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The traditional March 1 release of the Sunbelt Conference fall football schedule has been delayed.

According to one source, the league is waiting for incoming new member Louisiana Tech University to resolve its legal issues with its current affiliate, Conference USA.

The Sunbelt Conference lost Texas State University to the Mountain West Conference beginning this fall.  That leaves a vacancy in the Sunbelt’s Western Division.

That’s where Louisiana Tech was expected to step-in this fall.

Except…

The Bulldogs from Ruston, Louisiana remain in a legal “dog house” with their long-time partner, Conference USA.

Until that issue is solved in the courthouse or out in the hallways with a big sack of cash, Louisiana Tech’s predicament has other members of the Sunbelt Conference twiddling their thumbs waiting for a final resolution.

The Sunbelt Conference currently has 14 members.  Seven schools are in the Eastern Conference and seven are currently in the West.  However, Texas State is bolting for the Mountain West after baseball season ends.

That leaves just six teams in the West if Louisiana Tech is unable to work out a suitable exit deal with Conference USA soon.

The Sunbelt Conference wants to avoid having an “unbalanced” schedule in 2026 with seven East teams and only six in the West if Louisiana Tech doesn’t come aboard this fall.

What a mess!  How did we get here?

On July 15, 2025, a big celebration in Ruston was held announcing that Louisiana Tech was moving from Conference USA to the Sunbelt Conference no later than the fall of 2027.  The expectation was (and still is) that a deal could be reached with Conference USA which would allow Louisiana Tech to begin Sunbelt play this fall in 2026.

As of today, neither Conference USA nor the Sunbelt Conference have released their 2026 football schedules.  That’s because no one knows where Louisiana Tech will be playing football and other sports beginning this fall.

The Bulldogs joined Conference USA in 2013.  This rather far-flung conference was considered (at the time) to be a good fit.

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 has vacated C-USA in the past four years to join either the American Athletic Conference or the Sunbelt Conference.

The University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) will become yet another major defection from C-USA beginning this fall.  The Miners (members of Conference USA since 2005) are joining the Mountain West Conference (like Texas State of the Sunbelt Conference).

Why did all of those teams leave C-USA?

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

A majority of Louisiana Tech’s athletic supporters are ready to skedaddle from Conference USA’s geographically expansive league as quickly as possible.

C-USA has added schools in recent years such as Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia – 1,000 miles from Ruston, LA) and the University of Delaware (1,321 miles each way from Ruston).

Joining the Sunbelt Conference will allow Louisiana Tech to renew regional rivalries with UL-Monroe (35 miles via I-20), UL-Lafayette (185 miles south of Ruston), and even Southern Miss (240 miles to the southeast in Hattiesburg).  The travel savings for Louisiana Tech (along with the other Sunbelt schools) will be substantial across all sports.

But…

Athletic conferences and member schools sign long-term affiliation contracts which require a minimum notice period along with a hefty exit fee to allow the school to leave before the primary term ends.

A payment of several million dollars for early termination is likely required for Louisiana Tech to leave Conference USA.

With so many other universities bolting from Conference USA in recent years, the conference has pocketed millions in early exit fees.  They should be able to afford the finest attorneys to protect their best interests in court, if necessary.

The other teams’ departures have left Louisiana Tech as one of C-USA’s top remaining draws.

Conference USA appears to have no financial incentive to budge when it comes to allowing Louisiana Tech out of its contract.

The Bulldogs’ departure could significantly diminish the current media value of Conference USA’s contract with its TV partners.

C-USA signed a five-year media deal with CBS Sports Network and ESPN beginning in the fall of 2023.  That new media deal was signed around the same time that three former C-USA members (Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss) negotiated their own early exit deal to join the Sunbelt Conference in 2023.

What if Conference USA’s current media deal calls for a payment reduction if one of its primary institutions (such as Louisiana Tech) left during the term of that contract?

Keep that in mind as this game plays out.

