corner of Louisiana, their chance for a title repeat is very much alive and well today. This weekend also featured the quiet return of one of the PGA Tour’s most popular golfers as he won for the first time in eight years.  Plus, the NBA’s Indiana Pacers attempt to tank and receive a top draft pick backfired in a big way on Sunday. The LSU Tigers baseball team went 0-3 at Georgia – won’t defend title Omaha will not be the final destination for this year’s 2026 LSU baseball team in June.  The 2025 national champions just dropped three straight games in Athens, Georgia over the weekend. The Georgia Bulldogs downed the Tigers 11-8, 13-8, and (yikes) 12-1 after the infamous 10-run rule was invoked in Sunday’s finale.  That weekend sweep also gave the Dawgs the 2026 SEC regular season title. UGA is now 41-11 overall and a very impressive 21-6 in the SEC. LSU’s depleted pitching staff (giving up 5 ½ runs every nine innings) served up an assortment of tasty treats to Georgia’s eager batters all weekend.  The Tigers fell to 29-24 overall and a woeful 9-18 in the SEC. Those 18 SEC losses are the most ever for an LSU baseball team.  It’s hard to believe Coach Jay Johnson’s baseball team has fallen this far after winning the national championship in 2025. LSU’s regular season mercifully ends at home this weekend in Baton Rouge as the Florida Gators (34-18 and 15-12 in the SEC) visit Alex Box Stadium.  LSU remains in 14th place in the 16-team SEC.  Only South Carolina (7-20 in the league) and Missouri (6-21) have worse records. In Shreveport, the defending NAIA baseball champion LSU-S Pilots are peaking at the right time Last year’s LSU-Shreveport baseball team set an all-time college baseball record by becoming the first team to win every single game they played.  The 59-0 Perfect Pilots of 2025 have lost 12 times during 2026.  However, they also have 41 wins, too. LSU-S will host four other top regional teams in the NAIA opening round playoff series beginning today (Monday, May 11) at Pilot Field in Shreveport.  LSU-S is a nifty 31-4 at home this year.  The odds favor the Pilots advancing into the second round of the NAIA playoffs next week. Unlike their big brothers down in Baton Rouge, LSU-Shreveport’s pitching has been exceptional again in 2026.  The Pilots’ team earned run average is just 3.35.  Pitching ace Brock Lucas has posted a 10-2 record and allowed just 1.83 runs per nine innings. Best of luck to the LSU-S Pilots as they try to bring home a second consecutive national baseball title to Shreveport!  *Update – LSU-Shreveport won two games but also lost twice to Mid-America Christian University (Oklahoma City).  Mid-America Christian (42-13) won the Shreveport Regional and advanced to play in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho on Friday, May 22.  They will face 47-9 Doane University of Crete, Nebraska.  Louisiana Softball – ULM women robbed of an NCAA playoff spot while LSU received the #16 overall seed Fans of the ULM Warhawks sports teams haven’t had a lot to crow about in recent years.  The women’s softball team, though, has been a recent exception. The Warhawks won their first-ever Sun Belt regular season softball title recently after posting a 19-5 league record. Last weekend’s Sun Belt Conference tournament #1 seed ULM won its opening game against UL-Lafayette.  The Warhawks then dropped a 3-1 decision in the semifinal round to #5 seed and eventual tournament winner South Alabama.  UL-Monroe finished their season with a 38-20 record. Sunday night’s NCAA 64-team women’s softball selection show placed Sun Belt tournament champion South Alabama into the field as expected.  However, the Sun Belt also received two additional spots in the NCAA tournament as well. Both Marshall University (regular season #2 in the conference) and Texas State (regular season #3) received an NCAA invitation.  Marshall finished with a 37-17 record.  Texas State went 38-20. Why didn’t the Sun Belt’s regular season champion ULM receive one of those two NCAA tournament spots? The Warhawks were the hottest team in the conference over the last two months having won 19 of their final 22 games. Yes, all three at-large Sun Belt teams (ULM, Marshall, and Texas State) had very similar records.  Shame on the NCAA for leaving ULM’s regular season champions out of this year’s post-season tournament. In Baton Rouge, the LSU Tigers somehow wrangled the #16 overall seed and will host a four-team regional event this weekend at Tiger Park.  Coach Beth Torino’s team is 37-17 overall and has won nine of its last 12 games.  LSU just qualified for the softball postseason tournament for an incredible 20 years in a row. The Women’s College World Series will be held at Devon Park in Oklahoma City from May 28 through June 4. Golf – 45-year old Brandt Snedeker won for the first time in nearly eight years! The sport of golf can be played well into your senior years.  However, it is rare to see very many winners on the men’s or women’s professional golf tours after they reach their mid-40’s. Hall-of-Famer Sam Snead still holds the men’s professional record after winning the Greater Greensboro Open in 1965 at the age of 52. Two-time Ryder Cup golfer Brandt Snedeker had already been selected to become the captain of this fall’s President Cup team.  The honor generally goes to a popular PGA professional golfer whose playing career has already peaked.  Being the team captain usually means spending a lot of time handling team selections, tournament details, the media, and such.   Most team captains don’t have a lot of time for their own golf game. The 45-year old Brandt Snedeker had lost his PGA Tour playing card a few years ago after several seasons filled with injuries and poor results on the golf course.  Snedeker was having to rely on sponsor exemptions in order to be added into several events over the past few seasons. The likable Brandt Snedeker from Tennessee wanted to prove to himself and his family that his golf game was still good enough to win on tour again. His 18-under par total at Sunday’s Myrtle Beach Classic PGA Tour stop was good enough to secure a one-stroke victory over a 36-year old winless golfer.  Mark “Hard Luck” Hubbard bogeyed the 18th hole to finish in second place. With his win, Brandt Snedeker earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and a place in this weekend’s PGA Championship outside of Philadelphia. Nicely done and welcome back, Sneds! Indiana Pacers flunked the NBA Draft ping-pong ball lottery on Sunday Do you remember which team the Oklahoma City Thunder beat in the NBA Finals less than a year ago? Me, either. Last year’s #4 East seed Indiana Pacers surprised many with a late-season charge to win the NBA’s Eastern Conference title in 2025.  Indiana then fought gamely in the NBA Finals against #1 overall seed Oklahoma City before losing in Game #7 at OKC. This year’s Indiana Pacers suffered a series of injuries during the first half of the NBA season.  The team went on to establish franchise records for the longest losing streaks in Pacers’ history during the second half of the season. You could say that the Indiana Pacers were “tanking” on purpose in hopes to receive one of the top NBA draft picks in June.  The league “rewards” bad teams by giving them the highest odds of receiving a top draft pick. Indiana lost with vigor.  This team lost and lost and lost. The Pacers dropped 13 games in a row from mid-December into January. They topped their own futility mark with a 16-game losing streak from February into March. In what would turn out to be a colossal mistake, the Pacers also made a multi-player trade with the Los Angeles Clippers in February during a losing streak. As a part of the deal, Indiana’s #1 draft pick for next season would be sent to the Clippers only if Indiana should be assigned a draft selection worse than #4 overall. Not to worry, right? Indiana finished with a franchise worst 19-63 record.  It firmly placed the Indiana Pacers as one of the top three worst teams in the NBA this year. The NBA’s draft lottery rules assign an equal 14% chance of getting the top draft pick to the three biggest losers.  This season, those teams were the Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets. The next best odds (11 ½ %) were assigned to the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings. Memphis (at 9%) was sixth. The other eight non-playoff teams received a descending percentage chance with #14 Charlotte having a minuscule ½% chance of receiving the #1 draft pick in June. What could possibly go wrong for Indiana? Plenty. After the Washington Wizards’ ping-pong ball drawing gave them the #1 overall draft pick in June, Indiana was hoping to grab that #2 spot. Alas, the second-worst team in the NBA this year watched in horror as their ping-pong ball drawing fortunes went horribly wrong.  The Pacers didn’t hear their name called until the #5 draft position. As a result, Sunday’s ping-pong ball fiasco also handed Indiana’s 2026 first round pick over to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of this February’s trade. Indiana won’t receive a first round selection in this June’s NBA draft.  Instead, the Pacers will receive Los Angeles’ first round pick in the year 2031. Indiana Pacers’ President of Team Operations Kevin Pritchard later apologized to the team’s basketball fans.  