Our days of watching those overly excited college football fans rushing onto the field after an exciting victory may soon be coming to an end.  That is, if the NCAA and your college football conference have anything to do with it.

This spontaneous act of celebration usually comes under one of two scenarios:

* Your home football team has defeated a favored bitter rival for the first time in years.

* Your home team (as a bona fide underdog) has risen to the occasion to defeat a nationally ranked opponent.

Most school and team officials are able to anticipate the possibility that such a rowdy post-game celebration on the field could occur.

For example, let’s head to Baton Rouge.  When LSU has a multi-year losing streak against the team’s former coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, there will be a good chance that Tiger fans may come rushing onto the field if LSU should break a losing streak.

The LSU public address announcer will dutifully warn the crowd before the game, during the game, and minutes before it ends.  The verbal warnings simply will not work with 102,000 ecstatic fans ready to help celebrate the end of that losing streak with their victorious football team.

Let’s face it.  When your college football team defeats its biggest rival – at home – for the first time in years, the home team fans may feel the necessity to release a lot of pent-up emotion.

It certainly doesn’t help matters if many of these fans are inebriated by the end of the game.

Thousands of drunk and sober fans still find a way to jump directly onto the field as the final seconds come off the clock as they quickly swarm the football field in celebration.

This massive rush onto the field puts the opposing team, its coaches, and the game officials in a bit of danger, too.

The opposing team’s players are unhappy about the defeat.  The players certainly don’t need the other school’s students taunting them as they try to make their way back to the locker room after the game ends.

The home team’s players are much more understanding.  As long as the jubilant fans remain respectful, the players (being college students, too) are happy to oblige the approaching throng.

This onrush of stadium supporters must feel like a giant wave of happiness descending upon the field.

It carries a lifetime of memories for most involved.

Unfortunately, some of those fans also retain long-term memories of minor and severe injuries while trying to scale barriers and jump from ten or more feet down onto the field.  Sprained or broken ankles and leg injuries are becoming more common during these bursts of positive pandemonium.

Right on cue, the legal profession has gotten into the act, too.  Attorneys for some people injured in post-game celebrations have attempted to recover damages from schools for their clients who have been sustained injuries.

A website promoting sports litigation (yes, there is such a thing) cited a case where a football goal snapped under the weight of fans who had climbed onto it during a post-game celebration.  The goal post (which cost $20,000) weighed 600 pounds (prior to the addition of enthusiastic post-game climbers).  The goal post fell onto someone’s head below and caused a fractured skull and brain damage.

An attorney sued the university on behalf of the injured fan.  The legal position was that the University had not adequately warned all fans that rushing the field after the game was prohibited and potentially dangerous.

The University of Alabama football team knows more about this phenomenon than any other college football team in America.

As you may have noticed, I do not write many stories about major league baseball on this site.

I like baseball.  I started playing in the fifth grade and continued through junior high school.  Though I was a reliable hitter, defense (just like in basketball) became a liability once I was moved to the outfield.

If you ask anyone who wears glasses while playing sports, playing outfield under the lights in a night game is a big challenge.

Once that white baseball gets launched into the sky under the bright white lights required for a night game, it is hard to find it quickly.  This can become a very nervous moment for a bespectacled outfielder.  Due to the glare of the lights, every fly ball becomes another adventure.  Let’s just say that I was always happy when the baseball was hit to someone else in the outfield during a night game.

A baseball game remains a terrific place to spend some quality time with your family and friends.

I usually prefer to follow college baseball during the spring (especially LSU games).

The men’s College World Series in Omaha and the Women’s Softball World Series in Oklahoma City are both incredibly entertaining events to watch during early June.

By August, it is usually time to pay more attention to major league baseball as the playoff races start to get serious.

This spring, Major League Baseball deserves a little more of our attention.  In 2023, MLB has finally implemented a few significant changes to their game.  Traditionally, baseball has been very slow to adopt significant adjustments.  Decreasing attendance and lagging television ratings sparked a major overhaul to the sport.

