SwampSwamiSports.com

There is an Athletics Director job opening (again) at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

John Hartwell resigned from the Sunbelt Conference school on Monday. 

He replaced Scott McDonald (2019-2023) who replaced Nick Floyd (2017-2018) who replaced Brian Wickstrom (2013-2017).

Hartwell spent just 2 ½ years as the AD for this quaint public university located along lovely Bayou Desiard in Monroe.

He reported for duty in early 2023 after spending seven years in a similar position working for the Utah State Aggies of the Mountain West Conference.

Hartwell’s departure from Utah State was announced as a family-based decision.  His wife has elderly parents living in El Dorado, Arkansas (about 70 miles northwest of Monroe, Louisiana).

Mission accomplished by the Hartwell family!  John accepted the job at UL-Monroe.

The 60-year old Hartwell’s resume also included three years (2012-2015) serving as the Athletics Director at Troy University in Alabama – another Sunbelt school.

John Hartwell’s positive track record at those two previous universities gave every indication that ULM was quite fortunate to locate a person with such experience.

What went wrong at ULM?

Hartwell’s sudden departure as AD for the Warhawks came as quite a surprise.  His one-sentence statement on Monday said he was grateful to “student athletes, coaches, senior staff, donors, alumni, and all of Warhawk Nation.”

He failed to mention his new boss, Dr. Carrie L. Castille.

She started working as the new President of ULM less than two months ago in early June, 2025.

Dr. Castille became the first female President in the school’s 94 years of existence.

She earned her Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from UL-Lafayette.  Additionally, Dr. Castille also holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies plus a PhD. in a related field from LSU.

The majority of Dr. Castille’s professional experience, though, has been with state and federal government jobs – primarily related to agriculture.

Dr. Castille told the assembled media in June that she was embarking on a “50 CEO’s in 50 days” listening tour.

Her priorities included ensuring fiscal responsibility, growing enrollment, and preparing students to be workforce ready from Day One.

Let’s take a closer look at that what ULM’s new President is facing with the school’s sports programs

I have found nothing which indicated that ULM’s new chief had experience in dealing with some long-term and complicated sports issues like the Warhawks’ athletic programs.

A brief history lesson is in order.

The school (previously known as Northeast Louisiana University until 1999) won four Southland Conference football titles in Division 1-AA (FCS) during a ten year period from 1983-1992.

The Northeast Indians (as they were known at the time) won the national championship in football in 1987.

The 1987 football championship is memorialized on the west side of the football stadium today.

ULM made the leap into the major college football group (FBS) in 1994.  Many believe that the school felt the need to step-up one level to keep pace with their I-20 rivals at Louisiana Tech (which moved up to the FBS group in 1989).

Unfortunately, the Warhawks have seen very little success in its new football nest.

There has been only one winning season (8-4 in 2012) and bowl game appearance (Independence Bowl) during the school’s 31 seasons playing football at the FBS level.

On the positive side, ULM is a longtime member of the Sunbelt Conference. 

The Sunbelt has slowly become a mid-major sports power among the so-called “Group of Five” (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sunbelt) mid-major conferences.

Sunbelt Conference member Coastal Carolina recently finished as the national runner-up to LSU in June’s College World Series.

Unfortunately, UL-Monroe has become much like Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference in most sports. The rest of the Sunbelt Conference is becoming accustomed to grabbing an easy win whenever they play the Warhawks in football and, more recently, in most other major sports.

ULM’s men’s basketball and baseball teams just finished in last place in the Sunbelt Conference standings in 2025.

Long-time supporters of ULM’s athletics teams have grown weary of having little to cheer about.

At least the ULM’s women’s softball season was a recent bright spot.  The Lady Warhawks ran off a school record 22 straight wins this spring and finished in third place in the Sunbelt Conference.

The sports outlook on the bayou at ULM isn’t likely to improve anytime soon

The ULM Warhawks had the smallest annual athletics budget of all 134 FBS (large division) football schools in 2024.  Sadly, ULM’s financial cupboard has been almost bare for decades.

ULM Athletics budget in 2024 was reported as $20.9 million.  The budget covered 15 (recently reduced to 14 – more on that later) sports programs for men and women at the school.

By comparison, the LSU athletics budget is ten times larger.

The LSU Tigers’ “kitty” is filled with more than $200 million this year.

Unsurprisingly, players on this fall’s LSU football team will reportedly be paid (yes, legally paid as of July 1, 2025) as much money ($20 million) as the entire ULM athletics budget covering all of its sports.

ULM’s new President earned her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering.  Dr. Carrie Castille is well schooled on finding ways to trim costs using lean manufacturing concepts such as Six Sigma.

ULM’s overall financial problems are even worse than the Athletic Department’s pickle

The school accepted what appeared to be a valuable gift two years ago from local employer Lumen Technologies (formerly known as CenturyTel). 

ULM received the two former Lumen corporate buildings (featuring 800,000 square feet) located a few miles north of ULM’s campus in Monroe.  A lease with the company was signed to provide offices for their remaining local employees. 

The majority of those two buildings remain unoccupied today.

Unfortunately, ULM is losing about $2 million per year on what at first looked to be a sweet deal.

The annual operating, maintenance, and taxes for the Lumen buildings/facilities cost about $3 million per year.  The company’s lease pays ULM about $1 million in revenue back to the school.

Additionally, ULM’s enrollment has been slowly declining.

UL-Monroe has lost about 600 full-time students in recent years.  That also includes about 100 fewer students enrolled at the school’s highly-respected professional Pharmacy program.

An estimated $4 million revenue shortfall has resulted.

Former ULM President Nick Bruno recently said that the school’s financial woes are so dire that ULM may be forced to declare a “financial exigency” soon.

That term is higher education’s fancy phrase for a pre-bankruptcy reorganization.

It would allow the school’s leadership to make cuts in university administration and faculty (even tenured staff) along with changes and/or reductions in program offerings at the school.

These extreme financial measures would be in addition to an athletics program which has been bleeding $1-2 million worth of red ink annually in most years.

Welcome to “Blue Bayou”, Dr. Castille!

The name of Linda Ronstadt’s hit record back in the 1970’s is quite appropriate to describe the financial mess which is facing UL-Monroe’s new University President.

Dr. Carrie Castille will (at least for the short term) be able to save a bit of cash after Athletics Director John Hartwell resigned this week. It may buy her a little time with athletic supporters while she tries to come up with yet another plan to manage the school’s underfunded athletics program.

Former AD John Hartwell may have irked the new President in mid-June by abruptly ending the ULM Women’s tennis program.  The Lady Warhawks went 3-15 this spring and 0-11 in Sunbelt Conference play.

A press release at the time quoted the now-departed Athletics Director.

“We are committed to being competitive in all of our sports while also operating in a fiscally-responsible manner,” said John Hartwell.  “It will enable ULM Athletics to continue progress toward balancing its budget while sponsoring 16 NCAA Division 1 FBS sports, the required NCAA minimum.”

Monday’s sudden resignation of ULM Athletics Director John Hartwell shocked the athletics community at the school.

Dr. Carrie Castille quickly moved to name ULM head football coach Bryant Vincent as the Interim Athletics Director the following day.

The football coach (who was hired by former AD John Hartwell) now must wear two very different hats.

He must provide stability and leadership for all of the Warhawks’ athletic programs. Coach Bryant Vincent also begins his second season in just a few weeks at the helm of ULM’s football team (which finished a respectable 5-7 in his first year in 2024).

Does ULM meet the required 16 sports to remain in the Division 1 FBS group?

No.  Neither do the majority of the Sunbelt Conference teams.

Presently, ULM offers 14 current NCAA sports.  The Warhawks have six sports for men, and eight for women. They are:

Men’s sports – baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, and track & field

Women’s sports – basketball, beach volleyball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field, and volleyball

Women’s tennis was #15 at ULM prior to being canceled in mid-June, 2025.

ULM has an award-winning water skiing program featuring a men’s and women’s team.

The National Collegiate Water Ski Association (not related to the NCAA) ranked UL-Monroe #2 this spring behind UL-Lafayette.  However, the NCAA itself does not recognize water skiing as an official sport, so those two teams will not count toward the required total.

ULM isn’t the only Sunbelt Conference school which doesn’t offer 16 NCAA sports

A review of the Sunbelt Conference website showed that the majority of the 14 Sunbelt member institutions do not meet the 16 sports required to remain at the Division 1 (FBS) level.

Arkansas State currently offers only 13 NCAA sports (six for men and seven for women).

The group with 14 NCAA sports includes UL-Lafayette, ULM, and next year’s (let’s hope) new Sunbelt member, Louisiana Tech.

Georgia State, South Alabama, Southern Miss, and Troy currently offer just 15 sports.

The NCAA Division 1 (FBS) minimum of 16 sports are being offered by Sunbelt members Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Marshall, and Old Dominion.  James Madison currently has 17, while Coastal Carolina checks in at #1 in the Sunbelt with 18 total sports offered.

Not surprisingly, the Group of Five Conferences petitioned the NCAA following the COVID-19 outbreak to request a relaxation of enforcement on certain stipulations for those schools to remain in the upper division FBS.

The NCAA has a well-earned reputation for being sloth-like in making most administrative decisions. 

The group has not shown an interest in either enforcing its rules or reducing the current 16 sports requirement for all schools in the FBS division.

By the way, the smaller college FCS level requires a minimum of 14 sports teams.

According to the NCAA’s rules, Arkansas State doesn’t even meet that level.

Are you still interested in becoming the Athletics Director at a mid-major school like UL-Monroe?

Professor SwampSwami will return tomorrow with a detailed presentation featuring another mid-major university which made a big change in its athletics path from FBS down to FCS a few years ago.

I will show you where their revenues come from and how much money goes to pay for the various athletics programs at this mid-sized university.

You will gain a much better appreciation as to why there have been so many AD’s come and go from ULM over the past decade.  It just might be the toughest Athletics Director job in the country.

Class begins tomorrow.  Don’t be late!

The post So you want to be a Mid-Major Athletics Director? (Part 1) appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The new football season brings another game show is being played by Dallas Cowboys owner (and the star of our show), Jerry Jones.