He said, “I’m really sorry to all our fans. I own taking this risk.” He sure does! This also spotlights the NBA’s convoluted system of incentivizing lousy basketball teams to “out-lose” each other during the second half of the season. The worst teams (generally) receive one of the top three or four draft picks. In this case, the Indiana Pacers (historically a very competitive franchise) got burned trying to tank during the second half of the NBA season. The team intentionally (but would never admit) dropped a record number of games this season convinced that they would be a statistical shoo-in to receive a top three draft choice in June. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver recently commented that the league’s draft lottery system is slated to receive an overhaul in 2027 to prevent teams from “tanking”. He said, “You should assume for next season that your only incentive is to win games.” Right, Commish! I’m not from Missouri, but you’ll need to show me before I believe that the NBA has an effective plan to end the league’s tanking issues! The post Your Weekend Sports Update appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The 2026 United Football League (UFL) spring football campaign passed the halfway point recently. Through six weeks of the league’s ten-game regular season, each UFL team is now on a similar path.  The eight spring football franchises are experiencing a decline in attendance at the midway point of the 2026 season. The UFL replaced teams in San Antonio, Detroit (Michigan Panthers), and Memphis this year. Those franchises were relocated to Louisville (Kings), Columbus (Aviators) and Orlando (Storm). A primary reason for leaving San Antonio, Detroit, and Memphis was that all three teams played in large traditional football stadiums.  Those facilities cost the UFL a lot of money to lease. Small crowds of 10,000 fans or less for games played in 50,000 seat facilities looked really bad on national television, too. This new trio of UFL teams is playing their home games in soccer stadiums with seating generally less than 20,000.  The optics showing a crowd of 10,000 inside of a smaller football venue looks more visually appealing to home television viewers. Let’s count that as a win for the UFL.  However… The average attendance for those three new UFL franchises isn’t exactly turning heads, either. Through game 6, the entire league is averaging a little bit more than 10,000 fans per football home game.  Half of the UFL franchises (Houston, Dallas, defending champion DC, and Orlando) still can’t pull more than 10,000 per outing to their games. St. Louis (which led the league in attendance in each of the UFL’s first two seasons) is averaging 25,700 per game to lead the league in 2026. Below is a chart showing the attendance for each UFL team through Game 6 last weekend. Ticket prices for UFL games across the league are relatively cheap You can buy a 20-yard line ticket to this Saturday night’s Birmingham Stallions home game against the Dallas Renegades for $15 and receive a free t-shirt, too! Let’s say that the average ticket price in Birmingham was $25.  If the Stallions attract a crowd of 15,000 to this Saturday night’s game, that translates into ticket revenue of $375,000 for the week. Over a five game home schedule, Birmingham would generate $1.85 million in ticket revenue. With a roster of 50 players making an average of $60,000 per season, the personnel cost for the Stallions is $3 million.  Let’s also estimate that total expenses for the Birmingham UFL franchise (lease payments, coaching salaries, travel, game day costs and administrative expenses) are (conservatively) another $3 million. Now, multiply that revenue shortfall by eight UFL franchises.  The numbers simply don’t work. What about the television ratings for the UFL? The television ratings for UFL games compared to the NFL are similar to upstart LIV Golf when compared to the PGA Tour. UFL spring football brings about 5% of the average number of weekly television viewers which the NFL attracts for its games in the fall. Television ratings in 2026 for the UFL have been difficult to quantify week-to-week.  In general, the four weekly televised games have settled into a predictable pattern. FOX (one of the minority owners of the UFL) is into Year #2 of providing a Friday night prime-time football game.  The six Friday night games in 2026 have averaged 638,000 viewers. For Friday, May 3, the UFL spring football game on FOX (which attracted 670,000 viewers) finished in dead last behind primary competitors CBS, ABC, and NBC. The CBS Friday night line-up averaged over 4 million viewers.  ABC attracted less than three million.  NBC (which featured horse racing from Churchill Downs) came in at less than 2 ½ million last Friday night. FOX cannot be pleased about getting curb-stomped in the TV ratings every Friday night for two straight years.  The network’s Friday night UFL spring football games have been unable to crack the one million viewer mark one single time in two years. A recent week of prime-time television ratings showed the FOX Friday Night UFL game finishing in 162nd place. In addition to trailing the four primary networks, the FOX Friday UFL game lagged behind top cable television offering on Fox News, ESPN, MSNow, TLC, HGTV, TBS, USA Network, Comedy Central, ESPN2, Food Network, Bravo, Hallmark, CNN, Discovery, History, and A&E. That stinks. ABC’s Saturday afternoon UFL games have shown the strongest viewer interest.  Last week’s Dallas Renegades at DC Defenders drew the league’s highest television audience of the season as 1,050,000 watched the game on Saturday afternoon, May 2. The television networks need the UFL to consistently attract more than one million weekly viewers Advertisers want their product to be seen by the greatest number of people in their desired demographic.  Football traditionally delivers a predominantly male buying audience and is highly coveted by certain advertisers. UFL games are shown on the “big” networks like ABC, FOX, and ESPN. That means that there are zero excuses why football fans are not finding and watching the games.  It is proof that most viewers simply aren’t interested in the product. Has the UFL been targeting the growing online gambling market to stay afloat? Like it or not, online sports gambling has been growing quickly.  Unfortunately, many college students are becoming increasingly involved with online gambling. The UFL football games (especially those shown every Friday night in the spring) represent “the only game in town” for some bettors seeking football-oriented gambling opportunities. It’s impossible to know whether the UFL or the owners of online gambling companies are actively pursuing younger audiences to wager on UFL spring football games. The lack of growth in the UFL’s television audience from year-to-year seems to indicate that the gambling factions are not having a sizable effect. Who is Mike Repole, and why has he become “Mr. UFL?” The first two seasons of the UFL were financially underwritten by an ownership team of FOX Sports (50%) along with wrestling/media star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, his ex-wife Dani Garcia, ESPN, and RedBird Capital Partners. The original set of owners has lost tens of millions of their own money during the first two UFL seasons. Last summer, billionaire entrepreneur/promoter Mike Repole became a partner in the UFL, too. He purchased an undisclosed interest after the 2025 season ended. Repole quickly jumped-in trying to remake the league with several of his own ideas. The enthusiastic Mike Repole is about as subtle as the Kool-Aid guy bursting through the wall. He has already told Oklahoma City that they will be granted a UFL franchise in 2028 once the city’s new soccer stadium is completed.  Repole wants the spring football league to double in size to 16 teams within the next few years. It was Mike Repole’s idea to move three franchises to Columbus, Louisville, and Orlando this season.  He also spearheaded the UFL’s move into smaller soccer venues in 2026 to save cash and look better on television. The 57-year old Mike Repole has also jousted with fans of the 2024 UFL league champion Birmingham Stallions franchise, too.  He let it be known that the Alabama-based franchise would be moved if local supporters didn’t show significant improvements in game attendance this season. (Note – the Stallions are #2 in UFL average attendance entering Week #7) Yes, Mike Repole has been a virtual one-man crusader for the UFL over the past year. Try as he might, the vital signs for his beloved UFL in 2026 are still the same. The UFL remains on life support Only the deep pockets of the UFL’s investors has kept this patient from an expected death. Let’s forget about the size of the football stadiums.  When only 10,000 paying fans show up to watch any professional sport with massive fixed costs like football, the sports league is going to lose tons of money and eventually cease to exist. Perhaps the UFL has been hoping to attract some type of life preserver from the National Football League.  It’s not that the NFL couldn’t have invested in the UFL from Day 1, though. It simply chose not to.  The NFL has watched any number of spring pro football leagues come and go.  