According the MLB website, there are three major rule changes which have been implemented which fans need to become familiar with:

* Pitch Timer – This rule change is one which most of us have wanted for the past few decades. There is a 30 second maximum between each batter.  Once the batter settles in, the pitcher has 15 seconds to deliver the ball (if no runners are on base).  If someone is on base, the pitcher an additional 5 seconds (20 seconds) to make the throw to home plate.  The pitcher also gets two so-called “disengagements”.  That can be used for a pick-off attempt or stepping off the mound for any other reason.  The batter may only step out of the box and call one time-out per plate appearance, too.

* Shift Restrictions – If you haven’t noticed over the past few years, more and more teams have been shifting their infielders and outfielders to overcompensate if a batter tends to hit the ball toward the left or right side of the field most of the time. This year, a new rule was adopted which effectively requires defenders to remain in their traditional positions.  Gone are the days of seeing three defensive players shift to the same side of the infield or outfield and leave gaping holes on the field.

* Bigger bases! If no one had mentioned this change, I doubt most of us fans would have noticed.  After trying this concept in the minor leagues, MLB is acknowledging that there have been more injuries as the players (and their feet) have grown larger over the years.  The slightly bigger first, second, and third base has meant about a three inch reduction in the distance between home plate and this new “behemoth” first base bag.  There is a microscopic 4 ½ inch reduction in the running distance between first and second base (90 feet from the center of each bag).  The same dimensions are in play from second base to third, too.

These changes had been tested within the minor league baseball systems prior to implementation at the Major League Baseball level this season.  Let’s review how well these adjustments are working.

***Correction – The game will be played on Saturday, May 13 at 7PM!  My apologies!!!

This Saturday night at 7PM CDT on ABC, the XFL Version 3.0 season will come to an end with its championship game being played in San Antonio.  The 10-1 DC Defenders of the North Division will square off against the South Division champion Arlington (Texas) Renegades.

The Renegades come into the finale with a record of just 5-6 after surprising the South Division regular season champion Houston Roughnecks (7-4).

Did I say that Saturday’s XFL championship match-up of DC and Arlington will be played in (wait for it) San Antonio’s Alamodome?

San Antonio’s own XFL team (the Brahmas) drew less than 15,000 fans for the team’s five home games this season.  Does the XFL really expect the fine citizens of San Antonio to fill a 50,000 seat football stadium to watch two other XFL franchises duke it out this Saturday night?

If the XFL folds after this year’s third attempt, the phrase “Remember the Alamodome” may be a fitting epitaph.

To recap, the best team in the eight-team XFL (the DC Defenders) will play against the fifth best team in the league (Arlington Renegades) for the championship on Saturday night at a neutral site in San Antonio.

DC finished with a league best record of 9-1.  Two other North Division teams (the Seattle Sea Dragons and St. Louis BattleHawks) concluded their regular season at 7-3, while the Las Vegas Vipers finished fourth at 2-8.

Seattle won a tiebreaker for the right to play against DC for the North Division crown.  Last weekend in Washington, DC defeated Seattle 37-21.  Attendance in Washington was 18,664.  It was the largest crowd of the season in DC.

Down in the XFL’s South Division, the only team which finished the year with a winning record was the Houston Roughnecks at 7-3.  Arlington was in second place at 4-6.  San Antonio (3-7) and Orlando (1-9) brought up the rear of the lowly South Division of the XFL.

Last weekend, Arlington went to Houston in the semifinals and surprised the home Roughnecks 26-11 to advance into the XFL championship game this Saturday.  Houston’s home playoff game attendance was just 13,568 at a relatively new football stadium on the University of Houston campus.

Here’s an interesting thought.  This Saturday night, there is a 50% chance that the 2023 XFL champion could be the team from Arlington, Texas with a 6-6 final record!

Oops!

How could any professional sports organization allow a team without a winning record to win its league championship??