The weekend sports headlines percolated several stories featuring the 82-year old owner of the highest valued pro sports franchise ($10 billion and counting).  Jones has inserted himself in the middle of yet another contract renegotiation with a key member of his football team.

The Micah Parsons Project

Dallas Cowboys defensive end/pass rushing specialist Micah Parsons is heading into the final year of his initial NFL contract.

The 26-year old played college football at Penn State and became a 2021 first round selection by Dallas.

Micah Parsons won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. 

He has been named to the NFL Pro Bowl team in each of his four seasons in Dallas.  The 6’3” 245 pound defender has averaged 13 quarterback sacks and 15 tackles for losses per season. 

His performance for the Dallas Cowboys has been stellar.

However, Micah Parsons will “only” make $24 million this season as he enters the final year of his Dallas Cowboys contract.

He wants more.

Recent contract renegotiations with other top NFL defensive rushing specialists have provided Micah Parsons with additional leverage.

Pittsburgh Steelers defender T.J. Watt recently signed a 3-year $41 million per year extension.  Cleveland Browns sack monster Myles Garrett received a 4-year $40 million per year contract extension a few months earlier.

Micah Parsons vs. Jerry Jones – Put your money on Micah

Did I say that Micah Parsons is also an avid chess player?

Conversely, Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones has been a one-man train wreck when it comes to making many key decisions concerning his football team.

Jones’ resume includes losing two of the top coaches in NFL history (Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells).  He has made underachieving quarterbacks like Tony Romo and Dak Prescott among the highest paid players in the NFL during their prime.

Fans of the cartoon show Bullwinkle may remember a character named Captain Peter “Wrong Way” Peachfuzz.

The ship’s goofy leader always acted like he knew what he was doing.  Yet, he continually made one bad move after another in trying to navigate his boat toward shore.

The history of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry “Wrong Way” Jones indicates that he is likely to make the wrong move in dealing with defensive end Micah Parsons.

My wife (who doesn’t follow sports closely) asked this morning, “Why is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys negotiating contract deals with the players?  Shouldn’t someone else be handling that for the team?”

It is the same reason why a young two-time Super Bowl champion coach like Jimmy Johnson left the Cowboys in the 1990’s.  The enormous ego of Jerry Jones insisted that he deserved to be receiving his fair share of the public’s love for his Dallas Cowboys football team.

I have no doubt that Ol’ Jer is quite sincere about his desire to win more Super Bowls.

Dallas is entering its 30th season without an appearance in a Super Bowl since January 28, 1996.

Team owner Jones (along with his family in charge of the team’s executive suite) remains the only constant during this 30-year Super Bowl drought for the Dallas Cowboys.

The 2024 football season kept Jerry Jones in the news – one way or the other

The calendar turned to 2024 as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys began to insert himself into the sports headlines.

His 12-5 NFC East Champion Dallas Cowboys were demolished 48-32 in January during a nationally televised home playoff beatdown administered by the 9-8 wild-card Green Bay Packers.

Fans slammed Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy for being outcoached in yet another early playoff exit.

Supporters of the Dallas Cowboys demanded that owner Jerry Jones fire McCarthy and hire a proven winner such as former New England Patriots coach Bill “Yes, I was available at the time” Belichick.

Jerry Jones seemed “done” with Coach McCarthy, too.  He took a few weeks to contemplate making a coaching change in early 2024 but soon decided against it.

Mike McCarthy would be due about $8 million if his contract was terminated with one year to go.

The Dallas Cowboys owner (who seems notoriously cheap at times) kept his lame duck head coach around for his final season.  Why pay him off when there wasn’t anyone else with better qualifications willing to come work for Jones?

Jones then told the media – for months – that he was going “All in” in 2024.

August, 2024 saw Dallas wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in a similar situation as Micah Parsons is today.

Lamb was entering the fifth year of his rookie contract and trying to get a better deal to stay with the Cowboys for the long-term.

The wide receiver skipped preseason workouts and August practices. 

Jerry “The Negotiator” Jones acted as if Lamb’s absence didn’t matter.

It wasn’t until the final week of August (a week before the regular season) that Dallas owner Jerry Jones capitulated.  He opened his wallet to give Lamb a new 4-year $35 million per year deal.

Dak Prescott wanted more money, too

At the same time, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was nearing the end of his second contract in Dallas entering the 2024 season.

The 32-year old quarterback had put up some gaudy regular season passing stats in recent years, but Prescott was just 2-5 in the post-season with Dallas.

Surprisingly, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made Dak Prescott the highest paid player in NFL history with a 4-year $60 million per season new contract signed in early September, 2024.

Jerry Jones had just paid $95 million per year to two of his 53 active players.

The 2024 NFL salary cap was $250 million.  QB Prescott and wide receiver Lamb were making a whopping 38% of the team’s allotted payroll in 2024.

Ironically, Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys “saved” $8 million by keeping a head coach who would lead the team to a 7-10 record in 2024.

Those two big money stars for the Cowboys suffered injuries during the 2024 season after signing their new expensive contracts.

Quarterback Dak Prescott sustained a season-ending hamstring injury where he missed nine of the team’s 17 games.  Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb injured his shoulder during November, 2024 and was held out of the team’s final two games.

To summarize, it appeared that nearly every major decision which Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made in 2024 didn’t work out very well.

2025 isn’t off to a great start, either

Jones allowed Coach Mike McCarthy to twist in the wind by keeping him under contract until the day it expired in late January. 

McCarthy missed an opportunity to apply for most of the open NFL head coaching jobs by being kept on the payroll through his final day under contract in Big D.

Likewise, owner Jerry Jones waited too long to find a new coach for his team.  Most other top coaching candidates were signed by other NFL teams by that time in January.

Jones ultimately came to terms with one of Mike McCarthy’s assistant coaches to elevate him into his first head coaching role.

Jerry Jones reportedly paid offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer (son of Hall-of-Fame coach Marty Schottenheimer) $4.5 million per season as part of a new 4-year deal to become head coach in Dallas this season.

That is about 25% of what Kansas City coach Andy Reid is making and 50% of the pay going to Houston Texans’ young head coach DeMeco Ryans.

Jerry Jones should trade Micah Parsons ASAP.  But will he?

One of the most lopsided trades in NFL history occurred when Dallas sent star running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings in October, 1989.

Dallas (under first year coach Jimmy Johnson) would end up with three first round draft picks, three second round selections, a third round pick and a sixth rounder.

Those selections were used to draft Hall-of-Fame running back Emmitt Smith, All-Pro defensive tackle Russell Maryland, and safety Darren Woodson and other key players.

Coach Jimmy Johnson led Dallas to consecutive Super Bowl victories in the 1992 and 1993 NFL seasons utilizing this new infusion of young talent.  His successor, Barry Switzer, won a third Super Bowl following the 1995 season with those same players.

Dallas hasn’t played in a Super Bowl or even the NFC Championship game since then.

Jerry Jones should know that he cannot afford to pay Micah Parsons $35-40 million per season.

He would be paying three players (Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Parsons) a total of $130-135 million this season.  That is more than half of the NFL salary cap for each team in 2025.

Jones says that he and Micah Parsons sat down in March and came to a gentleman’s agreement about the basic tenets of a new contract. 

Parsons countered and said that Jerry Jones has subsequently refused to talk to Parsons’ agent to work out a new deal.

Jerry Jones advised the media recently that he prefers to speak directly with his players when negotiating a new contract.

Unsurprisingly, defensive end Micah Parsons spoke out about this issue last Friday and publicly demanded a trade from the Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL rumor mill already indicates that possible suitors might include the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.

Dallas should expect to receive one or, perhaps, two future first round draft picks along with one or more current players from the other team which could help the Cowboys this season.

Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones would be wise to answer all calls inquiring about Micah Parsons from other NFL teams over the next few weeks.

I think he should quickly make a determination and select the trade offer which might best help the Dallas Cowboys and conclude the deal prior to the end of August.

But, being Jerry Jones…???

The Dallas Cowboys owner might also capitulate (as he is prone to do) and pay Micah Parsons $35-40 million per year to satisfy the defensive end’s demands.

The chess-playing Micah Parsons knows that his opponent tends to back himself into a corner.

Here’s something to think about.  How would you like to be one of those other 50 active players on the Dallas Cowboys roster?

Those other players are quite aware that quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and (perhaps) defensive end Micah Parsons would be making as much money as the combined pay of everyone else in the offensive or defensive huddles.

Football is considered the ultimate “team” game.  The vast pay disparities could result in a very dysfunctional locker room environment in Dallas.

I wouldn’t bet against Jones giving Micah Parsons a new deal days before the start of the 2025 NFL season.

Only someone like “Wrong Way” Jerry Jones can (despite his good intentions) create this much mayhem for his pro football franchise – every single year.

The post Will Jerry Jones try the “Herschel Walker” play soon? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Take that, PGA Tour!

Upstart professional golf competitor LIV Golf announced this week that it is raising tournament payouts beginning in 2026.

An extra $5 million of prize money will be added to every LIV Golf tournament next season.

All of the incremental money will be used to sweeten the payouts for the top three finishing teams at each event.

LIV Golf is taking a big leap in marketing its unique team golf concept in contrast to the individual-based golf events of the PGA Tour.

A brief refresher course about LIV Golf…

This competitor to the PGA Tour started playing its own golf events during the summer of 2022. LIV Golf is funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund – which has more than than $1 trillion in assets.

The new golf league offered some incredible signing bonuses to a number of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars beginning in 2022.  World #1 golfer (at the time) Jon Rahm snared a reported $300 million, while Phil Mickelson came aboard for a cool $200 million.

Those pocketing $100 million or more in signing bonuses included Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Australia’s Cameron Smith.

Almost every PGA star moving to LIV Golf was paid millions to make the switch.

LIV (which is the Roman Numeral for the number 54) features 54 golfers playing 54 holes over three days.  PGA Tour events are for 72 holes over four days.

The Saudi-backed golf league has been forking out a whopping $25 million per tournament.  Most PGA Tour events have a weekly purse of “only” $6-10 million.

LIV Golf pays $20 million to players with the lowest individual scores.