That’s because football fans aren’t interested in the product. The NFL wisely understood that they “own” the fall sports calendar. NFL franchise owners want football fans to be salivating in anticipation of the league’s return every year. Remember that the NFL has already been through this with the American Football League back in the 1960’s. Once the AFL achieved significant momentum with football fans and grew its television ratings, the NFL purchased their youthful competitor to end the challenge. The UFL’s presentation on the field and for home television has been exceptional.   Games (though still a bit too low-scoring for me) are often entertaining to watch. I will award the UFL an “A” for effort. This spring football league and several others have tried mightily to get their product to take root.  Football fans simply have not reciprocated with an endearing love for spring pro football. The UFL’s owners have every right to lose as much money as they desire hoping that their football league will eventually gain traction with the public. When and if that ever should happen, the NFL is likely to respond. The post UFL Midseason Report – Still on Shaky Ground appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Let’s catch-up on a variety of sports action from the past weekend. NBA 1st Round Playoffs and the Tragic Orlando Magic When a basketball team (at any level) misses 23 straight shots during a game, that team is more than likely going to lose. The NBA’s #8 seed Eastern Conference Orlando Magic was at home on Friday night.  They were leading the #1 Detroit Pistons 3-2 in their best-of-seven series. The Magic raced out to a 60-38 halftime advantage and had their home crowd ready to celebrate the team’s biggest first round upset in history. Then they played the second half. The Orlando Magic couldn’t hit the proverbial broad side of a barn over the final two quarters. Orlando scored just 11 points in the third quarter.  The fourth quarter produced a paltry eight points. At one point, the Orlando Magic missed 23 consecutive shots. The tiny 19-point second half total in Game 6 was the lowest ever recorded in the NBA’s long playoff history. Detroit was easily able to overcome the 22-point halftime deficit and won 93-79 to even the series at three games apiece. Sunday night’s Game 7 found Detroit back at home to win the finale 116-95. The #1 East seed Pistons advance into Round 2 this week against #4 Cleveland. On Monday morning, the Orlando Magic announced the firing of fifth-year coach Jamahl Mosley. As I have mentioned over the years, it’s a lot easier for a professional sports team’s ownership to fire the head coach rather than an entire roster of players.  That coach wasn’t on the floor missing 23 shots in a row in Game 6. The Boston Celtics did, indeed, die by the 3-point shot Just like Orlando, the #2 Eastern Conference #2 seed Boston Celtics took at 3-1 series lead before losing three straight games to the #7-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. As we covered a few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics thrive or die by their ability to make 3-point shots.  The NBA’s fourth-most prolific 3-point shooting team during the regular season clanked home just 13 of 49 long-distance shots (27%) in a 109-100 Game 7 home playoff loss to Philadelphia Saturday night. The Celtics blew a 3-1 playoff advantage for the first time in the team’s storied history.  Boston had been 32-0 all-time when leading by such a wide margin. This year’s Celtics also lost three of the four games played in their hometown at historic Boston Garden. Philadelphia 76ers fans rejoiced after their team finally won a decisive Game 7 playoff game on the road in Boston for the first time since Julius “Dr. J.” Erving played for the Sixers in 1982. Saturday night’s Game 7 in Boston saw the visiting 76ers zoom to a 30-15 first quarter advantage and never relinquish that lead. Boston played Game 7 without injured star forward Jayson Tatum.  He was dealing with soreness in one of his legs and was held out of the game as a precaution. Tatum and his teammates will now have five months to recover, practice their outside shooting, and, perhaps, consider adding a legitimate inside presence prior to next season. The Houston Rockets failed to achieve a first round lift-off for the 2nd straight year Houston’s Rockets sizzled during the 2024/2025 regular season but fizzled in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The team quickly reacted by adding veteran sharpshooter Kevin Durant to beef-up the Rockets’ scoring during the 2025/2026 season. Unfortunately, the NBA #5 Western Division seed Rockets crashed and burned in the first round of the playoffs once again. In the first two games against the #4 Los Angles Lakers, Kevin Durant sparkled on offense. Unfortunately, the other four Houston starters seemed to stand around and wait for their designated shooter to carry the offensive load. Durant was injured during Game 2 and didn’t play again for the rest of this series. The Rockets looked likely to win Game 3 but then blew a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds to go down 0-3 against 41-year old LeBron James and the Lakers. Houston found a way to win games 4 and 5 before getting drubbed 98-78 on Friday night in Los Angeles to conclude their season with a final loss. The Lakers played the entire series without two of its key starters – Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Houston may be looking at a few shake-ups for the roster and, perhaps, the team’s coaching staff after a second straight one-and-done playoff performance. PGA Tour – Cameron Young put the sleeper hold on the rest of the field in Miami The PGA Tour finally returned to Miami’s famed Doral Country Club Blue Monster golf course this past week.  While some golfers may have trembled while standing on the tee at the tour’s most difficult par-4 #18, stoic Cameron Young seemed to love every minute of it. The bearded 28-year old golfer with the signature pause at the top of his backswing was winless in his first five seasons on the PGA Tour.  Notably, though, Young posted six top ten finishes in the tough golf majors in his early years on the tour. Cameron Young was overdue to win. Sundays’ victory became Young’s third title in the past nine months. He broke through with his first PGA victory in August, 2025 in Greensboro.  Young added The Player’s Championship title in March for career win #2. Cameron Young told reporters Sunday, “When the golf course is difficult and the conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally. Young led from start to finish in all four rounds of the Cadillac Championship tournament at Doral.  His 19-under par total was six shots clear of World #1 golfer and runner-up Scottie Scheffler.  Cameron Young even called a one-stroke penalty on himself on the second hole as his golf ball wobbled on the fairway. He said, “Your heart sinks when you see it move, but it moved.  That’s part of what golf’s about.  There’s no one who is going to give me a penalty there but myself.” Keep your eye on this golfer in the upcoming PGA Championship, US Open, and The Open at Royal Birkdale in England. Savannah Bananas packed 102,000 BananaFans into Texas A&M’s Kyle Field Saturday It’s not football season yet, but you wouldn’t have known that in College Station, Texas on Saturday night.  Kyle Field is the massive football stadium home of the Fightin’ Texas Aggies. On Saturday night, the stadium was filled with 102,000 fun seekers as baseball’s crowd-pleasing Savannah Bananas arrived to play (of course) the Texas Tailgaters. “BananaBall” has been sweeping the nation with sell-out crowds everywhere they play.  This talented traveling team utilizes a number of “get the fans involved” humorous antics to help make baseball games more fun to watch. It’s baseball’s equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters – except on steroids.  Every Savannah Bananas baseball game becomes a party unto itself. The actual game (as if it really mattered) was won by the Texas Tailgaters 4-3. Speaking of baseball, NY Yankees’ legendary radio announcer John Sterling passed away early Monday at age 87 He was best known for his unabashed enthusiastic radio calls for his beloved New York Yankees.  John Sterling’s signature game-ending calls of “The….Yankees win!” were enjoyed by fans in the New York City metropolitan area for 36 years beginning in 1989. At one point, John Sterling didn’t miss a Yankees radio broadcast for 5,060 consecutive regular season games.  That was a span covering more than 30 seasons. The New York Yankees posted Monday, “John Sterling breathed life and excitement into Yankees games for 36 years while wearing his passion for baseball and the Yankees on his sleeve.  The symmetry between John and his audience was both undeniable and magical.” John Sterling was at the microphone for the last five New York Yankees World Series championships.  He retired in 2024 after the season ended.  Sterling required heart surgery early in 2026.    John Sterling’s enthusiasm and talent behind the mic will be sorely missed by all of us baseball fans. The post A Weekend of Basketball, Golf, and BananaBall appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Welcome back!  In my last post, we examined how LIV Golf is unlikely to survive after the Saudi Public Investment Fund ends its financial support soon.  Will the PGA Tour choose to punish the LIV Golf stars who left in 2022 and 2023?  Or, should the PGA Tour take the high road and find a reasonable way to bring back the LIV golfers for the benefit of professional golf fans?  