You haven’t read this yet, but the XFL has lost a ton of money this season.  Unlike its competitor in the USFL, the XFL boldly went forth with a plan for all eight franchises to play five home games apiece in their ten game regular season schedule.

The St. Louis BattleHawks were the only successful draw in the XFL this year.  The team averaged a little more than 35,000 fans per game to lead the spring football league in home attendance.  St. Louis football fans sent a clear message to the NFL that the Rams should not have been moved to Los Angeles at the end of the 2015 season.   The city has been in mourning ever since.

If the NFL actually cared about St. Louis, they would never have allowed the Rams to move to the 2nd largest television market.

None of the other seven XFL franchises was able to pull more than 15,000 fans per home game.  The second best draw in 2023 was San Antonio with 14,983 per game.  The Las Vegas finished with the lowest average home attendance at just 6,028 per game.

With an average ticket price of just $20 for most XFL teams, the weekly revenue generated by ticket sales was not enough to cover the costs of stadium leases and operation...

Yes, I am saying it once again this year, too.  Based on the results of Round 1, the NBA wanted its flagship cities and the league’s top stars to advance into the second round of the 2023 playoffs.

Call me a conspiracy theorist if you will, but let’s establish the facts first.

NBA First Round Playoff Results:

East #1 Milwaukee Bucks lost to #8 seed Miami Heat – 4 games to 1

East #2 Boston Celtics defeated #7 seed Atlanta Hawks – 4 games to 2

East #3 Philadelphia 76ers swept #6 Brooklyn Nets – 4 games to 0

East #4 Cleveland Cavaliers lost to #5 seed New York Knicks – 4 games to 1

********************

West #1 Denver Nuggets beat #8 seed Minnesota Timberwolves – 4 games to 1

West #2 Memphis Grizzlies lost to #7 seed Los Angeles Lakers – 4 games to 2

West #3 Sacramento Kings lost to #6 seed Golden State Warriors – 4 games to 3

West #4 Phoenix Suns defeated #5 seed Los Angeles Clippers – 4 games to 1

Now, let’s now review the results based on each city’s TV market size:

Miami (#18 TV market) defeated Milwaukee (#37)

Boston (#10 TV market) over Atlanta (#7)

Philly (#4 TV market) beat Brooklyn (#1 market)

NY Knicks (#1 TV market) over Cleveland (#19)

********************

Denver (#16 TV market) defeated Minneapolis (#14)

Los Angeles Lakers (#2 TV market) beat Memphis (#51)

Golden State (#6 TV market in San Francisco) over Sacramento (#20)

Phoenix (#11 TV market) beat Los Angeles Clippers (#2 market)

In the eight NBA first-round playoff series, the teams in the larger television markets won only half of the series.

HOWEVER…

The nation’s two largest television markets (New York and Los Angeles) still have their most popular NBA team advancing into Round 2 while the less popular franchise is heading to vacation.

The New York Knicks are the Big Apple’s fan favorite.

The same can be said in Los Angeles as LeBron James and the Lakers advanced while the injured Clippers went home.

Let’s review the television markets which remain as the NBA’s second round of playoffs begin.

There are teams playing in New York (#1), Los Angeles (#2), Philadelphia (#4), San Francisco (#6), Boston (#10), Phoenix (#11), Denver (#16) and Miami (#18).  For those keeping score, the TV markets eliminated in Round 1 were #7 Atlanta, #14 Minneapolis, #19 Cleveland, #20 Sacramento, #37 Milwaukee, and #51 Memphis.

Wait!  If the NBA first round of playoffs were rigged, then why didn’t the Atlanta Hawks (#7) defeat the #10 Boston Celtics and the #14 Minnesota Timberwolves prevail over the #16 Denver Nuggets?

The Celtics are one of the NBA’s most successful franchises and feature a possible NBA MVP candidate in forward Jason Tatum.  The Hawks had a talented team but don’t have a significant national following.

Love them or hate them, the Boston Celtics are the NBA’s most popular team nearly every year.