The winner pockets $4 million per event. The last place finisher receives a minimum of $50,000.

The remaining $5 million of prize money is paid as a bonus to the three lowest scoring four-man teams for the week.

LIV features 13 teams of four players apiece. 

The 13 team captains (those who received the top signing bonuses) then negotiated to sign the top remaining LIV golfers to play for each captain’s team for the entire season.

The daily cumulative score of each LIV Golf team is used to determine the three top teams after completion of the final round.

LIV Golf pays the four golfers on the winning team $3 million (split four ways).  The runner-up team shares $1.5 million, and the third place golf quartet will divvy-up $500,000.

LIV Golf is going to add an extra $5 million of prize money each week to the three lowest scoring teams in 2026

This is a very significant move by LIV Golf.

The golf league is trying to capitalize on its unique four-man team competition within each tournament in hopes of gaining more fans.

The traditional PGA Tour is driven by top individual golfers competing against each other for tournament prize money.  Seventy top money-earners at the end of the regular season (which happens to be this week’s Greensboro Open) earn a spot into a three week FedEx Cup playoff series to end the golf season.

LIV Golf will have just one weekend season finale.  It will occur on the same weekend as the PGA Tour’s final FedEx Cup event.

LIV Golf will play a three-day team elimination tournament in Plymouth Township, Michigan from August 22-24.

The top seeded LIV Golf teams (based on wins, places, and shows this season) actually get to choose their opponent for the opening round. 

Those opposing teams will be watching carefully and try to exact some revenge in the first round matches.

LIV Golf’s team competition features two of each team’s golfers playing in singles competition (one-on-one).  The remaining two golfers will play an alternate shot format where one golfer hits from the tee and the teammate plays that ball from the fairway or green for the second shot, etc.

The LIV Golf team matches continue with semifinal rounds on Saturday and the finals on Sunday, August 24.

Former British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen loves the LIV Golf season-ending team tournament and the increase in payouts for team winners next season.

“I’m for it being more team than individual”, said the captain of team Stinger.

“That’s how we’re going to stand out. I do feel that the future of LIV is more team than individual.”

This also signals that the faux merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour is all but dead

It was two years ago this summer when the PGA Tour Commissioner surprised everyone by announcing a merger with LIV Golf to be negotiated and concluded during the second half of 2023.

That never happened.

January, 2024 saw the PGA Tour partner-up with a private equity firm called Strategic Sports Group to add financial strength and increase tournament purses.  Their new financial partner quickly kicked-in $1.5 billion in capital while promising another $1.5 billion soon to help make the PGA Tour players a partner in the new venture.

The idea (which seems to be working) has been to stem the tide of golfers opting to sign big bonuses with LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour/LIV Golf merger remains in limbo as we move into August, 2025.

Neither side has budged in 24 months.   Neither side will confirm that the deal has been called off, either.

The only progress has been that three of golf’s four major tournaments have made arrangements to allow a certain number of LIV’s top golfers into their fields. The other major (PGA Championship) won’t be allowing LIV golfers for obvious competitive reasons.

LIV Golf migrated to FOX Sports in 2025.  This has been a huge disappointment

The upstart golf league and the CW Network parted ways after two years following the 2024 golf season. LIV Golf later announced that it had found a new home in 2025 with FOX Sports.

That seemed like positive news.

LIV Golf’s televised events require golf fans to consult with their local listings – even within the same golf day.  You might be watching via the internet, FS2, FS1 or your local FOX television affiliate.

I covered this issue quite well earlier in the golf season.  This year’s LIV Golf television availability has been maddening for the average home viewer to watch.

Check out how LIV Golf’s Season-ending Team Tournament later this month will bounce around:

Friday, August 22 – 11AM CDT – Only available on the FOX Sports App

Friday, August 22 – 1PM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

Saturday, August 23 – 9AM CDT – Via FS2 (which isn’t on most cable outlets)

Saturday, August 23 – 11AM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

Sunday, August 24 – 12Noon CDT – Via FS1 (which IS on most cable outlets)

Sunday, August 24 – 3:30PM – You must switch over to your local FOX TV affiliate

LIV Golf still remains uneconomic.  Perhaps worldwide golf fans will keep it alive with increased support in 2026

Several billion dollars (which is about ½ % of the Saudi Public Investment Fund) have been lost on LIV Golf.  The league cannot generate enough income from ticket sales and television advertising to cover weekly expenses.

LIV Golf is a money pit.

The current tournament payout of $25 million ($20 mm for individual winners and $5 mm for the top three teams) rises to $30 million (with $10 mm for team winners) in 2026.

A bigger concern for LIV Golf’s spendthrift owners will be those expiring player contracts governing their top stars after next year’s 2026 season.

Phil Mickelson hasn’t won a tournament during his four years on the LIV Golf circuit.

Dustin Johnson is currently mired in a two-year slump.

Only Bryson DeChambeau (who won the 2024 U.S. Open title after joining LIV Golf) looks to be a big enough fan favorite to, perhaps, justify the $125 million signing bonus he was paid three years ago.

LIV Golf has been successful in taking golf to a variety of golf-starved international sites.  Australia seems to have enthusiastically embraced its LIV Golf annual event.

Some US venues have not drawn enough fans to justify becoming a regular LIV Golf stop.

Tulsa (May, 2023), Houston and Nashville (both in June, 2024) have held just one LIV event.  Tournament organizers should remember that most Southern US cities get quite hot by late spring every year.

LIV Golf has survived because of its nearly endless financial resources and a small but very loyal fan base which likes the product (assuming they can find it on television from week-to-week).

The increasing emphasis on team golf will help to distinguish LIV from the rival PGA Tour.

It is questionable whether that change will generate a significant uptick in fan interest in LIV Golf.

LIV Golf definitely has enough money to keep fighting for market share in 2026.

Keep your eye on LIV Golf’s top players one year from now.

Let’s assume that a merger between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour does not occur in the next 12 months.

Watch carefully to see which of LIV Golf’s top players (if any) may be considering a return to the PGA Tour after next season.

Don’t be surprised if one or more fading PGA stars might take the overly generous LIV Golf bonus bucks and join the opposition golf tour in 2026, either.

Both men’s professional golf entities are waiting…and waiting…for the other side to blink first.

The post LIV Golf Pivots toward its Team Concept appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It’s almost here!  The sizzling outdoor temperatures also signal that your favorite college football team is starting practices for the fall season.

August is just days away.  The start of the 2025 college football season is only one month away, too.

Did you know that “The Dog Days of Summer” are between July 3 and August 11?

It’s unfortunate that Fido should be forever linked to this blast furnace portion of the year.

The astronomical truth is that the dog star (Sirius) becomes the brightest star in the night sky during mid-summer.  The word Sirius is Greek means “scorching”.

Yep.  Those ancient Greeks definitely got that right!

Every former football player remembers this time of year

Can you imagine actually being excited to put on several pounds of pads, equipment, and an oppressively hot helmet to go outside and practice football at the break of dawn or just before sunset?

Football players around the country – youth, high school, college, and professional – have been dreaming about this day for the past seven months or more.

Until…

A few hours of football practice in the hot summer sun start to remind some players that they should have lost those extra pounds during the winter and spring.  Carrying around any extra weight into August football practices comes at a very sweaty price.

The 2002 movie “The Junction Boys” chronicled how brutally hot summer football practices can be.  That 1954 Texas A&M football team was coached by Paul “Bear” Bryant.

Only 39 of his 100 Texas Aggies football players remained on the team after ten days of practicing in the heat at this shade-less, desolate practice site near Junction, Texas.

My overactive brain thinks about that movie when I (reluctantly) trudge outside for an hour or so of mowing the yard in the intense summer sun and oppressive heat and humidity.

Soft?  Who me?

Things will get better for a few of last year’s worst college football teams, right?  Let’s start with Kent State

Kent State University is located just southeast of Cleveland.  The Golden Flashes from the Mid-American Conference went 0-12 in 2024.

They were the only major college FBS team in the country to go winless last season.

Kent State fired head football coach Kenni Burns in April after a school investigation revealed “dishonesty in the performance of duties.”  He was 1-23 during his two seasons as the team’s head coach.

Assistant coach Mark Carney will lead Kent State this season in 2025.  He is hoping to end a 21-game losing streak in Week #1.

Kent State’s season opener comes against the FCS (small college) Merrimack Warriors from Massachusetts.  Merrimack finished 5-6 last season.

The Golden Flashes’ last victory came nearly two years ago on September 16, 2023 against another FCS opponent – Central Connecticut.

The 2025 Kent State football team wants to end this lengthy losing streak in the season opener at home on Saturday, August 30.

Don’t be surprised if visiting Merrimack utilizes nearly every trick play in their playbook attempting to keep Kent State winless!

Florida State’s new quarterback is going to learn the hard way in Game #1

Another major college football team trying to quickly turn things around is located in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Florida State Seminoles went from a sterling 13-1 record in 2023 to a lowly 2-10 in 2024.

I can’t remember any major college football program which fell so far, so fast in just one year.

Head coach Mike Norvell was named the national college football “Coach of the Year” in 2023.  His 2024 team was given a top-10 preseason ranking in major polls.  Expectations were sky high for FSU in 2024.

Oops!

The only wins for Florida State in 2024 came against California (a 14-9 home field squeaker) and the Seminoles’ homecoming victory against FCS member Charleston Southern.

Last season’s FSU offense only scored 20 or more points in just two games (one of those came against Charleston Southern).  The Seminoles defense allowed an average of 28 points per game over the 12-game season.

This year’s 2025 Florida State team will feature a rather cocky transfer quarterback from Boston College named Thomas Castellanos.  The former BC QB has already made one very big mistake before playing his first football game for the Seminoles.

Florida State’s August 30th home season opener comes against the University of Alabama.

“I’ve dreamed about playing against Alabama,” bragged transfer Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos recently.  “They don’t have Nick Saban to save them.  I just don’t see them stopping me.”

You can be sure that those extremely cocky and very immature comments made by the new Florida State quarterback have become locker room motivation for Alabama’s defensive players.