It’s time for ol’ SwampSwami to present a few possible outcomes should LIV Golf fold its operations following its final 2026 event in late August.   Let’s start with my least favorite idea and conclude with my preferred solution. First idea – The PGA Tour tells all LIV golfers that they are not welcome back.  Ever. My Mom would have called this one, “Cutting off your nose to spite your face”.  It’s simply not going to happen. I understand the angst.  Many pro golfers and fans are still hot about LIV’s top names accepting $100 million or more from a country (Saudi Arabia) which has a poor history on human rights issues. The seed money and current operating capital provided to LIV Golf, indeed, originated from the Saudi Public Investment Fund. However, a total ban on LIV Golfers would be a terrible business idea for the PGA Tour.  Golf fans want to see the best players competing on the course every week. If you still can’t get over it, perhaps celebrate the fact that Saudi investors have lost more than $5 billion on LIV Golf over the past five years. Second idea – The PGA Tour tells LIV golfers to sit out for at least one full year.  They would then be permitted to start over.  That involves earning a PGA Tour spot at the annual Qualifying school or playing in the Korn Ferry (developmental) Tour in 2027 in an attempt to earn a PGA Tour card for 2028. This would likely send the majority of LIV Golf players to play in the DP World (European) tour next season.  The prize money for that tour is much lower, and the players’ travel costs are significant. From the DP World Tour’s viewpoint, adding a number of LIV golfers would boost interest in their tour.  Perhaps the DP World Tour might add events at a few popular LIV Golf destinations such as Adelaide, Australia and in South Africa. Another factor to consider is that an across-the-board ban by the PGA Tour for at least one year may cause some LIV golfers to sue the PGA Tour. It is important to understand that PGA Tour golfers are not employees of the PGA Tour.  They are considered contract labor.  PGA Tour golfers are not guaranteed any prize money when they tee-up at traditional full-field golf tournaments.  They earn money only after making the 36-hole cut by placing in the upper half of the field. LIV Golfers could argue the contract labor position in court should the PGA Tour deny their right to compete for one or more years. Third idea – Utilize the same method which recently allowed Brooks Koepka to return to the PGA Tour this year Five-time major championship winner Brooks Koepka had one year left on his LIV Golf contract in 2026.  He quietly negotiated his way out of the final year of his LIV Golf contract following the 2025 season. Brooks Koepka then visited with the PGA Tour and was able to cut a deal to return this year in 2026.  Koepka had to agree to certain conditions: He must pay a $5 million donation to charity. Koepka is not eligible to participate in the new PGA Player Equity Program. He is not eligible to receive any money from the season-ending FedEx Cup Bonus Pool. Upon rejoining the PGA Tour, Brooks Koepka has received several tournament sponsor’s invitations to participate in full-field PGA events this spring.  Those tournament title sponsors should be permitted to add players (including other former LIV golfers) whose presence boosts local and national interest in their PGA Tour event. The “Koepka Plan” could be applied to the other returning LIV Golf stars beginning in 2027.  A sliding scale could be used to determine the amount of each player’s charitable donation based on the size of that player’s LIV Golf signing bonus. This idea seems plausible to me.  However… The PGA Tour is unhappy that other top LIV golfers failed to accept this type of “olive branch” offer made earlier in 2026.  Revenge may sound like fun to some, but most pro golf fans just want to see the best players on the course every week. The PGA Tour is a business.  Listening to golf fans who want to see the top players back in competition should be the Tour’s foremost priority. It is also Customer Service 101.  The customer isn’t always right, but the customer is ALWAYS the customer! Fourth and my preferred idea – Listen to the golf fans and let’s roll again in 2027! Anyone who has watched the four golf major championships over the past few years can see how much golf fans enjoyed watching top LIV golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm competing in those events.  The final twosome of DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy in the 2025 Masters made for some great final round drama.  It’s time for all parties to come together soon and make men’s golf stronger than before.   A personal analogy may be in order.   Perhaps you (like me) have been fortunate enough to have been hired by an employer, stayed for a number of years, left for another company, and then rehired by your original employer to fill an open position.     We had our reasons for leaving.  Earning a good reputation during your first time working for that original employer laid the groundwork for your possible return. Of course, most of us did not receive a hefty signing bonus from any employer.  Pro golfers who left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf received some rather large signing bonuses.  Whether the amount was $1 million or $300 million, it was a personal business decision which involved risks to be weighed by each player. Importantly, the amount of the LIV Golf signing bonus received by a golfer should be none of the PGA Tour’s business. The PGA Tour’s primary concern – today – should be in determining how much value their enterprise would gain by adding the top LIV golfers to some of their golf tournaments beginning next season. Let’s get to work and create a win/win/win deal for the fans, the PGA Tour, and LIV Golf! *The SwampSwamiSports.com favored proposal covers only the upcoming 2026-2027 PGA golf season Step 1 – Allow each regular field (100 or more players) PGA Tour event to have the option of inviting up to ten former LIV golfers to participate in their local event. This would be in addition to the normal number of PGA Tour players scheduled to appear that week.  No PGA player would lose a spot in the field.  Former LIV golfers would not be eligible to participate in any of the PGA Tour’s “no cut” reduced-field events or The Player’s Championship.  All former LIV golfers (regardless of the number of FedEx points they earned during the regular season) would be ineligible to participate in the 2027 FedEx Cup series of year-ending events. Step 2 – Any PGA tournament earnings by a former LIV golfer in the 2026-2027 season will be split as follows – 1/3 to the golfer, 1/3 dedicated to the PGA Tour Players’ Retirement Fund, and 1/3 going to the local tournament’s primary charity or charities. The golfer would be financially “punished” by being allowed to keep just 1/3 of his weekly earnings.  Having another 1/3 going directly into long-time PGA Tour players’ retirement accounts is intended to honor PGA golfers who didn’t bolt for LIV Golf.  The final 1/3 going to the local tour stop’s charity will help make a positive impact in that community.  It’s also a smart public relations move. Step 3 – If any former LIV Golf player should earn enough FedEx points during the 2026-2027 season to qualify for a Tour Card in 2028, the player should be welcomed back onto the PGA Tour. Let’s say that the Zurich Classic team event in New Orleans invites LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to play as a team next spring.  If they should win the golf tournament, those two players may earn enough FedEx points to receive their PGA Tour cards for 2028. LIV Golfers must earn their way back onto the regular PGA Tour – by their performance! Step 4 – If any former LIV golfer earns enough FedEx points to qualify for a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2028, the player is welcomed to join that tour. A former LIV golfer may be able to place high enough during limited 2027 PGA Tour events may qualify to play on the Korn Ferry (developmental) Tour in 2028.  The player would spend their next season trying to win events on that tour in an effort to regain their PGA Tour card. Step 5 – All LIV Golfers will be permanently ineligible to participate in the PGA Player Equity Program. This relatively new long-term incentive bonus plan was designed to incentivize PGA Tour members who stayed with the Tour instead of pursuing an offer from LIV Golf.  It is only fair that the LIV Golfers should be permanently excluded from that bonus pool. In summary: My program would give PGA Tour tournament title sponsors the right to invite up to ten LIV golfers to play in their events to boost public interest without eliminating any PGA Tour players’ spots in the field.  Those tournaments may also decide not to invite any LIV Golfers if they so choose. The LIV golfers must perform at a very high level in 2027 in order to have any chance of securing a PGA Tour card beginning in 2028. PGA Tour players have little to be concerned about except for some added competition.  LIV Golf players would be at a serious disadvantage, because they are only eligible to play in a limited number of events.  