Then there is the issue of prior notice required to leave Conference USA

According to previous reports, Conference USA’s agreement with Louisiana Tech required 14 months prior written notice.  Since Tech gave C-USA notice on or about July 15, 2025, that 14 month period will not be satisfied until September 15, 2026 (a few weeks into the 2026 football season).

Most major college football conferences allow their teams to open with a series of non-conference opponents.

Last fall, both the Sunbelt Conference and Conference USA member schools did not play their first conference game until Week #4 (Saturday, September 20, 2025).

Based on this year’s calendar, Louisiana Tech could, conceivably, begin as a Sunbelt member in time for Week #4 on Saturday, September 26, 2026.

But then…

Conference USA surprised Louisiana Tech by filing a lawsuit in the state of Louisiana in November, 2025.

The lawsuit asserted that Louisiana Tech misled Conference USA by intentionally delaying its exit announcement (mid-July, 2025) until after the school had already cashed its annual media revenue check from C-USA paid in late June.

In addition to providing 14 months prior notice to leave, Louisiana Tech’s contract with Conference USA apparently called for the school to forfeit its share of media revenue (estimated at $3 to $4 million annually) for two years.

Conference USA claims that Louisiana Tech (theoretically knowing that it was planning to leave C-USA) erred by accepting and cashing the late June media check.

Are you confused enough yet?

There has been very little news since Conference USA filed that lawsuit in November, 2025.  One local news outlet reported in mid-January that “conversations remain ongoing between C-USA and Louisiana Tech on a negotiated exit fee settlement”.

That sounds nice, but we’re now into the month of March.

The Sunbelt Conference football schedule remains on hold.  Conference USA’s football schedule has not been published yet, either.  However, Louisiana Tech’s logo remains firmly atop the C-USA athletics page banner even today.

Conference USA is in no hurry to resolve this issue.  The conference “wins” if Louisiana Tech is forced to remain a part of the league (and part of its media agreement) through the 2026-2027 athletics year.

Some good news and bad news

Conference USA allowed the trio of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss to exit prior to the start of the 2023 football season after they provided less than 12 months’ prior notice.  The three schools were able to negotiate a financial settlement with C-USA and left for greener pastures.

That would seem encouraging to supporters of Louisiana Tech’s exit – even at this late hour.

However, the departure of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss came around the same time that C-USA’s was signing its new media deal with CBS Sports Network and ESPN.

Louisiana Tech has been playing football in the major college division since 1987.

It is now a nationally known sports brand. Conference USA likely touted Louisiana Tech as one of its (pardon my pun again) “big dogs” in the league’s new media package starting in 2023.

There is a chance that implications with C-USA’s media contract may (or may not) become another snag in the negotiations between the conference and Louisiana Tech.

Conference USA can afford to wait this game out.  They have no reason to budge anytime soon.

Louisiana Tech has a tough and expensive business decision to make

It can opt to pony-up and pay a ransom to exit Conference USA to join the Sunbelt this fall.

This might involve the school’s major athletics donors, bankers, and (perhaps) even a Sunbelt Conference “angel” to help finance a loan to be paid-back through future Sunbelt media revenues.

Or Louisiana Tech can say that the early exit price being asked by C-USA was simply too high.  Fans and alumni (like me) would be disappointed in having to wait until 2027 to begin Sunbelt Conference play in football.  Future Sunbelt intrastate foes like UL-Monroe and UL-Lafayette will also lose by such a delay.

It’s time to make a deal – or not – quickly.

We can handle the truth!

The post Louisiana Tech – Who’ll Let the Dogs Out? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

In case you slept through it, a predawn lunar eclipse occurred at 5:38AM CST this morning (Tuesday, March 3).

The “Worm Moon” (as dubbed by the astronomy community) is a nod to earthworms which tend to emerge from the ground at this time of year during winter thawing.

Anyone living south of I-20 knows a thing or two about thawing of late.  Air conditioners here in the deep South have also emerged from hibernation after a recent wave of 80+ degree temperatures – even before the end of February.