Florida State will get a chance to redeem itself (after a likely 0-1 start) one week later as FCS member East Texas A&M rolls into Tallahassee for a payday game.

Southern Miss hired the Marshall University football coach who quit and cost his former school a bowl game trip

The 2024 Independence Bowl in Shreveport was excited to have 11-2 Army coming to town.  The other bowl bid went to 10-3 Marshall University of the Sunbelt Conference.

That was the announced match-up. It lasted just one week.

Marshall’s head football coach Charles Huff (a former assistant for Nick Saban) abruptly resigned and accepted the top job at Sunbelt rival Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.

At least 18 football players loyal to Coach Huff quickly hit the NCAA’s transfer portal, left Marshall, and have rejoined their coach in southern Mississippi.

Don’t you just love these new transfer rules?

Marshall University then told the Independence Bowl that they lacked enough scholarship athletes to field a competitive team less than two weeks prior to the game vs. Army.

The Sunbelt Conference fined Marshall $100,000 for backing out of the Independence Bowl game with Army.

Nearby Louisiana Tech (5-7) was permitted to take Marshall’s place and save the 2024 I-Bowl game from an embarrassing cancellation.

Coach Charles Huff’s new employer at Southern Miss went a miserable 1-13 in 2024. 

The team’s only win last season came over FCS member Southeastern Louisiana in Week #2.

The Golden Eagles of Southern Miss should consider changing their 2025 team nickname to the Thundering Eagles or, perhaps, the Golden Herd.

That’s because a significant number of Marshall University transfer players like quarterback Braylon Braxton and his favorite receiver, Chuck Montgomery, will be in the starting line-up for Southern Miss beginning August 30.

Southern Miss will not have an easy schedule in 2025 – regardless of how many Marshall transfers hit the field.  The good news is that the first three games of the new season will be played at home.

The SEC’s Mississippi State Bulldogs visit Hattiesburg on August 30 for a season-opening intrastate battle.  Perennial SWAC power Jackson State (12-2 last season) makes a short 100-mile journey south on US Highway 49 for a Week #2 encounter on September 6.

Sunbelt rival Appalachian State travels to Southern Miss for a game on Saturday, September 13.

Several other teams are hoping for better days in 2025

Purdue – The Boilermakers went 0-9 in the Big Ten last season and finished with a woeful 1-11 record.

Purdue gets off to a relatively easy start in 2025 hosting home games with Ball State followed by FCS member Southern Illinois.  The storm clouds then start rolling in as the Big Ten schedule looks more ominous for the Boilermakers.

Tulsa – The Golden Hurricane struggled in the American Athletic Conference (1-7) and 3-9 overall in 2024.

Florida Atlantic – Ditto

Oklahoma State – No one expected the Cowboys to limp into the Stillwater Corral with an 0-9 mark in the Big 12 and 3-9 record overall.

Longtime head coach Mike Gundy is entering Year #21 with the Pokes.  His team must improve this season in order to remain the team’s head coach in Year #22.

Nevada – The Wolfpack also went 0-Conference schedule in 2024.  They are opening the 2025 season with a road trip to play Big Ten power Penn State.  Who came up with that lousy scheduling idea?

Mississippi State – The Bulldogs (2-10 overall) were the SEC’s only team to go winless 0-8 in league play during 2024.

Mississippi State’s SEC schedule in 2025 will feature the same eight teams which beat them last season.

October begins with a visit from Tennessee.  The Bulldogs then hit the road for games at Texas A&M and Florida, home for Texas, at Arkansas, hosting Georgia, at Missouri, and the annual Egg Bowl home game with arch rival Ole Miss.

Mississippi State football fans should try to get their money’s worth ringing those noisy cowbells early in the season.  October and November are going to be brutal.

The post The Dog Days of Summer mean Football Practices Begin appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Last Thursday’s passing of the professional wrestling giant known as Hulk Hogan (born as Terry Bollea) came as a big shock to most of us.

The initial reports said that Hulk Hogan died from a heart attack.  The internet has been circulating that Hogan had complications following a recent surgery on his neck.

He was 71 years of age.

That seems relatively young, but the actuarial tables of major insurance companies say that American men live to an average of 77 years compared to age 81 for women.

To the surprise of no one, top male professional wrestlers like Hulk Hogan have a much shorter average life span than the average US male.

A BBC report cited a research study showing that years of physical pain, lack of rest, travel, and the a propensity to become dependent on alcohol and/or prescription meds contribute to a shorter life span for most professional wrestlers.

That same study said that professional wrestlers are most likely to die prematurely due to cardiovascular issues, drug-related issues, and cancer.

Did you know…???

The average professional wrestler makes about $85,000 per year according as a professional wrestler.

Most professional wrestlers are considered independent contractors.  They are not employees of the wrestling organizations they are currently affiliated with.

The majority of pro wrestlers have no medical insurance, no retirement plan, and must pay their own social security into the system as independent contractors.

Many work up to 300 nights per year.  Those in regional wrestling circuits (not on national television) pay for their own travel expenses to the majority of their weekly venues.

That is why you see many of the older wrestlers at various conventions signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans for a fee.

Terry “Bass Guitar” Bollea caught the wrestling bug as a teen

Those of us born in the post-World War II Baby Boom generation (like Hulk Hogan) have literally grown-up with the evolution of television.

TV introduced us to Elvis Presley, Beatlemania and the music of the 1960’s and 1970’s.

A tall but overweight Terry Bollea loved music of that era. He became a very good bass guitar player during his high school days in the Tampa, Florida area.

He also became a big fan of professional wrestling at that same time. 

Terry Bollea and his friends looked forward to watching the local television station’s pro wrestling show every Saturday and even attended some of the matches in person.

Those Saturday made-for-television pro wrestling shows were everywhere

Professional wrestling flourished as television grew during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Regional wrestling promotions grew by utilizing a locally produced made-for-television hour-long program showcasing the troupe’s top personalities.

The vast popularity of those local TV shows were a “win-win” proposition for all parties.

The television ratings for your local television station’s “Championship Wrestling” show were usually a quite large – especially on Saturday when younger fans were able to watch at home.

Getting big TV ratings meant local advertisers would pay top money to place their commercial ads during the broadcast.  The regional wrestling promoters utilized these television shows to encourage viewers to buy tickets for the coming week’s events being held at a variety of locations within the television station’s coverage area.

Those weekly televised wrestling shows were a mix of short matches and several interviews.  The top talent would passionately “sell” their upcoming grudge matches to encourage fans to come out and support them.

Dusty Rhodes was The Hulkster’s early wrestling idol

Terry Bollea’s favorite pro wrestler during that time was Dusty Rhodes (who would die in 2015 at age 69 from kidney failure).

Rhodes (whose real name was Virgil Runnels, Jr.) was a former college football player at West Texas State who needed a job after a very brief try at pro football.

He jumped into regional pro wrestling and dubbed himself as “The American Dream”.  His bleached blonde hair and offensive lineman build were not very unique.

It was Dusty Rhodes’ incredible ability to deliver those tantalizing television “promos” for upcoming matches that made him into a star and inspired one particular Florida teen.

Terry Bollea transforms from bass guitar player into the “Super Destroyer”

Young Terry Bollea entered college in the Tampa area while majoring in business. He made money for school playing his bass guitar on weekends as part of a popular local band.

A couple of the pro wrestlers remembered seeing the towering 6’7” young man playing guitar at a band gig after spotting Bollea working out at the same local gymnasium frequented by the wrestlers.

They approached 21-year old Terry Bollea and told him that he really looked the part to become a future pro wrestler.

Terry Bollea became excited about that possibility and decided to give it a try.

He trained for a year and entered the squared circle in 1977 as a masked wrestler named “Super Destroyer” in Florida’s regional Championship Wrestling promotion.

One year later, Terry “Super Destroyer” Bollea quit wrestling and went into business running a Florida gym.

Evolving from the Super Destroyer into Terry “The Hulk” Boulder

He became gym friends with a young man named Ed Leslie.

Terry Bollea was convinced that he and his “beefy” training buddy Ed Leslie would make a dynamic wrestling tag team.

The duo found some wrestling work with an Alabama-based promotion.

The new “Boulder Brothers” quickly became a regional hit.

A Memphis-based wrestling territory then offered to quadruple their weekly pay up to $800 per week. Memphis is also where “Boulder Brother Terry” would receive a new wrestling name that would soon become known worldwide.

A local Memphis television talk show lined up an interview segment featuring the 6’7” and 300 pound “Terry Boulder” sitting next to the man who was billed as “The Incredible Hulk” on the hit CBS television program.

Former bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno was 6’5”, but Terry Bollea was taller and appeared to be just as big.

Memphis wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett (father of future pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett) was thrilled with the publicity and immediately dubbed his wrestler as Terry “The Hulk” Boulder.

Cable television launches wrestling sensation Hulk Hogan into superstardom

Terry “The Hulk” Boulder was becoming famous in Memphis as cable television was beginning a rapid growth spurt in the late 1970’s.

The hottest television property for the sports-oriented Madison Square Garden Network was a weekly professional wrestling show aired by the World Wide Wrestling Federation.

The WWWF (owned by Vincent McMahon, Sr.) became the first pro wrestling promotion seen nationwide via cable television.

The senior McMahon liked Terry-the Hulk’s size and on-screen charisma.  He was signed by the WWWF and morphed into “Hulk Hogan” in December, 1979.

Terry Bollea’s former tag team partner eventually found a home with the same organization.  Ed Leslie was signed in 1984 and became known as Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. 

He also enjoyed a long career as a solo performer and was inducted into the WWE Hall-of-Fame.

Hulk-a-Mania runs wild!

Vince McMahon’s son bought the wrestling group from his father during the early 1980’s and changed the name to the World Wrestling Federation.

Hulk Hogan developed into the WWF’s national and international star as he dominated matches as a “face” (good guy).  His bleached blonde hair, dark tan, and immense physical presence (assisted by years of steroid use) made Hogan the favorite wrestler of kids and adults alike.

His lengthy feuds with other wrestling icons such as The Iron Sheik, Sergeant Slaughter, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant were legendary.

Hulk Hogan was also a frequent guest on nationally televised late-night shows and appeared in several films during this period..