So that leaves one final question.

Why would the NBA allow Denver (#16 TV market) to take down the #14 market in Minneapolis?  Easy!  The Nuggets have the NBA’s current two-time MVP in versatile center Nikola Jokic.  The Minnesota Timberwolves do not feature any stars of that caliber.

The NBA is and always has been a star-driven league.  In a game where only five athletes are on the court at one time, basketball affords the most talented individual on a team to become a focal point for NBA fans.

What about Memphis star Ja Morant?  He is one of the top players in the NBA this year.

Indeed!  Ja Morant was the biggest NBA star whose team was sent home in the first round of the playoffs.

Ja Morant was also the same player

Beginning Thursday, Kansas City returns to the NFL spotlight.  This time, the primary story will not be about Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

The NFL draft is coming to KC this week for three straight days beginning with Thursday night’s slower-than-molasses Round 1.   ABC, ESPN, and the NFL Network will provide television coverage beginning at 6PM Central time for another four and one half hours.

NFL teams will have (and, generally, take) ten minutes to make their first round selection as the first 32 college football players are chosen and announced.  On Friday night, it’s Rounds 2 and 3 starting at 6 PM with up to seven minutes between picks.  Saturday’s finale features rounds 4, 5, 6, and 7 (with five minutes between selections) starting at 11 AM and mercifully ending somewhere around 5PM.

The NFL draft will take place around Kansas City’s historic Union Station.

The incredible architecture of this railroad hub of the Midwest (still featuring Amtrak service) has been transformed into a regional tourist mecca.  Kansas City’s Union Station is part of the Chicago- to-Los Angeles route while another train travels intrastate to St. Louis and back.  Union Station has been modified to feature a top notch science center, planetarium, large movie theater and assorted retail shops.

In a very good PR move, the NFL is now holding its annual draft at a different city each year.  For decades, the draft was always held in New York City.   Even Detroit (which has never even played in a Super Bowl) will get to host the NFL draft next year in 2024.

As you make that critical decision as to how much of this event you plan to watch, let’s take a hard look at some of the facts surrounding the NFL draft:

HOW OFTEN DOES THE OVERALL #1 DRAFT PICK ACTUALLY TAKE HIS TEAM TO A SUPER BOWL TROPHY?

First, the bad news.  During the Super Bowl era beginning in 1967, there has not been one team with the overall #1 pick which has advanced into the NFL’s top game in the very next season.  Sorry,  Carolina Panthers fans!  You might want to hold-off on buying any 2024 Super Bowl tickets.

During the 57 years of the NFL’s Super Bowl era, there have been 12 of the #1 overall NFL draft picks who have led the team which initially drafted them to a Super Bowl victory:

1967 – Bubba Smith (Baltimore Colts)

1970 – Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers)

1971 – Jim Plunkett (Oakland Raiders)

1974 – Ed “Too Tall” Jones (Dallas Cowboys)

1983 – John Elway (Denver Broncos)

1989 – Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys)

1991 – Russell Maryland (Dallas Cowboys)

1993 – Drew Bledsoe (New England)

1997 – Orlando Pace (St. Louis Rams)

1998 – Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts)

2004 – Eli Manning (New York Giants)

2013 – Erik Fisher (Kansas City Chiefs)

In addition, five other overall #1 draft choices would win a Super Bowl ring with a different team than the one which drafted him.  They are:

1973 – John Matuszak (Selected by Houston – won SB with Oakland)

1981 – George Rogers (Selected by New Orleans – won SB with Washington)

1996 – Keyshawn Johnson (Selected by NY Jets – won SB with Tampa Bay)

2002 – David Carr (Selected by Houston – won SB with NY Giants)

2009 – Mathew Stafford (Selected by Detroit – won SB with LA Rams)

Statistically speaking, there is a surprisingly good chance (21% or 12 out of 57) that the Carolina Panthers may find actually select a player which will help lead the team to a Super Bowl victory during some not-too-distant year.