However, any LIV golfer collecting enough FedEx points during next season to qualify for the PGA Tour or the Korn Ferry Tour would have earned a playing card based on performance. The PGA Tour and its television partners also win. There will be increased interest in traditional full-field tour stops which have traditionally struggled to attract to top PGA Tour names.  It’s good for business. Most importantly, golf fans win big!  Local PGA tournament fields will include more top names in their fields beginning in 2027. It’s time to get over the feuding and sniping. Fans simply want to see the best players in the world competing every week.  LIV Golf’s expected demise could result in a much improved PGA Tour very soon. The post Fans WANT the top LIV Golfers Back – Part 2 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Uh-oh!  LIV Golf lost its financial life preserver this week. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is pulling the Saudi P-LUG on LIV Golf at the conclusion of this season in late August. Meanwhile, PGA Tour players and cheerleaders like Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee are doing the expected “I told you so” round of high fives late this week. LIV Golf announced a restructuring plan Thursday “to support a transition from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partnered investment model”. Let me offer a simpler translation.  The Saudi money tree has dried up.  They are desperately seeking very wealthy people or cash-rich companies needing a billion-dollar annual tax loss. Oddly, no one has confirmed (or denied) whether the Saudi Public Investment Fund has officially parted ways with funding LIV Golf. The league’s Sugar Daddy cannot be happy with losing an estimated $5 billion over five golf seasons beginning in 2022. Thursday’s announcement by LIV Golf included the addition of an independent board led by a couple of investment bankers.  Good luck finding those new pigeons, gents! New Orleans’ first-ever LIV Golf event was expected to be played in late June.  Whose bad idea was that?  Not to worry.  This week, we learned that the New Orleans LIV tournament has been “postponed” (perhaps) until this fall. Louisiana’s state tourism group will receive a refund of more than $1 million already paid to LIV Golf to come to town.  However, the state’s taxpayers have already invested $2 million in making needed improvements to bring the former City Park layout (now renamed Bayou Oaks) into condition for a pro golf tournament. At least Crescent City golfers will be able to enjoy the brand new driving range and other course improvements which have been made. What are the chances that LIV Golf finds new backers and survives into next year? Despite all of that flowery rhetoric, LIV Golf’s current business model simply doesn’t work. The league initially paid more than $1 billion in signing bonuses to major golf champions such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith, and Bubba Watson.  Other top names signed for less than $100 million each. Brooks Keopka and Patrick Reed have recently left LIV Golf.  They both joined LIV Golf during its first year in 2022 and played through 2025. The two major champions negotiated their own exit plans over the winter.  Koepka then cut a deal with the PGA Tour to return this spring.  Patrick Reed was required to wait until the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup concludes in late August before he returns to the tour. LIV Golf’s biggest success has come in a few foreign countries starved to see some of the top professional golf stars. Tour events in Australia and South Africa were sold-out this spring with more than 100,000 fans during their LIV Golf tournaments.  LIV Golf’s worldwide events are also quite expensive to transport people, equipment, and facilities to different countries every two weeks. The league has played about half of its tournament schedule in the US. Those events have generally failed to attract significant crowds or revenue. LIV Golf pays its golfers a total prize money worth $30 million at each event in 2026. If a US event draws a total of 40,000 fans at (let’s say) $50 average ticket prices, that generates only $2 million in ticket revenue.  The math doesn’t work. LIV Golf’s television package with FOX Sports (which has been covered in a few previous posts) does not provide the league any significant revenue, either.  Playing in foreign countries brings major challenges for television.  Time zone differences have caused a few events to fall during the overnight hours back in the US. It would require take a drastic reduction in LIV Golf’s tournament purses (back down into the $3-$5 million range) to give the league any chance of treading water financially. Such a payday reduction would likely cause top LIV Golf names like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to leave once their contracts expire.  DeChambeau’s LIV agreement is set to expire at the end of this summer. What type of investor wants to spend their money on such a risky business venture with its top attractions leaving?  Not many – if any. Then again, the PGA Tour’s own financial picture isn’t all that great, either The PGA Tour has always remained closely guarded when it comes to its own financial affairs.  Some at PGA headquarters may want to pop some champagne bottles upon hearing of LIV Golf’s likely demise. In reality, the PGA Tour’s accountant should counsel them to put the bubbly back into the bar – at least for now. Did you know that the PGA Tour abruptly (and very quietly) ended two long-time events staged in Hawaii? The PGA Tour has held at least one annual golf tournament in Hawaii since 1965.  Honolulu has played host to the Sony Open in Oahu for 51 years. Another tournament called the Sentry (Insurance) Open was added in Maui beginning in 1999.  It featured the winners of each of the prior year’s PGA golf tournaments along with other leading money winners. Attendance at both events has never been particularly strong.  However, January’s television coverage of golf being played in the warm sunshine of Hawaii had been great in attracting home TV audiences and the title golf sponsors. The PGA Tour just said “Aloha” to these long-time events beginning next year Cancellation of these two long-running PGA men’s golf events in Hawaii next year are not the only departures from the PGA Tour after 2026, either. Farmer’s Insurance ended its long-time sponsorship of the PGA event in San Diego earlier this spring. The insurance provider had been the title sponsor at Torrey Pines in San Diego for the past 17 years. Other long-time PGA Tour sponsors such as Genesis (Los Angeles), Charles Schwab (Fort Worth) and Wyndham Hotels (Greensboro) face renewal decisions in 2026. Primary PGA Tour sponsors are becoming increasingly skeptical about making significant multi-year financial commitments at increasing costs.  The average PGA Tour title sponsorship now costs nearly $15 million per year with a multi-year commitment required from the sponsor. These title companies expect more than just goodwill when forking-out a significant percentage of their annual advertising budget to sponsor a one week pro golf tournament. Why are PGA title sponsorships priced so high today? Let’s go back a few decades.  Phil Mickelson first teed-up on the PGA Tour in the summer of 1992.  He’s now 55 and was one of the first PGA Tour golfers signed by LIV Golf in 2022. Tiger Woods has, for practical purposes, retired from the PGA Tour.  He turned 50 last December and now qualifies to play on the PGA Champions (Senior) Tour. There was a dramatic increase for PGA tournament payouts during Tiger and Phil’s careers.  Fans of both golfers helped to generate a renewed interest in the game over the past 30 years. The total prize pool for ALL PGA Tour events in 1994 was $57 million.  By 2024, the men’s golf tournament payouts had increased almost tenfold to $551 million. Unfortunately, both Phil Mickelson and the oft-injured and recently out-of-sight Tiger Woods are no longer factors in recent years. The competition from LIV Golf beginning in 2022 absolutely contributed to the PGA Tour maintaining and boosting its tournament payouts.  It was done to prevent other major PGA stars from jumping over to the new LIV Golf league. Guess who has been footing the bill for those huge increases in tournament payouts? Tournament title sponsors, of course! A golf tournament’s title sponsor generally covers all of the costs associated with bringing a PGA Tour event to each community.  The money goes to pay for operational costs on the ground plus that rising amount of tournament prize money being paid to the players. That good ol’ economic concept of the elasticity of demand is in effect right now. The loss of PGA Tour long-time tournament title sponsors has resulted in a reduction in the number of annual events. Many PGA weekly tournaments feature a rather watered-down field with few of the top 50 players bothering to show up.  Some may not like the golf course.  Others are taking time to prepare for future events or spend the week with their families. Tournament title sponsors, though, are left with a field with few “name” golfers.  That leads to lower local attendance and reduced national television exposure for the title sponsor of that particular golf tournament. Today’s top PGA Tour fan favorites include Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. A little renewed competition from young major champion golfers like LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Cam Smith would definitely boost interest at some of the PGA Tour’s most neglected tournament stops. The PGA Tour’s most recent media rights deals with CBS and NBC/Golf Channel provides annual revenue of $700 million through the year 2030.  