He was, quite literally, everywhere.

Changing employers to become “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan took a big money offer to make a career swerve in the middle 1990’s.

He signed with upstart wrestling competitor World Championship Wrestling. Hogan turned “heel” to become the leader of the so-called “New World Order” as the bad guys ran roughshod in the WCW for several years.

The WCW overspent on its wrestling talent and underestimated its expenses.  It folded in 2001.

The WCW video library was sold (for relative peanuts) to Vince McMahon’s WWE organization.  Many of the top WCW wrestlers (such as Hulk Hogan) would come back to work at the WWE for McMahon.

“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan briefly returned to the WWE as a “heel” character for about one year. He regained his popularity with fans by morphing back into a hero “real American” persona in 2003.

Age, injuries and self-inflicted mistakes take a toll

The Hulkster was now approaching age 50.  He had endured several major surgeries as a result of the physical nature of his job.

A scandal surfaced in 2015 where Hulk Hogan had been secretly recorded using offensive language a decade earlier.

He repeatedly apologized for making such a poor decision and, over time, won back the public’s favor.  Hulk Hogan was reinstated into the WWE Hall-of-Fame in 2018.

He was still participating in a few tag-team matches despite being more than 60 years of age.

Terry Bollea underwent a reported 25 surgeries during his 40+ years as a professional wrestler.  Some of his health problems were attributed to years of steroid abuse.

Terry Bollea became more openly religious in recent years and remained wildly popular with wrestling fans up until his passing last Thursday at age 71.

Thanks for the memories, Hulk Hogan!

Millions of fathers and sons were able to do some family bonding watching televised events during Hulk Hogan’s wrestling heyday.  My two sons and I (and even, to a lesser extent, my wife) shared many moments of laughter and enjoyment watching those WCW and WWE Monday Night wrestling TV wars of the late 1990’s.

Terry Bollea’s wife (Daily) said last week that her husband “loved his fans so much.”

She added, “Despite his growing discomfort, he did everything he could to show up, sign autographs, take photos, and connect with the people who supported him through it all.  You meant everything to him.”

One of Hulk Hogan’s favorite expressions was, “To all you little Hulksters out there – train hard, take your vitamins, and say your prayers.”

Thanks for taking us along for the ride, brother!

The post Whatcha Gonna Do??? Remembering Hulk Hogan appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Coach Blaine McCorkle knew the job as head coach for the Northwestern State University Demons football team was going to be a very big challenge.

He arrived in early 2024 after completing a successful turnaround at Belhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi.  Belhaven went 24-7 during his final three seasons at the Blazers’ head football coach.

Coach McCorkle was quite aware that moving to Natchitoches, Louisiana last year to lead the Demons football team was going to be tough.

It was.

His Northwestern State University Demons football team posted an 0-12 season in his debut in 2024.

The team is on a 20-game losing streak entering the 2025 college football season.

That losing streak has been filled with unexpected sadness and drama

The last win for the Demons came on November 5, 2022 with a 41-14 road victory at Texas A&M – Commerce (now known as East Texas A&M).  The 2022 season for fifth-year Brad Laird ended with two rather lopsided losses against nationally-ranked FCS opponents as the Demons finished with a 4-7 record.

NSU’s 2023 football team was predicted to finish in fifth place in the eight-team Southland Conference. They finished in last place.

A surprising 0-5 start turned even worse on October 12, 2023.

That’s when Demons starting defensive back Ronnie Caldwell was found dead after being shot several times in an off-campus apartment. 

His non-football playing roommate and another Northwestern State football player were later arrested.

The university, the former head football coach, and Caldwell’s off-campus apartment complex were named in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Caldwell’s family.  A district judge dismissed Northwestern State’s portion of the suit a year later in November, 2024.

NSU quickly canceled the upcoming weekend’s road game at Nicholls State.  The football team needed time to grieve the loss of a beloved teammate.

The Demons then resumed playing football a week after the funeral. 

A demoralizing 37-20 loss to Southland Conference rival Southeastern Louisiana led to Northwestern’s abrupt cancellation of the remaining four football games on the 2023 schedule.

Head coach Brad Laird (a former quarterback for NSU) resigned on the same day that the football season was canceled.  He is now the head football coach at Natchitoches Central High School in the same city.

Northwestern State’s new football coach had a very tall order in 2024

NSU’s abrupt end to the 2023 season led to some early speculation as to whether the football program would even continue.

The school moved quickly and hired 49-year old Blaine McCorkle as the Demons’ new head football coach.

The former LSU long snapper-turned-coach had posted an incredible turnaround story at Belhaven College.  He went 2-8 in his first two years at the Jackson-based private school prior to rolling off 7-3, 8-2, and 9-2 seasons.

His optimistic outlook and desire to build a successful program in Louisiana seemed to be just what Northwestern State’s football program needed.

Many players from the Demons’ 2023 team left the football program ahead of the coaching change.

The new head coach needed to inject some confidence and a new enthusiasm into the football team.

He also needed some football players – a lot of them.

Coach Blaine McCorkle held walk-on tryouts in February, 2024 attempting to locate a few potential football players on Northwestern State’s 9,000 student campus.

The questions swirling around the 2023 tragedy and abrupt end to the football season made for a hard sell in recruiting top high school and college transfer players.

Coach McCorkle has been selling patience and hope for the future – to his players, assistant coaches, and, of course, the Northwestern State football supporters.

The Demons’ football program has been around since 1907.  The school’s overall record still shows a 60% winning percentage – despite struggling through many losing seasons in the past two decades.

Coach McCorkle’s 2024 roster of 100 football players last season was very young and rather thin – especially on defense.

The 2024 Northwestern State football season finished with a disappointing 0-12 record and extended the Demons’ football misery to two straight seasons without a win.

NSU was the only FCS (small college) team in the country to go winless in 2024.  Their only company in “The 0-12 Club” last season was FBS (large school) member Kent State.

The Demons were shut-out four times in 2024.  The offense scored just 144 points for the entire season (12 points per game).

Northwestern State’s defensive struggles were even worse.  They gave up an incredible 45.4 points per game.

Losing games by an average of more than 33 points per game brought an 0-12 season record in 2024.

A very talented high school quarterback is coming aboard in 2025

Bossier City’s Airline High School has produced a long history of talented quarterbacks.

Northwestern State head coach Blaine McCorkle offered a football scholarship to Airline’s talented quarterback Ben Taylor after his junior year in 2024.

That turned out to be a very smart move.

Ben Taylor’s senior season produced an 11-1 record before the Vikings fell in the second round of the Louisiana high school playoffs.

Taylor finished his high school career as Louisiana’s #2 all-time passing leader with 12,374 yards.  His senior year produced an incredible 4,357 yards and 47 touchdown passes.

The 6’1” 180-pound quarterback received a number of other college scholarship offers last year but never wavered from his year-long commitment to Coach Blaine McCorkle and Northwestern State.

Ben Taylor will join several other talented incoming freshmen and a new crop of college transfer players (mostly on the defensive side of the ball) trying to reinvigorate the Northwestern State football program this season.

That’s the good news.  The NSU Demons’ 2025 football schedule appears rather tough.

Northwestern State will play five of its first seven games on the road this fall.

The 2025 season begins at home in Natchitoches with a Thursday night, August 28 game against Alcorn State University.  The Braves posted a 6-6 record in 2024 and will present a formidable season opening test for the Demons.

A three-game road trip takes Northwestern State to face Big Ten member Minnesota (8-5 in 2024), at Cincinnati Bearcats of the Big 12 (5-7 last season), and a trip to Prairie View A&M Panthers of the SWAC (5-7 in 2024).

The remainder of the Demons’ 2025 schedule includes a road game at Southeastern Louisiana (7-5 last year) and a home game against defending Southland Conference champion Incarnate Word of San Antonio.  The Cardinals went 11-3 last year and advanced to the FCS playoffs quarterfinal round.

The Northwestern State season finale comes at home on November 20 against long-time rival Stephen F. Austin. 

A humongous 7’6” 320-pound trophy recently renamed as “The Chief” (honoring the local Caddo Nation tribe) will be on the line when the Demons host the Lumberjacks.

When will the NSU Demons break their 20-game losing streak?

The last Southland Conference football title for Northwestern State came in 2004 as the 9-4 Demons lost an opening round game in the FCS playoffs at the University of Montana.

Coach Blaine McCorkle isn’t thinking about conference titles or FCS playoffs just yet.

A series of tough early season tests lie ahead. The second half of the 2025 season may provide a few more winnable games.

The Southland Conference media representatives recently predicted the Demons will finish 9th out of ten teams in 2025.

That 10th place team, though, represents a college football newcomer.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley plays its inaugural season of college football this fall as it joins the Southland Conference.

Sadly for Northwestern State’s football fans, the Vaqueros from Edinburg, Texas are not on the fall football schedule.

Keep the faith, Demons supporters! 

Here’s hoping that NSU’s losing streak ends soon.   College football fans in Natchitoches deserve to have a few opportunities to sing the Demons’ fight song (a rather catchy tune) in celebration this fall.

“Go, ye Demons, take the field

Northwestern Demons never yield

So fight, Demons, win tonight

Victory is on our side

(Go, Fight, Win!)

Purple and white shall ever reign

Filling the air with battle strain

So Demons forever stand

And fight for dear old Demonland!”

The post Northwestern State Football – Cautious Optimism in 2025 appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Happy Monday to all!

This weekend’s British Open (aka “The Open Championship”) was another runaway victory for the hottest golfer on the planet, Scottie Scheffler.

He took the lead on Friday afternoon at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland with a 7-under par 64.  Scheffler never relinquished the lead during Saturday and Sunday’s final rounds.

The Dallas, Texas native coasted to a 4-shot victory Sunday to secure his fourth major championship.

It was yet another of his patented “sleeper hold” final round performances.

Scottie Scheffler was already three-under par after the first seven holes on Sunday to lead the field by a whopping seven shots.  A rare double bogey (gasp!) on the eighth hole briefly gave the other golfers a slight chance to capitalize as the lead shrank to five shots.