As can happen during these full moon events, the weekend featured a number of rather unusual sports stories.

Women’s half-marathon in Atlanta ended with a surprise finish

Sunday’s women’s Half Marathon Championship in Atlanta provided a lead vehicle in front of the leaders pack.  These are commonly used for races in major cities.  With a little more than one mile to go in the race, the top three women runners followed such a vehicle.

Unfortunately, it led the top trio off the race course and down the wrong street!

The other runners in the field quickly noted the error, made the proper turn, and proceeded on toward the finish line.

The confused race leader needed about 60 seconds to notice that she was running the wrong way.  She and the other two leaders quickly made a U-turn.  Those unfortunate detour required almost two minutes in order to return to the original course route.  By then, the confused trio of competitors would complete the race in 9th, 12th and 13th place.

The top prize of $20,000 went to another runner.

This threesome of wayward runners filed an immediate protest afterwards.  It was denied.

Officials claimed that the entry form clearly required each runner to know the race layout prior to the start of the competition.

What about that lead vehicle?  Ironically, the vehicle was provided by the host city’s Atlanta Track Club.

Driving in a big city like Atlanta can be challenging, but that was downright embarrassing.

USC’s 26-year old (!) top scoring basketball player is no longer with the team

The 18-11 USC Trojans men’s basketball team has lost five straight games.  After the team’s weekend loss to #12 Nebraska, USC announced that its 19 point-per game starting forward was no longer with the team.

Chad Baker-Mazara went down with an apparent injury early in the second half of Southern Cal’s 82-67 home loss to the surprising Cornhuskers on Saturday. Instead of sitting down on the team’s bench, the 6’7” basketball player was found sitting in the stands near the bench between a young lady and another injured teammate.

The trio was seen having a delightful chat during the second half of USC’s fifth straight loss.

USC has fallen from a likely NCAA March Madness selection to a team unlikely to make the field unless they win the upcoming Big Ten basketball tournament.

Second year coach Eric Musselman was unaware of the severity of Chad Baker-Mazara’s injury during the game other than the trainer telling the coach, “He couldn’t go.”

Chad Baker-Mazara is from the Dominican Republic. He has played collegiately for Duquesne (Pittsburgh), San Diego State, Northwest Florida State, Auburn (2023-2025) and at USC this season.  

He has a history of being rather temperamental on and off the court.

The 26-year old Baker-Mazara was listed as a graduate student at Southern Cal.  However, he was drafted in late January by a professional basketball league based in Puerto Rico.

Perhaps he’s had enough of those tough grad school courses at age 26 to get that degree.

Famed “Bear Trap” snared PGA golfer Shane Lowry in Sunday’s final round

The 15th, 16th, and 17th holes at PGA National’s Champion course are well known to professional golfers.

Called “The Bear Trap” to honor course designer Jack “The Golden Bear” Nicklaus, this trio of holes is among the most difficult on the PGA Tour.  Add a stiff Florida ocean breeze and carding a par on each of those three holes is considered a big success.

The 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry was atop the leaderboard by two shots coming into the infamous “Bear Trap” holes at the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach, Florida Sunday.

Lowry made a par 3 on the 15th hole to retain his lead.

At the par-4 16th hole, Shane Lowry’s tee shot drifted to the right and splashed down into the adjacent lake.  A double bogey six tightened the match and allowed his playing competitors back into the game.

The final “Bear Trap” obstacle was the treacherous par-3 17th hole.  With mounting pressure and gusting winds, Shane Lowry’s tee shot again drifted right and sank to the bottom of a lake.  That second consecutive double bogey also sank Lowry’s chances to win the golf tournament.

Columbia’s Nico Echavarria held steady and gladly accepted his good fortune to claim a victory and paycheck of more than $1.7 million.  Shane Lowry finished in a tie for second place.  His payday of $726,000 was one million dollars less than he would have received for first place. Ouch!