It would be a smart business decision for the PGA Tour to add the primary stars of LIV Golf into the mix long before the next round of TV rights negotiations. The PGA Tour shouldn’t gloat about LIV Golf’s financial failure A $3 billion life preserver was provided to the PGA Tour in early 2024 from private equity partner Strategic Sports Group.  That cash infusion has kept the long-term golf league in respectable financial shape. Half of the $3 billion was utilized to create a new long-term bonus incentive program for the golfers.  Current PGA stars earn a portion of their bonus money based on their annual performance.  Importantly, they are required to remain a PGA member in order to collect that money in the future. The other half of the $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group was slated for “PGA Tour business.”  What exactly does that mean?  Is it being used to cover tournament losses?  What about the cost of funding former PGA players’ retirement accounts?  Nobody knows for sure. Phil Mickelson had deep suspicions about how the PGA Tour was being managed.  That is one reason why Lefty jumped to LIV Golf in 2022.  He claimed that the PGA Tour had been unfair to its players by retaining the exclusive rights to sell and market highlights of individual golfers to social media sites without compensation going back to the players. An increasing lack of trust between top PGA Tour management and several key players came to a head once LIV Golf came knocking in 2022. How can the PGA Tour patch things up with LIV golfers if that league folds soon? Yes, I do have a few ideas. Come back next time for Part 2.  Let’s work out a plan so that golf fans emerge as the winners! The post Hey, PGA Tour! Most fans WANT LIV Golfers Back! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Last year at this time, the 2025 LSU baseball team was rounding into post-season shape as the Tigers charged to the school’s eighth national championship in June. This year’s 2026 LSU baseball team (ranked #2 in the preseason) lost its ninth straight SEC contest on Sunday after being swept by Mississippi State in Starkville.  It marked the first time LSU has lost nine SEC baseball games in a row at any time in the school’s long and decorated history dating back to 1933. The Tigers are 24-21 on the year.  LSU is only 6-12 in the very difficult SEC.  Only South Carolina (5-13) and Missouri (3-15) have a worse conference record through Sunday’s games. Eight wasn’t enough for LSU at Mississippi State over the weekend LSU scored eight runs in each of its three straight losses at Starkville, MS last weekend.  In each game, the Tigers got off to a fast start.  Unfortunately, the later innings saw the Tigers’ pitching falter while the offensive bats struggled against a talented Mississippi State bullpen. LSU dropped Friday’s opener 10-8 in 11 innings.  Saturday night’s game had LSU bolt out to a 7-2 lead starting the seventh inning.  The Tigers lost 9-8.  LSU led Sunday’s finale 8-5 midway through the sixth inning before losing 13-8. Mississippi State improved to 34-10 on the year and 10-8 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are part of a 5-way logjam for fourth place in the SEC.  Mississippi State is tied with Auburn, Florida, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma at 10-8 in the league. LSU has suffered through a number of key personnel losses in recent weeks.  Coach Jay Johnson can only do so much when his pitchers are getting hammered nightly and the Tiger bats go cold at the most inopportune moments. LSU fans who already booked hotel rooms for Omaha’s College World Series in June might need to be on the lookout for another team to root for if they still go to Nebraska. At least for the year 2026, the defending champions of NCAA Division I college baseball are toast. Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia went undrafted by the NFL last weekend Diego Pavia single-handedly made Vanderbilt football interesting to watch for the past two seasons.  His ability to scramble, run, and/or or pass kept SEC defenses off balance and the Commodores in the game. The Vandy quarterback (generously listed at 6’0” by the school) helped the Commodores improve from 2-10 in 2023 to 7-6 in 2024.  Vanderbilt posted a school record 10-3 season in 2025. Diego Pavia played with an incredible and very infectious confidence on the field during his two seasons with Vanderbilt.  He finished in second place in the Heisman Trophy voting last year.  Despite being relatively short by college QB standards, Pavia remained confident he would be drafted by an NFL team last weekend. Diego Pavia’s belief in himself has gone a little over-the-top at times.  His ego can block a bit of reality.  Vanderbilt’s offense was wisely structured to take advantage of the quarterback’s skills.  NFL teams want their incoming quarterbacks to fit into the head coach’s system. As his final season ended, Diego Pavia morphed another Johnny Manziel type of personality. You might remember that Texas A&M’s “Johnny Football” won the Heisman Trophy in 2012. Johnny Manziel was known for his personal confidence and arrogance (and off-field substance abuse).  It worked against him as a professional football player.  Selected in the first round by the Cleveland Browns, “Johnny Football” started just eight games and went just 2-6 over his two NFL seasons. The NFL combine measured Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia at 5’9” tall.  He would become the shortest quarterback in the NFL this year. Seven rounds and 257 names were called last weekend in Pittsburgh at the NFL Draft. Diego Pavia wasn’t one of them.  He became the first Heisman Trophy finalist to go undrafted since 2013. The good news is that Diego Pavia was signed as a free agent by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday.  That team only had two quarterbacks on the roster.  Pavia will have a decent chance to become an NFL back-up QB if he performs well during training camp and in preseason games. Texas Tech’s very expensive transfer quarterback is in deep trouble for gambling Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson told the NFL Draft media last week that he turned down a $6 million NIL offer to stay at Bama for his final year of eligibility. Instead, Simpson gambled on his NFL chances.  To the surprise of many (including me), Ty Simpson was selected with the 13th overall pick in Round 1 by the Los Angeles Rams. One sports site reported that Ty Simpson’s first NFL contract will be worth $24 million over his first four years with the Rams. Yes, that’s the same $6 million that Alabama allegedly offered. Had Ty Simpson been drafted as the last selection of the first round (#32 overall), he would be slated to make an estimated $16 million over four years. Texas Tech University in Lubbock has very wealthy athletics backers who have been funneling millions of dollars into the Red Raiders’ NIL cooperative. Last season, Texas Tech effectively outbid other prominent schools to sign several key transfer players.  It culminated with the Red Raiders going 11-1 in the regular season and playing in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. Texas Tech recently opened its NIL wallet to sign University of Cincinnati transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby for a reported $5 million next season. Sorsby started his college career at the University of Indiana prior to transferring to the Cincinnati Bearcats last year. Brendan Sorsby’s lone season with Cincinnati had him tossing 27 touchdown passes with only five interceptions.  He had been one of the most heavily recruited players in the NCAA Transfer Portal a few months ago. On Monday, Texas Tech announced that their new $5 million quarterback (who hasn’t played a down in Lubbock) had checked himself into a gambling treatment program. Reports surfaced that Brendan Sorsby has a history of betting on college football games.  That includes games involving Indiana (to win) while he was on that team as a freshman. Former LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte just completed his third year playing for the New England Patriots.  Boutte published a lengthy report in January, 2026 detailing a period where he was heavily involved with online sports gambling. Kayshon Boutte claims to have lost $90,000 gambling involving thousands of wagers during a period at LSU where he was rehabilitating from a severe ankle injury.  He was arrested in January, 2024 (a year into his NFL career) as part of an online gambling investigation.  The charges were dropped six months later. The ex-Tiger’s fascinating PG-13 rated story does have a positive ending and is worth the read (click here). Kayshon Boutte believes that most college athletes who get involved in gambling are “going through something.”  He added, “Don’t give up on them. Maybe they just need some help.” The NCAA is now investigating Texas Tech transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby for gambling allegations. Current NCAA rules call for significant punishment if a college athlete wagers more than a cumulative total of $800 or more. Based on Sorsby’s voluntary check-in for gambling addictions, it’s safe to say that he is above the $800 threshold. Sorsby could lose his final year of college eligibility.  Pro scouting reports indicated that Brendan Sorsby had a good chance to become a first round NFL draft choice next April. All of that could be in jeopardy now. Texas Tech will (of course) spend whatever money is necessary to cut a deal with the NCAA to give their $5 million transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby a chance on the field this fall.  Voluntarily entering a gambling addiction treatment program could go a long way to help his chances with the NCAA. Online gambling (all types including sports betting) has become epidemic.  Colleges report that 75% of all students gambled at least once during the last year.  Nearly 20% gamble weekly or more frequently. Let’s hope that Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby (much like former LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte) can turn things around soon and help others going down that same path. The post Watching the Balloons Pop appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