Golf’s most consistent ballstriker in recent years bounced right back with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole to quash the hopes of his closest playing competitors.

Northern Ireland’s favorite player, Rory McIlroy, had the backing of tens of thousands of supporters as the enthusiastically encouraged him on every shot Sunday.

A double bogey on the par-4 tenth hole ended Rory’s thoughts of a miraculous comeback.  He finished with a 69 and tied for 7th place.

Bryson DeChambeau’s Wild Ride

LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau will forever wonder “What could have been?” after his opening round of 7-over par 78 at Royal Portrush last Thursday.

The two-time US Open champion found himself mired near the bottom of 156 golfers after Round 1.  Bryson DeChambeau was widely expected to be heading home early on Friday evening, because the second round cut would reduce the large field in half.

DeChambeau rebounded on Friday and climbed more than 90 places up the leaderboard after posting a gritty 6-under par 65.  He made the weekend cut “on the number” at 1-over par after two rounds.

His 68-64 weekend finish advanced Bryson all the way up to a 10th place finish with a 9-under par total.

DeChambeau’s final 54-hole scoring total at this year’s Open Championship (197) was the second lowest in the tournament’s long history (only one shot behind Henrik Stenson’s 196 in 2016).

Just an even par 71 during Thursday’s blustery opening round by Bryson DeChambeau would have given Sunday’s television viewers a lot more suspense and drama.

Scottie Scheffler is on the verge of becoming the next Grand Slam winner

The 29-year old Scheffler’s trademark “fairways and greens” skills led to a final round 68 as he captured the famed Claret Jug for his first Open Championship.

Golf viewers on NBC were able to safely take a Sunday midday siesta without missing a thing.  The final 18 holes were played in relatively benign weather conditions in Northern Ireland and featured almost zero drama.

Scottie Scheffler’s precision drives and iron shots coupled with his ever-present on-course trance made for, well, rather boring television viewing this weekend.

Scheffler rarely smiles when rolling in birdie putts.  He hardly ever acknowledges cheers from crowds which genuinely appreciate his exceptional golf talent.

Scottie Scheffler’s precision golf game reminds me more of Jack Nicklaus than Tiger Woods when both were in their prime.  Both of those two golf legends showed far more charisma on the golf course than the wooden Scheffler has – at least through this point in his career.

Scottie Scheffler approaches the golf course much like a neurosurgeon prepares for brain surgery.  He seems to be laser focused in executing each and every shot.

Sheffler appears onscreen to be rather robotic and quite bland, but this approach definitely works for him.

Scottie Scheffler adds the Claret Jug to his two Masters’ green jackets and this year’s PGA Championship.

He will have a chance to complete golf’s career Grand Slam next June at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, New York.

A win would add Scottie Scheffler’s name to golf greats like Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Rory McIlroy in that very exclusive club.

Don’t bet against him.

The WNBA players vs. the Owners – Family Feud Round 1

This weekend’s Women’s NBA All-Star Game festivities featured the top basketball stars wearing solidarity T-shirts during warm-ups saying, “Pay us what you owe us!”

The women’s professional basketball league held its All-Star game at Indianapolis as the league and its players union inch closer a labor impasse at season’s end.

The WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement will end at that time.  Failure to reach a new agreement might put the 2026 basketball season in jeopardy.

The players are seeking more money and a bigger piece of the action.

The owners point to the fact that the women’s basketball league hasn’t turned a profit in decades – including an estimated $40+ million loss in 2024 despite a surge in attendance and league interest on television.

Be careful what you ask for!  Check with Major League Baseball before going on strike

Well-known women’s basketball players like former LSU star Angel Reese are leading the charge for more money.

“Let’s be real,”  she said on social media last week.  “Women’s hoops is booming because of players like me.  This isn’t a bluff.  We’ll sit out, and the league will feel it.”

The talented but brash Reese is correct to note that attendance and television ratings for women’s pro basketball have been rising.

That doesn’t mean the league has become profitable just yet.  It may take several more years to turn the books around.

Check out the comparable stats for the NBA vs. the WNBA in my recent post.

The disparity in media revenues and player pay between the two basketball leagues is shocking but is a function of the comparative revenues.

The WNBA players are fired-up about their cause.  Many WNBA fans agree with the players.  Others don’t.

Would the average sports fan miss the WNBA next summer if the players went on strike?

A valuable history lesson is in order.

Major League Baseball experienced several brief player strikes and management lockouts during the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. 

Fans learned that they could, indeed, survive rather well without the bickering baseball players and team owners.

Those dust-ups ended rather quickly after both sides saw waning support coming from the general public.

The NFL’s popularity rose as sports fans tired of baseball’s frequent player/management negotiations involving two parties which seemed to be doing quite well financially.

WNBA players and team owners would be wise to study the history of baseball’s labor issues and the long-term impact of waning public support that would come from a work stoppage in 2026.

A new short-term (1-3 years) labor agreement seems to be in order for the WNBA players and owners.

That would allow the league a chance to confirm whether the recent positive short-term trends are sustainable over a longer period.

Speaking of basketball…

TNT Sports lost its long-time NBA television package to NBC beginning this October.

Basketball fans needed cable television or a premium streaming service to watch games on Turner Network Television.

This spring’s announcement that TNT failed to match NBC’s significantly higher bid had many basketball fans wondering how the traditional over-the-air network would be able to afford it.

We now have the answer.

Don’t expect to see most of NBC’s allotment of weeknight games on its free over-the-air network of local television stations beginning this October.

NBC’s online streaming service called Peacock will handle a significant number of the network’s weeknight NBA games.  All Monday night NBA games will be televised exclusively on Peacock starting this fall.

Did you know that Peacock will raise its prices by $3 per month later this week?

How convenient?!!!

Peacock’s minimum price is going up this Wednesday (July 23) from $7.99 per month to $10.99.  That price includes the full complement of ads which NBC Sports can sell.  Enjoy!

Peacock’s “Premium plus” service (with fewer ads) will also climb by $3 from $13.99 per month to $16.99 this week.

What a shocker!

Did you know that Peacock already had about 40 million paying subscribers as of early 2025?  

The online network had only 10% of that total just four years ago in 2021.

Peacock cut a deal to televise WWE wrestling events (including their big pay-per-view shows) a couple of years ago.

That appears to have been a great move for both parties.

The NFL permitted NBC to migrate one regular season football game per year (including a playoff game last season) to Peacock to help boost subscription levels.  

Diehard NFL fans have complained about paying Peacock’s monthly fee just to see one game.

Regardless, millions of football fans signed-up and paid the price to see their favorite teams.  

This online streaming network cleverly knows that many sports fans (mostly men) simply won’t remember to cancel Peacock’s online service after just one month.

Kudos to NBC and Peacock for having an exceptional grasp on its primary target market. 

They deserve a classroom “A” for understanding the economic concept of the elasticity of demand.

The majority of Peacock subscribers may not even notice the substantial 37 ½ % price increase which is coming to their credit card bill within the next month.

But Peacock still won’t be getting any of my money!

The post Scheffler wins another Snoozer + WNBA and Peacock news! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

It finally happened this week.

Louisiana Tech University held a news conference at 3PM this afternoon to officially accept an invitation to (re)join the Sunbelt Conference.   An earlier press release mentioned that the Bulldogs will begin play no later than the 2027 college football season (more on that issue in a moment). 

Yes, I have done my tiny little part to help push this issue along during the past month (see here and here).  Do you think this 1981 graduate of Louisiana Tech would stoop low enough to take a victory lap at the beginning of this post?

Oh, yes I would!

It took a lot of us barking bulldogs (fans, alumni, donors, and other interested parties) to provide a clear signal to Louisiana Tech that it was time for the school to exit Conference USA ASAP.

An abbreviated summary of how we arrived at this point

Louisiana Tech joined Conference USA in 2013.  The far-flung conference was considered (at that time) to be a good fit for the Ruston-based Bulldogs.

Prominent C-USA members in 2013 included UAB, Florida Atlantic, Marshall University, UNC-Charlotte, North Texas, Rice University, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and UT-San Antonio.

Every one of those nine schools left C-USA to join either the American Athletic Conference or the Sunbelt Conference over the past three years.

The University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) becomes the 10th major defection from C-USA beginning next year.

The Miners (members of Conference USA since 2005) are leaving to join the Mountain West Conference in the fall of 2026.

Why did they all leave?

The television and media revenue offered by the other conferences was substantially more than Conference USA’s most recent media contracts pay to member schools.

I will give (a little) credit to Conference USA for moving rather quickly to add a number of replacement schools.  Most of the new additions have far less sports gravitas then their predecessors and are quite geographically distant.

Is anyone fired-up about making a 1,321 mile trip (one way) to play football at new C-USA member University of Delaware on November 8?

Louisiana Tech’s good fortune this week with the Sunbelt Conference has been a direct result of Texas State University’s big decision announced on June 30. 

The Bobcats are leaving the Sunbelt to play (for more money, of course) in the newly reconstituting Pac-12 (minus 4) Conference beginning in 2026.

That left one spot in the Sunbelt Conference Western Division to be filled.

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (along with the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers) eagerly waved their hands to signal a desire to take Texas State’s slot in the Sunbelt Conference.  Louisiana Tech had been a non-football playing member of the Sunbelt between 1991-2001.

The geographic proximity of Louisiana Tech to other Sunbelt Western Division member universities made for an almost perfect (and very timely) economic fit.

Why is this move not (necessarily) going to happen in 2026?

Most Louisiana Tech supporters are ready to skedaddle from Conference USA as quickly as possible. Waiting two years to make this move would really dampen the excitement.  

There are contracts negotiated between Conference USA and each member school which require a minimum notice period (along with a hefty exit fee) for a school to leave before the original agreement ends.

This might require an estimated $5 million to pay for an early contract termination provision allowing Louisiana Tech to leave Conference USA.

Ouch!

Conference USA has seen more than half of its member schools exit during the past three years.  Louisiana Tech is likely considered one of C-USA’s premier remaining teams based on those departures.

Don’t expect Conference USA to budge an inch when it comes to conceding any financial ground with the Bulldogs’ desired early exit.