It has now been ten years since the last #1 overall selection (2013 – Erik Fisher in Kansas City) would be drafted and play for a Super Bowl champion team.

It’s hard to believe that a young lady born in early 1900’s as Fanny Rose Shore is now best remembered as the founder of a women’s professional golf tournament where the winner leaps into a lake in celebration.

In 1972, the LPGA’s Colgate-Dinah Shore-Winners Circle Classic in southern California was born.  Throughout its 51 years and rotating sponsors in California, the tournament’s spirit was always reflected by everyone’s affection for the founding host, Dinah Shore.

Last week, the LPGA major tournament’s newest sponsor, Chevron, relocated the event to The Woodlands, Texas.  I was fortunate enough to have spent a few days at the golf course as it transformed into the Chevron Championship.

Chevron and the LPGA organizers did a terrific job at continuing the spirit of Dinah Shore at this year’s event – right down to the unique victory leap into a lake by the winner.

Born as Fanny Rose Shore in Tennessee, the young woman battled through polio in her early years.  Though one of her legs would remain shorter than the other, she was a cheerful youth who excelled in the classroom and in sports.  She also loved to sing.  She attended nearby Vanderbilt University and participated on the swimming and fencing teams.

Armed with a degree in Sociology, Fanny Rose Shore’s singing talent earned an appearance on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry Show with its large national audience listening via the clear channel 50,000 watt WSM 650 radio.

After singing the popular 1930’s song “Dinah”, a radio personality began to refer to her as “That Dinah girl.”

The nickname stuck.

Dinah Shore became a popular singer and entertainment personality for the next forty years.  She cranked out hit records during the 1940’s and 50’s.  She became one of the first female television hosts with her own popular television variety show series into the 1960’s.  During the 1970’s, Dinah Shore’s interpersonal skills and disarming Tennessee charm helped extend her career as she became one of the forerunners of television talk and interview shows.

Much like Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore had become an early trailblazer for women in the entertainment business.

It was Dinah Shore’s longtime love for athletics which opened the door for her involvement in women’s professional golf.  A talented tennis player and golfer, she was a big attraction at celebrity tennis and golf events.

In 1972, the LPGA Tour had 29 weekly events.  The average weekly purse was about $30,000 to be split among the top half of the field.

The inaugural Dinah Shore golf tournament (held annually in April) would debut with a total purse of $110,000.  It was the first LPGA event to top $100,000 in prize money for participating players.

Dinah Shore remained personally involved with the event every year until her death in 1994 at age 77.   She personally promoted the golf tournament for months beforehand and attended the entire slate of events during tournament week.  The Dinah Shore name attracted national television coverage as the host even spent time in the broadcast booth as a guest analyst to welcome viewers to the golf tournament.

After a generally successful 50-year run at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, the tournament began to lose its luster and needed an injection of new life.

Enter Chevron and the state of Texas.

The new sponsor upped the payout by over 40% this year to more than $5 million.  The four day tournament regained national television coverage via Golf Channel and NBC.  The event (one of five “majors” on the LPGA Tour) was moved to the Jack Nicklaus signature golf club located 35 miles north of Houston (Chevron’s home) in The Woodlands, Texas.

In the coming days, Disney (stock symbol: DIS), the parent company of ESPN, may be reducing the headcount at its sports division once again.   ESPN laid off about 300 on-air and technical staffers in 2020.

The parent company’s encore CEO Bob Iger (who returned to the company last November to help reverse the company’s flagging stock price) had indicated recently that more layoffs are forthcoming for Disney and its ESPN division.

All of this comes as Disney’s ESPN is negotiating a new contract to cover NBA basketball games.  The new deal is expected to cost more than the $1.4 billion already being paid to the basketball league every season.

Of course, it makes no sense.  “Fire the cameraman!  We’ve got to save money to pay for NBA games!”

ESPN has lost its way and has boxed itself into a financial corner.  How did this happen?