This week’s sports scene has featured an assortment of odd headlines and stories.  Let’s dive right in! NFL Draft Day 1 in Pittsburgh featured a record 320,000 fans! For 51 years, the NFL Draft was held in a major hotel’s ballroom or banquet facility in New York City.  There would always be a full house of (perhaps) several hundred interested spectators who had somehow finagled their way into the festivities.  Of course, New York’s Giants and Jets fans dominated the scene to cheer their teams and lustily boo their biggest rivals. It was April, 2015 when the NFL smartly decided to capitalize on growing fan interest by taking its annual NFL Draft on the road. That initial NFL Draft “road show” in Chicago became a rousing success.  A genius marketing idea was implemented to stretch the proceedings from two days to three. Allowing Round 1 (which featured the most well-known college football players) to stand alone on a Thursday night was a big draw for fans.  Rounds 2 and 3 are held on Friday.  The festivities end on Saturday afternoon with Rounds 4, 5, 6, and 7. Fans flocked to Chicago in 2015 to be part of that three day party.  The event was primarily held outside and attracted more than 200,000 fans over a three day period. This annual party has become the NFL’s springtime equivalent of the Super Bowl itself. Since 2015, the NFL Draft has taken place in Philadelphia, Dallas, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Detroit, and Green Bay.  This year’s event is being held in Pittsburgh. The NFL Draft heads east to Washington, DC in April, 2027. Thursday night’s opening round in Pittsburgh brought a record 320,000 fans to the Steel City. Most fans literally just stand around within the designated fenced areas.  They wait to cheer for their favorite team and loudly boo draft selections made by the Steelers’ hated rivals (Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Dallas to name a few). Detroit still holds the 3-day record with an estimated 700,000 people attending the 2024 NFL Draft.  Green Bay pulled-in 600,000 for last year’s 2025 NFL Draft. Pittsburgh is off to a good start and might establish a new record.  However, there is an 80% chance of rain on Saturday which might diminish the turnout. Speaking of the NFL Draft… The Los Angeles Rams finished behind the Seattle Seahawks in losing the NFC title game.  They held the lucky 13th pick in the opening round of Thursday night’s NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. In one of the biggest Round 1 surprises in recent memory, the Rams selected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. The college quarterback had a shaky final season at Alabama and was widely expected to be taken very late in the first round or in the second round. Plus, last year’s starting quarterback in Los Angeles was also last year’s NFL MVP, Matt Stafford. The Rams could have easily traded down several spots, received an extra mid-round draft pick, and likely found Ty Simpson still available later in the first round on Thursday. Apparently the Rams’ coaching staff saw something that the rest of us missed. Did someone just mention Alabama? Following Nick Saban as the head football coach at the University of Alabama could be one of the toughest jobs in football. Former University of Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer accepted that position two years ago.  He has posted very un-Alabama type records of 9-4 in 2024 and 11-4 in 2025. Many Crimson Tide fans already had their fingers ready on the “Let’s fire the football coach” button as Coach DeBoer begins his third season in Tuscaloosa this fall. In a surprising move this week, the University of Alabama handed the football coach a brand new seven-year $12.5 million/year contract through the 2033 football season. Coach DeBoer’s salary went up by $2 million per year despite posting back-to-back underwhelming (by Alabama standards) seasons. If fired (without cause), Coach Kalen DeBoer will be due 90% of the remaining amount on his contract. Bama fans appeared rather unhappy with this move and are openly questioning the sanity and decision making skills of Athletic Director Greg Byrne. New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel’s problems are getting worse This married pro football coach was caught on camera recently at a luxury Arizona resort cuddling with a younger sports reporter.  This week, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was in the news again. A New York City newspaper released photos of the coach getting frisky with that same woman in a New York City bar back in March, 2020. The female reporter (who is also married) had her journalistic (uh) methods in obtaining information from the NFL coach questioned.  Her actions created a firestorm from other women within her profession.  She resigned from her most recent employer several days after the initial story broke. As for New England coach Mike Vrabel, he told the media that he is leaving the NFL Draft this week prior to Day 3 (Saturday) to seek counseling.  Translated – he wants to avoid the media. His counseling should involve marriage counseling plus a good legal counsel, too. The New England Patriots have not signaled any specific actions (if any) the team might be taking with their coach. You might remember that New England (under first-year coach Mike Vrabel) surprised many by reaching this February’s Super Bowl.  The Seattle Seahawks downed the Patriots 29-13. Another WWE wrestling legend ended his long career this week First, it was WWE superstar John Cena hanging up his wrestling boots.  One month ago, long-time WWE star and fan favorite A.J. Styles also joined the retirement club, too. Last weekend, another legitimate wrestling giant decided it was time to end his pro wrestling career after his Wrestlemania event. Brock Lesnar was never a classic professional wrestler.  He was weak at working the microphone and never seemed to get the hang of doing promos to help build suspense for his next match. Lesnar was an absolute beast in the ring, though. Most of his matches generally went less than five minutes.  The 6’3” 290 pound giant would toss pro wrestling opponents around like lightweight rag dolls using his signature “Suplex City” moves. No matter what you think of pro wrestling, it hurt to be on the receiving end of any Brock Lesnar wrestling move. Brock Lesnar was the NCAA heavyweight college champion in 2000.  He won 106 matches and lost only five times.  In case you didn’t know, the winners in amateur wrestling are not predetermined before the match. Lesnar quickly advanced in professional wrestling.  He found himself on WWE’s national telecasts less than two years after leaving college. After five years in the WWE, Brock Lesnar decided to try mixed martial arts with the UFC in 2008. He became their world champion within his first two years. It was then back to the WWE for Brock Lesnar where he would dominate all comers for the majority of the next 15 years. “The Beast Incarnate” would benefit from having WWE’s slick talking Paul Heyman at his side as a manager to help sell the sizzle for upcoming matches. Now 48 years of age, Brock Lesnar stunned the crowd at Sunday’s Wrestlemania.  He lost a fairly quick match to up-and-coming 300 pound giant named Oba Femi.  This time it was Brock Lesnar being tossed around in the squared circle. Ouch! After the match, Lesnar took off his wrestling boots and left them in the ring.  That signaled to fans that they may have witnessed the final wrestling match of Brock Lesnar’s career. Of course, we’re talking about the never-ending soap opera called professional wrestling. The WWE might offer Brock Lesnar enough money to entice him to return into the ring again soon…if the price is right! Did you see that great catch made by a baseball pitcher’s shirt this week? You owe it to yourself to watch an amazing once-in-a-lifetime catch made in Major League Baseball this week.  Click here. A line drive quickly coming right back at Seattle Mariners’ pitcher Logan Gilbert caused him to turn sideways to avoid being hit directly by a speedy oncoming baseball. As the pitcher spun counterclockwise toward first base, the baseball somehow found its way into a tiny gap between two of the buttons on Gilbert’s baseball jersey.  