Thought about the weekend NFL Combine – New York Jets coach needs more sleep

The woeful New York Jets will have four of the first 44 selections during Round 1 and 2 in late April’s NFL draft in Pittsburgh.

Head coach Aaron Glenn finished 4-13 during his first season with the Jets in 2025.  He was in the stands watching the NFL’s annual college player combine over the weekend at Indianapolis.

The NFL Combine is where potential pro draft choices showcase their ability to run fast, jump high, and sparkle in a series of drills in front of all 32 teams.

The Jets coach apparently was so bored by the proceedings that he was caught briefly napping during the Combine.

That’s OK, coach!

I tried to watch about 15 minutes of that stuff over the weekend.  It definitely works better than No-Doze in putting you to sleep.  Zzzz.

The NFL Combine can serve as a launching point for an athletically-gifted player – especially those coming from the smaller schools.  The combine also reveals weaknesses which might negatively affect your potential NFL draft value, too.

Former Arkansas Razorback quarterback Taylen Green is basking in ESPN’s rays of praise

Taylen Green was already ESPN’s #7 quarterback heading into the NFL Combine last weekend.  After an impressive showing, he may be moving up some teams’ draft board.

Taylen Green ran a speedy 4.36 second 40-yard dash.  Zoom!

He established a quarterback record with a 43 ½ inch vertical leap.  Is he playing basketball or football?

Green posted a broad jump of 11′ 2”.  Why is that important for a quarterback?

Welcome to the unique world of the annual NFL Scouting Combine.

Taylen Green was quarterback for an Arkansas Razorback football team which finished only 2-10 last year.  He passed for 19 touchdowns but also had 11 interceptions.  

Taylen Green averaged more than 3.13 seconds from the time he received the snap until making a throw while at the University of Arkansas.  That was 4th slowest among all 136 FBS major college starting quarterbacks last season.

He must to trim that statistic by a full half-second in the NFL, or he will be pummeled regularly by speedy on-coming defenders.

Taylen Green may go on to have a terrific NFL career.  But, then again…???

Let’s remember a few recent first-round quarterbacks flops after being praised by the ESPN Draft Day hype train!

ESPN’s enthusiastic NFL insider Mel “Hyper” Kiper practically drooled when fawning over former first round quarterback Kyler Murray in 2019.  Arizona selected Murray with the first overall pick in that year’s NFL draft.

Seven years later, the Arizona Cardinals are desperately trying to trade Kyler Murray away.  He has led the team to just one playoff game over seven seasons and his contract will pay him $40 million this season.  Good luck trying to make any deal, Cardinals!

In 2021, the NFL Combine shined the athletic spotlight brightly onto North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance.

He wowed the scouts at the combine with an exceptional ability to run fast, jump high, and leap over tall buildings in a single bound.  (Oops, wrong guy!)

The San Francisco 49ers talked themselves into selecting Trey Lance with the 3rd overall selection in the first round of the 2021 draft.

Sadly, Lance was a flop in his first three seasons in San Francisco.  He was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in 2024.  Lance was cut loose by the Cowboys after just one year in Big D.  The Los Angeles Chargers signed Lance last season to serve as a back-up to starter Justin Herbert.

Don’t forget about 2023’s NFL Combine star quarterback Anthony Richardson

Much like Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green, Anthony Richardson became the darling of the NFL Combine in 2023.  Richardson had finally become the starting QB for the Florida Gators in his third year at the school.

He made a number of poor decisions behind center that season but was often bailed-out by his uncanny running skills.  The Gators went a pedestrian 6-6, but the team’s quarterback convinced himself that he was ready to play in the NFL.

An impressive showing at the 2023 NFL Combine helped to elevate draft hype about Anthony Richardson.  He would vault all the way into the 4th overall selection by the Indianapolis Colts three years ago in 2023.

After just three NFL seasons, the Colts are now practically begging someone to take Richardson off their hands right now.