The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) was founded in 1979 during the early years of cable television.  It immediately became a “must have” cable television channel for most of us sports fans.

When it was getting started, ESPN struggled to fill a 24-hour sports schedule in the early years.

They were starting from scratch.  ESPN cut deals with small conferences to telecast college basketball games.  The legendary Dick Vitale’s long career as a college basketball analyst began in 1979 in the early days of ESPN.  Dickie V helped build the popularity of ESPN during its critical early years.

College baseball and softball games would become part of the early schedule.  Tennis matches, sports car racing, fishing shows, rodeos, and nearly any athletic event (including cheerleading competitions) helped ESPN to fill its 24-hour schedule at a reasonable cost of production.

ESPN’s frequent “SportsCenter” programs provided Americans with an opportunity to watch video highlights from earlier college and professional games involving your favorite teams.  If your favorite baseball or basketball team played a late night West Coast game, SportsCenter would eventually show the highlights and the final score.

Prior to that, you would hope that your local newspaper did not “go to press” before the West Coast games had been completed.  Otherwise, you were out of luck.

In 1979, there was no significant competition for ESPN.  Cable TV was in its infancy with only about 15 million subscribers nationwide.

WTBS in Atlanta started off the national cable television trend.  The local UHF station went to satellite and became “The Superstation” in 1976.  TBS turned the Atlanta Braves into mid-America’s baseball team from April through October.  Founder Ted Turner later assembled the Cable News Network (CNN) to go national in 1980.

MTV (when they actually featured music) began on cable television in 1981.  The Weather Channel debuted in 1982.

In those early days, The Weather Channel’s “Local weather on the eights” was actually true.  Today, it means you have to wait until 18 or 48 minutes past the hour.  (Do they really think we’re that dumb? Don’t answer that.)

Another early cable television favorite channel was the Madison Square Garden Network.

They famously provided a national television audience for Vince McMahon’s fledgling wrestling outfit called WWF (later WWE).  The MSG Network also carried New York Yankees baseball and New York Rangers hockey games.  It is now known as the USA Network.

However, it was ESPN which was able to execute a vision to become America’s premier sports programming network.

In 1979, the sports programming for the traditional “Big Three” networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) was generally confined to Saturday and Sunday afternoons.  The NFL and NBA were the exclusive domain of the traditional TV networks as local television signals covered most of the country without co...

That great American philosopher Frank Sinatra famously recorded a hit song about the need to have confidence in your own abilities in order to accomplish big goals.  His 1959 song “High Hopes” won an Oscar for “Best Original Song” from the motion picture A Hole in the Head.

 “Just what makes that little old ant

Think he’ll move that rubber tree plant

Anyone knows an ant can’t

Move a rubber tree plant!

But he’s got high hopes, he’s got high hopes

He’s got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time you’re gettin’ low

‘stead of lettin’ go

Just remember that ant

Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant”

The month of April means that we are in the middle of the college football spring practice season.  Most major universities will conclude spring football practices by playing a scrimmage game for the fans to watch.  These games rarely reveal any significant indicators about what the future actually holds for the new football team.

However, the spring games allow football fans and the players a chance to get excited about the fall football season coming in just a few months.

Two major college programs recently hired new football coaches.  Fans of the Colorado Buffaloes and Nebraska Cornhuskers are downright giddy as expectations of future bowl game appearances and conference championships dance in their heads.

Will the new football coaches be able to deliver the success which these loyal fans are starved for?

Former NFL star Deion Sanders jumped into college football coaching at Jackson State University a few years ago.  In two years, he quickly transformed the JSU Tigers into winners on the field and rejuvenated student and alumni interest in the school’s proud football program.

Self-nicknamed as “Prime Time” as a football player, former NFL defensive back Deion Sanders was talented enough to earn a place in the pro football Hall-of-Fame.  His ability to cover opposing wide receivers and outstanding punt return skills made him a very special player.  However, his over-the-top verbal rhetoric made him either a fan favorite (if he played on your team) or a top target for the opposing team and their fans.