Louisiana Tech may need to pay additional money to reschedule or terminate one or more future football contests which could interfere with traditional conference playing dates used by the Sunbelt Conference.

The plus side to these “problems” is that Louisiana Tech’s portion of the Sunbelt Conference media contracts will provide substantial collateral should the school need to negotiate a short-term loan to help foot the exit costs.

It’s safe to say that nearly 100% of Bulldog fans want to jump into Sunbelt competition in 2026.  Let’s hope that the school is able to resolve those concerns quickly and avoid having to wait until the fall of 2027 to make this move.

This is a big win for regional rivalries!

The Sunbelt Western Division features Arkansas State (Jonesboro, Arkansas), Troy University (Troy, Alabama), South Alabama (Mobile), Southern Miss (Hattiesburg), and two Louisiana-based schools.

The University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) is located only 35 miles from Louisiana Tech via I-20.  UL-Lafayette (aka Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns) is just 190 miles south of both Louisiana Tech (via US Highway 167) and ULM (via US Highway 165).

Recent history has seen Louisiana Tech shun opportunities to play football games against ULM (last game in 2000) and UL-Lafayette (last game in 2015).

A positive development in recent years has shown the Louisiana Tech athletics department making amends with two of its biggest intrastate rivals.

The Bulldogs signed a deal to play football against Louisana’s Ragin’ Cajuns beginning in 2026. 

A long overdue home and home series against ULM was inked with the games to be played in 2030 and 2031.

This surprising renewal of civilities coming from Louisiana Tech with their two Sunbelt Conference neighbors may have just paid-off handsomely.

Internet buzz indicated that both ULM and UL-Lafayette were Louisiana Tech’s biggest supporters and helped to round-up other “Yes” votes at this week’s Sunbelt Conference meeting.  

The ULM Warhawks couldn’t be happier!

It’s not a stretch to say that sports fans of the UL-Monroe Warhawks have been salivating at the prospect of renewing sports rivalries with their nearby rival in Ruston. 

The two schools have a rather long and, at times, contentious sports history.

The ULM athletics office may just as happy as the folks in Ruston to welcome Louisiana Tech into the same conference soon.

ULM’s athletics website and X.com social media site posted a welcome to Louisiana Tech joining the Sunbelt Conference with the caption, “Reigniting the Battle of I-20!”

The largest home football crowds for both ULM and Louisiana Tech have occurred when these two teams have played against each other.

Attendance for every future Sunbelt Conference encounter between the Warhawks and Bulldogs is guaranteed to bring a boost in fan interest and revenue to both schools.

Departing Sunbelt Conference member Texas State University in San Marcos is a 460 mile bus drive from Monroe, Louisiana.

Commercial busses average about 5 miles per gallon of diesel.

At $3 gallon recently, a round-trip trip to San Marcos and back will cost $576 per bus.

A future 70-mile round trip to Ruston will cost the Warhawks just $42 in fuel per bus.

Lower travel expenses plus increased revenues from higher ticket sales to more interested customers make today’s official announcement a big win/win proposition for both ULM and Louisiana Tech.

There is a surprisingly long athletics history between the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and the USL Bulldogs (???)

Did you know that today’s Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns were once known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs?

USL dropped its Bulldogs nickname in 1974 to officially become the Ragin’ Cajuns. 

Good move!

Louisiana Tech and USL both competed in the Gulf States Conference from 1948 through 1971.  They continued their sports rivalries into the Southland Conference from 1971 through 1982.

USL then became an independent NCAA Divison I football school for years prior to joining the Sunbelt Conference in 1991.

Fans of Louisiana Tech and today’s University of Louisiana – Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have each considered themselves to be the state’s top “Non-LSU” university when it comes to athletic excellence.

Even die-hard Bulldogs fans may (begrudgingly) concede the top spot to UL-Lafayette – at least over the past decade.

The Ragin’ Cajuns football team has been nationally ranked a few times in recent years. Louisiana Tech’s last winning football season came in 2019.

A $65 million upgrade to UL-Lafayette’s Cajun Field football stadium is in the final stages of completion.

The entire west side of the soon-to-be 38,000 seat football stadium was demolished in December, 2023. A new press box, state-of-the art box suites, and many new fan-friendly amenities for season ticket holders (at a cost, of course) are expected to be ready to go for the team’s first home game against Rice University on Saturday, August 30.

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns also posted a welcome to Louisiana Tech for rejoining the Sunbelt Conference on its social media sites.

The title was, “The Rivalry is Renewed!”

Travel expenses for UL-Lafayette will become lower.  Home attendance for games played against North Louisiana rival Louisiana Tech should be higher than for any other current Sunbelt Conference member.

This is definitely a win/win for the Ragin’ Cajuns, too.

“You gotta love it!”

Louisiana Tech’s long-time play-by-play radio announcer Dave Nitz recently passed away at age 82. 

He began calling college football, basketball, and baseball games in Ruston in 1974.  Dave Nitz retired his headset and microphone in 2024 after 50 years of service at the school.

Nitz’ famous catch phrase, “You Gotta Love It!” sums up how most Louisiana Tech University sports fans feel about the school’s impending return to the Sunbelt Conference.  

The post A Sunbelt Reunion for Louisiana Tech, ULM, and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

One of the smallest colleges in America started a football team in 2024.  It is now getting ready for its second season as part of the NCAA Division III Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Centenary College of Louisiana is located in Shreveport. 

This liberal arts private college is currently celebrating 200 years after being founded in 1825.

The Gents (actually, the school’s official nickname is “Gentlemen”) once fielded a rather successful college football team until the advent of World War II in late 1941.  A brief resurrection of the football program was attempted (and failed) during the 1960’s.

November 10, 2021 brought the official announcement of Centenary’s decision to once again return to the college gridiron by the fall of 2024.

Centenary College President Dr. Christopher Holoman proudly announced the decision to move forward.

“We haven’t played football here for quite some time, but the wait is over”, he said.  “Today, I am so excited and proud to announce that Centenary will be bringing college football back to Shreveport-Bossier City.”

Why would a college with only 540 students attempt to field a football team?

Enrollment at Centenary College has been in a slow decline for decades.  The school’s primary emphasis on liberal arts also contributed to a campus imbalance of 55% female students to 45% males.

Centenary College is a private university and rather expensive.

Tuition in 2025 is listed as $43,450 per year.  Add another $8,000 for a dorm room, $7,200 for a meal plan, $1,300 for books/supplies, and another $6,000 to cover transportation and personal items.

The total comes to $63,850 per year according to the Centenary College website “Estimated Cost of Attendance.”  A number of financial aid options are available.  Most students at the school receive financial aid based on their academic achievements and demonstrated financial need.

Shreveport-area high school students have found more economic college options at local public 4-year universities such as LSU-Shreveport and Southern University-Shreveport.  Others choose to attend LSU or Southern University (Baton Rouge) or regional favorites such as Grambling State, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, or UL-Monroe.

There is one good way to increase the number of men on the Centenary campus!

Adding a football team comprised of about 80 players has provided a dramatic rise in the number of men on the Centenary College campus over the past two years.

Up-to-date enrollment figures have been hard to find, but most publications believe that Centenary has risen to 650 or more students by late 2024.

A significant improvement, but the school is seeking a higher goal.

Page 18 of Centenary’s 2023/2024 Year 1 “Bold at the Bicentennial” strategic plan revealed a lofty goal of having 800 students on campus in the coming years. 

That plan also mentioned a desire to grow the college’s endowment fund by $2 million in Year 1 with a total of $10 million attained after four years.

Step 3 of the Centenary strategic plan is to “Be Shreveport-Bossier’s College.”

The school will try to gain positive goodwill by showcasing its new football team.  Centenary’s action plan calls for increasing contact with local and regional high schools to encourage future students to stay closer to home for their college experience.

The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is home to about 390,000 people.

The two local 4-year public universities (LSU-Shreveport and Southern University-Shreveport) do not have a college football program.  The closest college football competition is at Grambling State (65 miles from Shreveport), Louisiana Tech (70 miles) and Northwestern State (75 miles).

Centenary is trying to carve its own local niche and pilfer a few top high school football prospects and non-football playing students away from its regional competitors.

Meet Centenary’s “Wizard Against All Odds” – Coach Byron Dawson

The Centenary College athletics program is best known for producing basketball Hall-of-Famer Robert Parish of the Boston Celtics, PGA golfer and Ryder Cup Captain Hal Sutton, and 2-time Olympic gymnast Kathy Johnson Clark.

Former (Shreveport) Evangel High School and LSU defensive lineman Byron Dawson was tasked with creating Centenary’s new football program from the bottom-up just three years ago.

The hiring of this Shreveport native to become Centenary’s head football coach has been the key to making this local football miracle happen.  Byron Dawson’s Shreveport roots and success in college football in Louisiana made him the perfect man to sell the new Centenary story to high school athletes, parents, and guardians.

Coach Dawson was recently named by the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce as its “Minority Business Person of the Year” in June. 

He was selected for “contributions driving economic growth and community enhancement across the Shreveport-Bossier region.”

The first year for Centenary’s head coach Byron Dawson was very much like being Professor Harold Hill from “The Music Man” musical.

The football coach had to use his version of the famed “Think Method” to get prospective football players and financial supporters to envision future success for Centenary College football.

Coach Dawson was tasked with overseeing the building of the first football field and athletics fieldhouse on the Centenary campus. 

He had to find and hire a small staff of coaches willing to build a new football program from the ground-up.

Coining the motivational phrase “Now, we go!”, Coach Byron Dawson placed his foot onto the accelerator. 

The former defensive lineman powered through each obstacle in order to get his new team onto the football field to play its first official game last September.

The 2024 opening season for Centenary Gents football team concluded with a 4-6 overall record but 4-4 in SCAC conference play.

An overflow crowd of 1,978 fans jammed into and surrounded the new (but small) on-campus football stadium to watch the Gents play their first game last September.

“So many people have worked for years to make this dream happen,” said Coach Byron Dawson afterwards. “I am so grateful and happy that we had college football in this city tonight and we are going to keep pushing forward!”

The decision to start a college football program comes with some hefty costs

The initial financial outlays required to start a new college football program at Centenary were steep.