Anthony Richardson has started only 15 games in three years.  He has more career interceptions (13) than touchdowns (11).  Richardson suffered concussions in his rookie season from frequently running with the football.  Since then, he has dealt with a myriad of injuries.

Anthony Richardson has one season left on his rookie NFL contract which pays him “only” $8.5 million in 2026.  With a relatively affordable price tag, Richardson is likely to be traded to another team willing to give him a second chance.

The NFL Draft Combine nearly sunk 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was the last college football player selected in the 2022 NFL draft.

“Mr. Irrelevant” (the sarcastic nickname assigned to the final person selected in each year’s NFL draft) was a very accurate and successful quarterback for three seasons at Iowa State.

However, Brock Purdy’s participation in that spring’s NFL Combine produced a pedestrian 4.84 second 40-yard dash and a lackluster 27” vertical leap.  His perceived lack of athleticism caused Brock Purdy to drop further down the draft boards after an underwhelming showing at the NFL Combine.

Five years later, “Mr. Irrelevant” is the 49er’s starting quarterback, has played in a Super Bowl and now earns $53 million per year.

Moral of the story – Don’t place too much stock in the NFL Combine results when evaluating a future pro football player – especially at the quarterback position!

The post Beware! The Worm Moon is upon us! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Football season is over, so it’s time to catch-up on this year’s basketball action.

I have followed basketball ever since I could read the box scores.  That said, I must admit that my interest in the National Basketball Association has been waning over the past few decades.

Perhaps it is a lingering 23-year bout of “LeBron James Syndrome.”

The King (of flopping) is still playing hoops for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 41.  Incredibly, LeBron James is scoring 21 points per game during his 23rd NBA season.  Will this guy EVER retire?

The defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder is still leading the Western Conference.

A vastly-improved San Antonio Spurs team is in hot pursuit and only two games back. The NBA Eastern Conference finds the (gasp!) Detroit Pistons leading the Boston Celtics by 5 ½ games.

However, a growing number of losing teams are now trying to out-lose each other in order to finish with the coveted last place title.

Welcome to tanking – the NBA regular season soap opera’s not-so-new problem

A general definition of the term “tanking” is to intentionally field a noncompetitive team in order to take advantage of league rules which benefit the team losing the most games.

In the NBA, the biggest loser generally has the most likely chance to select #1 in the annual player draft.  The current system utilizes a weighted average format with the worst of the 14 non-playoff teams having the best chance to receive the top pick.

Unlike football or baseball, basketball has just five starting players.  Adding the top college basketball player might be enough to help your team become an immediate playoff contender.

The NBA’s defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder “tanked” for three years (2021-2023).  By making some solid draft picks and a few nifty player trades, OKC is positioned to be a top team for several years to come.

Once Oklahoma City transitioned from nearly worst to first, others are following the playbook.

Case #1 – this year’s Detroit Pistons

Detroit finished at or near the bottom of the NBA’s Eastern Conference for five consecutive years from 2020 through 2024.  The team’s lousy record earned the Pistons a number one choice (Cade Cunningham in 2021) plus the #5 pick three times and the #7 overall selection once.

This year’s Detroit Pistons are now in first place in the NBA East with a 43-14 record.  Cade Cunningham averages 25 points per game and is an NBA All-Star.  Three of the team’s other four high draft selections are averaging about ten points per game for Detroit.

Was it worth finishing near the bottom for several years to, perhaps, move to the top of the standings down the road?

Case #2 – The San Antonio Spurs

The five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs also went “all in” on tanking from 2022 through 2024.  They finished at the bottom of the NBA’s Western Conference in 2023 and earned the #1 overall selection.

San Antonio’s talented 7’4” center Victor Wembanyama is now in his third season and averages 24 points and 12 rebounds per game.  He was the top pick in 2023 and has helped transform a woeful Spurs team into a contender in just two years.

San Antonio also struck gold with 2024’s #4 overall selection, Stephon Castle.  The talented guard is averaging 17 points per game in his second NBA season.