Upon retiring from the NFL, Deion Sanders became a popular football analyst on television.

He then decided that he wanted to try his hand at coaching.  Sanders became the offensive coordinator for a high school in the Dallas, Texas area where his two sons played football.

In 2020, Deion Sanders surprised the sports world by being named head football coach at Jackson State University.  During his two years at the school, the JSU Tigers won the Southwest Athletic Conference in both seasons.  The offense was led by the coach’s son – quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The Pac-12 football program at the University of Colorado has been mired in a period of decline.  Last year, the Buffaloes finished just 1-11.   Since 2006, the Buffs have won more than six games only one time (2016).  The football team has appeared in just three post-season bowl games during that 16-year period.

Though Deion Sanders’ magic at Jackson State came against a slightly lower level of competition, fans in Colorado are really buying-in.  This week, the school in Boulder announced that season tickets for this fall were now sold out for the first time in 27 years.

This Saturday at 1PM Central time, the Colorado Black and Gold spring football game will be played in front of a sold-out stadium.  ESPN will be on hand to jump aboard the “Coach Prime” bandwagon, too.

At the exact same time on Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska,

If you live in the Houston area, there will be three professional football teams vying for your attention soon.

The USFL is kicking off its second season this weekend.  This comes as the XFL Version 3.0 still has two more weeks to play in their inaugural regular season.

The USFL’s Houston Gamblers franchise will now compete for H-town’s affection along with the woeful NFL Houston Texans and the XFL’s South Division-leading Houston Roughnecks.  At least the XFL Houston Roughnecks are playing good football.  The Roughnecks are 5-3 with two regular season games to go.

For the second straight year, the USFL’s Houston Gamblers will not play one single home game in Texas.  The Gamblers have been placed into the Memphis “pod” this year as the USFL wisely branches away from playing every single game in Birmingham, Alabama this season.

Sweet Home Alabama – Sort-of

In 2022, the eight-team USFL started operations on a shoestring.  The costs of starting a new football league are daunting.  The USFL smartly minimized costs of operation, travel, hotels, facilities, television equipment and everything by playing its entire slate of regular season football games in a beautiful new football facility on the UAB campus in Birmingham.

While the hometown Birmingham Stallions drew 15-20,000 for their home games, the stadium was nearly empty for the other three games being played each weekend in Alabama’s largest city.  With only a smattering of fans in the stands for three of every four weekly games played in Birmingham, most USFL football games looked as if you were watching a scrimmage game on television.

To help remedy this visual tragedy, the 2023 version of the USFL has added three more cities which will host a weekly doubleheader of games.

In addition to Birmingham, USFL games will be played this year at Ford Field in Detroit (home of the Michigan Panthers), the Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl in Memphis (home of the Memphis Showboats), and the Tom Benson Hall-of-Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio (which, oddly, does not have its own USFL franchise).

Birmingham will remain the home facility for the Stallions and the New Orleans Breakers.  Detroit will become “home” for both the Michigan Panthers and the Philadelphia Stars.  Memphis becomes home field for the Showboats (formerly known as the Tampa Bay Bandits) and the Houston Gamblers.  Canton, Ohio will be home turf for the Pittsburgh Maulers and New Jersey Generals.

Why are USFL games being played in Canton, Ohio when there isn’t a team there?

Last season, the Tom Benson Hall-of-Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio hosted the USFL’s two semifinal games as well as the league championship game played on the following weekend.  Birmingham’s football facility had been booked for more than a year with prior lease commitment to host a soccer tournament.

The playoff attendance in Canton for the final two weekends of USFL games impressed league officials.

So, the USFL rewarded Canton with a regular season slate of “home” games for nearby Pittsburgh (100 miles to the southeast) and New Jersey.   I doubt that many USFL fans will actually make the trek to Canton from the Steel City or New Jersey.  It will be up to Canton (population 80,000) to drum-up enough local support for these USFL football games.