Centenary College had to construct a new football field, lighting, grandstands, and a new athletics fieldhouse.

Those expenditures required significant up-front capital outlays.

Most NCAA Division III schools like Centenary must come up with at least $500,000 per year to pay for recurring annual expenses.  This includes coaches salaries, equipment, uniforms, travel, and various game day expenses (referees, concession staff, etc.).

Football ticket revenues at the school will not cover the program’s annual expenses.  Last year’s estimated 8,000 total tickets sold (covering five home games) would generate about $160,000 if the average ticket was sold for $20.

Don’t forget that most of the 80 or so college football players need financial assistance for their tuition, food, books, and a place to bunk, too.  Centenary’s relatively expensive tuition and other costs has likely stretched the school’s financial resources.

The school’s academic staff may have been able to absorb many of the incoming footballers as some of Centenary’s classrooms have likely been at less than full capacity in recent years.

You’ll find a new “Sport Management” major available through Centenary’s Frost School of Business.  A new Kinesiology degree program has been added.  Centenary already had a very strong degree plan for education majors at the school.

Those three academic fields may be the primary choice for many of Centenary’s football players who stick around four years in pursuit of their degree.

But…will this new football program lure new non-football students to Centenary?

The leadership and financial supporters of Centenary College appear to be placing their (financial) chips on that bet.

Having a college football team with a significant local number of local and regional players gives Centenary increased visibility within the area.  The school’s new degree offerings might help draw some new students to the school, too.

It’s time to do some basic math!

Every 25 new non-football playing students coming to Centenary College (at the school’s current $43,450 annual tuition) will bring more than $1 million in new revenue (either directly or from some combination of state and federal educational financial support programs).

Adding 100 non-football students would add over $4 million in new tuition fees.  That could easily cover the initial costs of Centenary’s new football-related facilities and offset the annual costs associated with the football program.

That’s the good news.  However…

There is no guarantee that additional non-football playing students (men or women) will flock (or even trickle) to Centenary College simply because the school now fields a football team.

An updated set of enrollment figures would help this analysis.  The current goal is 800 students.

Centenary is pointing toward more growth and improvements during 2025

The school is continuing to celebrate its 200th year of existence.

Centenary College will debut a new 84-room dormitory facility for the fall semester. 

It will be called (of course) Bicentennial Village.

It has been decades since any new dorm rooms have been needed and constructed at Centenary’s Kings Highway campus in Shreveport.

Former University of Kentucky head football coach Hal Mumme was added to the Centenary football staff last week as the team’s offensive coordinator. 

The innovative 73-year old coach is credited with developing the pass-happy “Air Raid” offensive schemes more than 30 years ago.

Perhaps the team should offer a free “Hal Mumme Calculator” with each ticket purchased to keep track of the score this fall!

Centenary College will once again wear the name “Shreveport” on the front of the team’s football jerseys. That is very savvy marketing!

This year’s Season Two has Shreveport’s Gents opening at home against Westgate Christian University of Houston.  The Saturday, September 6 game will kick-off at 6PM CDT at Atkins Field on the Centenary campus.

Here’s hoping that Centenary’s “Hail Mary” new football strategy scores a financial touchdown in the coming years to propel this Shreveport institution into a third century of service to the region.

The post Up, Up, and Away! It’s Season 2 for Centenary College Football appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Major League Baseball’s annual All-Star Game will be played in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 15.

A ticket to the July event is never cheap.  Fans paid an average of $350 to watch last year’s All-Star game in person due to the high demand for tickets.

Why does MLB play an All-Star game?

The All-Star game is primarily used to generate publicity for Major League Baseball during the one month of the year (July) where baseball has the men’s team sport spotlight all to itself.

Major League Baseball’s All-Star game has been played since 1933.

The “Midsummer Classic” game comes near the halfway point of each baseball season.  Top players in the American and National Leagues are brought together to play an exhibition game against each other. The other Major League Baseball players get the week off to rest.

For decades, the American League and National League did not play a single regular season game against one another unless it was in the All-Star game or World Series.

The annual All-Star game in July was considered a must-watch game.

Fans (like me) looked forward to seeing our favorite league’s best players going up against the other league’s top stars.

MLB decided to add a Home Run Derby beginning in 1985 to counteract fading interest the All-Star game itself. 

The unique event is held on the day before the All-Star game.  It was popular for a few years but, like the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest, it has become rather boring to watch in recent decades.

The 1976 All-Star game drew a record of 36 million television viewers.

Last year’s All-Star event drew a record low of less than 7 ½ million TV watchers.

The relevance of the All-Star game was further diminished in 1997.  MLB introduced the first inter league (American League vs. National League) regular season games in an attempt to boost fan interest.

Baseball fans generally disliked that idea, and the game hasn’t recovered since.

This year’s New York Yankees of the American League will play an incredible 42 of their 162 regular season games against teams from the National League.  The Yankees’ first nine games of this season came against the National League’s Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Is there any way for Major League Baseball to salvage its annual July All-Star game?

Introducing the Savannah Bananas!

The State of Georgia’s increasingly famous Savannah Bananas traveling professional baseball team is located 250 miles to the southeast of next week’s All-Star site in Atlanta.

A ticket to see this entertaining group of baseball players (assuming you are lucky enough to get any seats via the team’s online ticket lottery) will cost from $35 to $125 apiece.

Banana Ball tickets have become so popular that resellers are charging double the face value for tickets to their games this season.

The Savannah Bananas have become baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters of basketball fame.

The concept for this team was cooked-up by the team’s owner and “Top Banana” Jesse Cole.  A series of “what if” questions between Jesse Cole and his father led to this national phenomenon.

“What if…”

Pro baseball was designed to be more fun for fans to watch?

The games would end in two hours or less?

Each inning was scored as one point to the winner – just like a tennis match?

The players on both teams would provide some hilarious family-friendly antics between innings to keep the fans engaged?

A foul ball caught in midair by any fan in the grandstands also means that the batter is out?

You get the idea.

Banana Ball catches fire in America!

Savannah, Georgia was the longtime home for pro baseball’s South Atlantic League Class “A” Savannah Sand Gnats. 

The team’s ancient baseball facility was built in 1927 and holds 4.700 fans.

The Sand Gnats were offered a brand new 9,000 seat baseball stadium if they would move to Columbia, South Carolina in 2016. The Sand Gnats flew away.

The city of Savannah was given another chance. The region was awarded a lower tier Class D summer-only collegiate baseball team starting in 2016.

A contest was held by the new team owner to determine a new team name.

The Savannah Bananas was the overwhelming choice.

The Class D Savannah Bananas quickly became quite successful on the field and at the gate.

Savannah Bananas team owner Jesse Cole came up with some innovative and creative ideas that he wanted to try beginning in 2018 to make the team’s home games more fun.

The Bananas continued to play in their traditional games as scheduled but added a few exhibition contests featuring some new “Banana Ball” rules.

Players rush out of the dugout to celebrate every run scored while they also entertain the fans.  The players (on both teams + the umpires) often dance in sync with music being played between innings.

The concept has been to develop as many unique ideas as possible to keep fans focused on the fun factors while they remain engaged in a two-hour (maximum) baseball game.

The team’s incredibly entertaining exhibitions quickly became more popular with Savannah’s baseball fans than those coming to see games involving the traditional Class D baseball team.

Team owner Jesse Cole decided to abandon the traditional baseball concept entirely in 2022.  His new Savannah Bananas took a big risk and morphed into a full-time traveling “barnstorming” baseball team.

The team brings along their own traveling baseball opponents and umpires for these road games. Everyone involved is encouraged to get into the act.

You’ll find the Savannah Bananas competing against The Party Animals, The Texas Tailgaters, and The Firefighters.  Those teams are also filled with talented former college and pro baseball players.  The opponents win a significant percentage of these baseball games.

Contrast that to basketball’s hapless Washington Generals. 

The Generals famously ended a 2,495 game losing streak to the Harlem Globetrotters 100-99 in January, 1971.

The 2023 Savannah Bananas “World Tour” drew more than 500,000 fans in 80 playing dates.  The team has wisely promoted itself to younger demographics via social media outlets while continuing to receive positive word-of-mouth advertising.

The momentum has continued to build

Sell-out crowds greeted the Savannah Bananas as they played games in larger venues in 2024. 

Major league baseball stadiums in Houston, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, and Washington DC all sold out well in advance of their announced games.

The 2025 season has grown even bigger.  The Savannah Bananas filled Clemson University’s 81,000 seat football stadium to set another record baseball crowd this spring.

Every game in the 2025 season appears to be sold-out with hundreds of thousands of fans now on a waiting list hoping to hear about any available tickets.

The Savannah Bananas have played a few games on ESPN and ESPN2 this season.

Your next chance to watch the Bananas comes on Saturday evening July 26 at 6PM CDT on ESPN2 with a game being played in Philadelphia.

Learn the 11 rules of Banana Ball!

On a more serious note, the Savannah Bananas started a special 501(c) 3 tax-deductible corporation which raises funds to provide financial aid to foster families across the United States.

The charity is (of course) named “Bananas Foster” !

Wouldn’t it be fun to see the Savannah Bananas play the MLB All-Stars?

It is too late for next Monday and Tuesday’s All-Star event in Atlanta, but there’s always 2026.

Perhaps the Savannah Bananas could face a team of recently retired (but fun-loving) MLB stars? 

I could picture former players like shortstop Derek Jeter or pitcher Roger Clemens playing in a game like this – especially to benefit a charity such as “Bananas Foster”.

What if the American League All-Stars faced the National League All-Stars next year – using Banana Ball rules! The Savannah Bananas could furnish the entertainment between innings to keep things moving.

That would be a TV ratings knock-out!

Major League Baseball needs to grow a new generation of younger fans.  The Savannah Bananas have shown that there is an untapped market of younger fans desiring a more entertaining and shorter version of America’s pastime.

C’mon, MLB! 

It’s past time for you to schedule an exhibition game involving the Savannah Bananas during next year’s All-Star week in Philadelphia!

The post Dream Match-up – MLB All-Stars vs. the Savannah Bananas! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.