The surprised pitcher quickly retrieved the baseball from inside of his jersey and produced it for the umpire to see. Did the umpire call the batter out?    Nope. Leave it to Major League Baseball to have a rule covering such a weird play. Rule 5.06 states that the fielder (pitcher, in this case) may not use his clothing or paraphernalia to catch a ball. The rule was likely intended to prevent a player from using his baseball cap to catch an oncoming ball, for example. In this case, the batter was awarded first base.  The play was scored as a single. Seattle pitcher Logan Gilbert told the media afterwards that his stomach was a bit bruised from the play, but he was otherwise doing fine. Wonder if he is going to request a few more buttons to be sewn onto his jersey prior to his next pitching assignment? The post A Freaky Sports Week appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The NBA’s 82-game regular season just wasn’t enough. Thirty teams started the season way back in October.   There were 14 teams sent home on vacation in early April.   That left 16 still playing with a hope of claiming this year’s NBA title. About those 14 losers… “Inside the NBA” TV analysts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal, and host Ernie Johnson, Jr. have uttered their famous “One, Two, Three…Cancun!” vacation salute to the departing teams. In case you might be wondering, the woeful Washington Wizards lost their final ten games of the season to post a 17-65 record.  They deserve the title of “Worst team in the NBA” for the 2025-2026 season. The Putrid Pacers of Indiana sputtered into second at 19-63 to finish two games behind Washington.  A bronze medal goes to the Brooklyn “Nots” for this year’s lousy 20-62 final record. A draft lottery will be held May 10 to determine the actual draft order for all 30 NBA teams.  The 14 non-playoff teams are the only ones with a chance to receive the #1 overall draft selection. A trio of top losers (Washington, Indiana, and Brooklyn) receive a 14% chance of emerging from a rather complicated set of ping-pong ball drawings with the #1 overall selection in the NBA Draft on June 23. The other teams in this year’s NBA draft lottery will be: Utah Jazz – 22-60 – 11.5% chance of obtaining the #1 pick Sacramento Kings – 22-60 – 11.5% chance Memphis Grizzlies – 25-57 – 9% New Orleans Pelicans – 26-56 – 6.8% (pick goes to Atlanta) Dallas Mavericks – 26-56 – 6.8% Chicago Bulls – 31-51 – 4.5% Milwaukee Bucks – 32-50 – 3% Golden State Warriors – 37-45 – 2% Los Angeles Clippers – 42-40 – 1.5% (pick goes to Oklahoma City) Miami Heat – 43-39 – 1% Charlotte Hornets – 44-38 – .5% The New Orleans Pelicans (who have perfected the art of losing) traded away their first round pick for 2026 one year ago in order to acquire the rights to 6’9” Maryland center Derik Queen in 2025.  Queen started about half of the Pelicans’ games this season and averaged a pedestrian 12 points and seven rebounds per game. Decisions like that are another reason why New Orleans has failed to reach the Conference finals in every year since the team’s inception in 2002. There are 16 teams participating this week in a best-of-seven first round series The NBA Western Conference produced the two teams with the best overall records in the entire league during the regular season. Defending champion Oklahoma City won 78% of its games to finish 64-18.  The Thunder are facing #8 West seed Phoenix in Round 1. The San Antonio Spurs finished second overall this year with a 62-20 record.  They are playing the 7th seed Portland Trailblazers in their opening round series. Other Western Conference match-ups include #3 seed Denver Nuggets (54-28) against #6 seed Minnesota and the #4 Los Angeles Lakers (53-29) taking on the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets. In the NBA’s Eastern Conference, the top regular season team was (are you ready?) the Detroit Pistons.  Motown’s favorite team posted a 60-22 record and is matched against East #8 seed Orlando in the opening round. The Boston Celtics played most of the season without star forward Jayson Tatum. He’s now back in the line-up for the playoffs.  The C’s finished second in the NBA East (56-26) and are playing #7 seed Philadelphia in Round 1. New York’s Knicks finished third (53-29) in the NBA East.  They are matched against #6 East seed Atlanta in the first round. The Cleveland Cavaliers came in fourth (52-30) and are playing #5 seed Toronto in another Round 1 match-up. Is LeBron James still playing basketball? Yes, indeed!  The 41-year old ageless freight train still plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.  He also still bowls-over defenders on his way to the basket – just like he always has. It’s hard to believe that LeBron James (even at age 41) has never averaged less than 20 points per game over any season of his 23 in the league. The rumor mill claims that LeBron isn’t sure whether this year’s NBA playoffs will be the last of his long career. You can be sure that NBC (which is now televising NBA playoff games this year) and ESPN/ABC will be rooting for LeBron’s Lakers to make a very deep run in this year’s playoffs. Teams which live by the 3-point shot… Did you know that the average NBA team attempted 40 three point field goals per game this season?  I found it a bit surprising that the majority of the top ten NBA teams taking the most 3-point shots did not qualify for the playoffs. The Boston Celtics (4th in the league in 3-point shots) attempted an incredible 50 3-point shots during a 111-97 home playoff loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night.  Unfortunately for Celtics fans, the home team connected on just 13 of those attempts (26%). Boston took a total of 89 shots in the game.  When a team attempts more than 50% of its shots from long distance, a cold shooting night generally spells doom. Here’s your three-point shooting math lesson for today.  Anything above a 33.3% success rate from long-range creates more points for a team than those which convert 50% of traditional two-point baskets. However, attempting too many three point shots in a game may be an indicator that a team is lacking an effective inside presence (aka – a good center). For the record, the Eastern Conference #1 seed Detroit Pistons finished 29th out of 30 teams in 3-point attempts this season with “only” 30 per game.  Boston checked-in at #4 (42 per game).  Defending champion Oklahoma City was 13th with 36 long-distance tries per game. The NBA average for all shots attempted per game was 90.  That means that 44% (40 of 90) shots per game have been three pointers this season. Yes, NBA teams have become quite addicted to three point shooting. Look!  Up in the sky!  It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s Victor Wembanyama! He is 7’4” tall and hard to miss – even on NBA basketball courts. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama just received every first place vote for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.  He averaged three blocked shots and 12 rebounds per game this season. He’s no slouch on offense, either.  The Spurs’ third-year big man averaged 25 points per game.  San Antonio is the #2 Western Conference seed and a legitimate threat to stop Oklahoma City from repeating as NBA champions. San Antonio’s cast of characters surrounding Victor Wembanyama have been improving, too.  Guards De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle score 35 points per game between them this year. The San Antonio Spurs have the ingredients to surprise many during these two months of NBA playoff action. Does any team in the NBA East have a legitimate chance to win the title? There’s no question that the Western Conference trio of OKC, San Antonio, and the Denver Nuggets are the odd-on favorites to win the NBA championship this year.  Are there any legitimate threats coming out of the NBA’s Eastern Conference? The #1 Eastern Conference seed Detroit Pistons won only 14 games two years ago.  This season, the Pistons won 60 to claim the top position in the East. The Pistons play exceptional team defense and possess a deep bench if the team needs a burst of scoring or a fresh defender on the court.  Whether Detroit has the ability to withstand playoff pressure and adversity will be determined over the weeks to come. Boston won the NBA title just two years ago.  This team still features its “Big Three” of high scoring guard Jaylen Brown, clutch shooting guard Derrick White, and All-Star forward Jason Tatum.  The remainder of the Celtics line-up can look like a group of interchangeable parts.  Boston’s playoff experience could lead them to the NBA Finals this year. Neither Detroit nor Boston is going to be favored in a match-up vs. the eventual NBA Western Conference winner.  The Pistons or Celtics (or whichever team emerges from the NBA East) must play their best basketball of the season in the NBA Finals’ best-of-seven series just to keep it interesting. And the winner is… I feel fairly certain that the NBA Western Conference winner will emerge as the eventual league champion this season.  Last year’s Oklahoma City Thunder played better than everyone for the entire season.  They were not a surprise champion. If OKC can withstand Denver and San Antonio to win the Western Conference, they will likely bring a second straight NBA championship trophy home to Oklahoma. The post Your Guide to the NBA Playoffs appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.