Ironically, it will be much cheaper to attend a USFL game in Canton than to visit the nearby NFL Hall-of-Fame.  It will cost just $10 for a USFL general admission ticket.  However, a ticket to the adjacent NFL Hall-of-Fame facility will set you back more than $40.

The Tampa Bay Bandits have morphed into the Memphis Showboats!

Last season, the Tampa Bay Bandits (like every other USFL team not named Birmingham) did not play a home football game in the state of Florida.  That’s why many are puzzled about why the USFL decided to move this faux Florida team to Memphis, Tennessee in Year 2.

In the movie Happy Gilmore, it took the former hockey player several weeks to finally conquer his intensity and temper in order to excel at professional golf.  With timely help from his golf instructor, Chubbs, Happy Gilmore slowly transformed from a hockey-stick swinging long-driving freak into a tour champion.

Growing up in Spain, Jon Rahm grew to admire other Spaniards who were able to channel their personal intensity on the golf course into victory and a green jacket at The Masters.

On what would have been the 66th birthday of the late Seve Ballesteros, Jon Rahm became the fourth Spaniard to don the famed Green jacket on Sunday evening.  He also joined two time Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal and the 2017 champion, Sergio Garcia, with a place in Masters history.

Seve Ballesteros won the second of his two Masters Green jackets at Augusta National Golf Club exactly 40 years earlier on April 9, 1983.   Jon Rahm was quite aware of that fact on Sunday afternoon.   He patiently crafted a final round 3-under par 69 to slowly pull away from a fading Brooks Koepka in the final twosome.

Jon Rahm left his family in Spain to play college golf in the US at Arizona State University.  He racked-up an impressive eleven college golf titles at ASU.  He finished his Sun Devil golf career as runner-up to Phil Mickelson’s 17 career wins at the school.

Sunday turned out to be a simply marvelous day for Arizona State University at The Masters.

The 28-year old Jon Rahm turned the tables on his Arizona State golf mentor by finishing in first place at The Masters.  Phil Mickelson rallied from ten shots down during the final round to post a career low 7-under par 65 at Augusta National Golf Club.  Lefty climbed the leaderboard to finish in a tie for second place.

With the one-two ASU finish at The Masters in 2023, perhaps Arizona State University should consider changing the school colors from maroon and gold to Masters Green and Yellow.  Well, at least for the remainder of the spring semester.

Much like the movie character Happy Gilmore, Jon Rahm has gradually learned how to master (get it?) both his intensity and golf game.  As a reward for his newfound patience on the golf course, he collected the second major championship of his young career.

Winner of the 2021 US Open, the 6’2” Jon Rahm is still known for his incredible power off the tee and on the golf course.  To win at the famed Augusta National Golf Club, Rahm also displayed some incredible touch around the lightning fast greens, too.

Jon Rahm (whose full name is Jon Rahm Rodriguez) was near the top of the leaderboard all week along with four-time major winner Brooks Koepka.  They were the only two golfers to climb to -10 or better last week.

Rahmbo (that’s what his yardage book has printed the back cover) will be one of the favorites in May’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York.

Fellow Arizona State alumni Phil Mickelson’s runner-up finish at The Masters was the 12th in a major championship to go along with his six major titles.  Lefty trails only Jack Nicklaus.  Big Jack posted an incredible 19 second place finishes to go along with his record 18 major championship victories.

PGA Tour vs LIV Golf – Chapter 1

With Jon Rahm’s win at Augusta, the PGA Tour has taken a 1-0 lead in the four major championships of 2023 featuring players from both professional tours.

However, LIV Golf’s Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka tied for second place.  Patrick Reed tied for fourth place, too.  LIV Golf took three of the top six positions in The Masters.

All in all, it was a surprisingly good showing from that trio from LIV Golf.  Brooks Koepka was feeling better after dealing with knee problems.  He recently won the LIV Golf event in Orlando with Patrick Reed finishing in fourth place.