The rest of the NBA is copying Detroit and San Antonio with excessive tanking

Nearly one third of the NBA’s teams are trying to lose games at a record pace this season. Winning even one basketball game can reduce your team’s chances to finish with a bad enough record to “win” a top NBA pick in June.

There’s even a website called “Tankathon.com” dedicated to providing the daily odds of each NBA team trying losing its way to receive the #1 overall draft pick.

Today’s stats showed that the leader (worst team in the NBA) is Sacramento (13-46).  The Kings have dropped nine of their last ten games.  Woo hoo – nice job, Sacto!

In hot pursuit of the Kings are the Indiana Pacers (15-44) and Brooklyn Nets (15-42).  Both of those NBA teams have lost eight of their last ten games.  That’s just not good enough to be #1, guys!

The woeful Washington Wizards sit in fourth place today at 16-41 with the New Orleans Pelicans perched right behind at 17-42.  The Pelicans’ coach may be in big trouble, though.  His team has actually won two games in a row!

The Utah Jazz are trying to get into the mix for the #1 pick by fading fast, too.  They have an 18-40 record today but are on a three-game losing streak.  Lose, Jazz, lose!  

Be careful what you wish for

That group of NBA teams is hoping their fans will fantasize about having the top pick in the annual player draft in June.

Historically speaking, the majority of these overall #1 choices will have a fairly productive NBA career. A few even blossom into NBA All-Stars.

Unfortunately, most #1 overall selections do not lead their teams into the NBA Finals.

Let’s remember a few failed #1 NBA picks from the past decade

LSU’s “one and done” forward Ben Simmons was selected first in 2016 by the Philadelphia 76ers.

His skills regressed with every season as a professional basketball player.  Already traded twice, Ben Simmons’ basketball play became so embarrassingly poor that none of the 30 NBA teams have this 29-year old player on their roster this season.

Another #1 NBA flop has been shooting guard Markelle Fultz.

Like Simmons, Fultz was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the top pick in the 2017 draft.  Another prolific “one-and-done” freshman scorer in college, Markelle Fultz has been a major disappointment in the NBA.  He has averaged a meager 10 points per game over his first eight pro seasons and has been traded twice already.

It’s still a bit early to say whether the Atlanta Hawks’ 2024 #1 overall pick is a draft bust.  However, 6’8” French forward Zaccarie Risacher is scoring just 10 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as he comes off the bench during his second NBA season.

Other recent #1 overall picks have included:

2018 – Deandre Ayton (drafted by Phoenix, traded to Portland, and traded in 2025 to the Los Angeles Lakers)

2019 – Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans – unlikely to make the playoffs)

2020 – Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves)

2021 – Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons)

2022 – Paolo Banchero (Orlando Magic)

2023 – Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs)

2025 – Cooper Flagg (Dallas Mavericks – unlikely to make the playoffs)

None of the past ten #1 overall picks has led their team to the NBA Finals.

Watch out, tankers!  The NBA Commissioner is actually cracking down

Adam Silver knows that nearly half of his NBA franchises are intentionally trying to lose games right now.  He understands that it is bad for business over the long run.  The NBA is morphing into two different leagues – the competitors and a growing legion of purposeful losers.

Earlier this month, Commissioner Silver fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and Indiana Pacers $100,000 for purposefully keeping healthy starters on the bench during the fourth quarter of games to insure that their teams would lose.

“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition,” said Silver.

No kidding, Commish!

Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley has a few ideas to help end tanking.  He recently said that he wants every NBA team failing to make the playoffs to receive only ONE ping-pong ball in the NBA’s lottery when selecting the top 14 picks.  Each of the 14 losing teams would then have the same 7% (1/14) chance of receiving the #1 pick.

That’s a good place to start, Chuck!

He also asked the Commissioner to ban any NBA team finishing with less than a .500 record from raising ticket prices the following season.

The NBA owners would give that particular idea of Barkley an overwhelming thumbs down!

One “anti-tanking” proposal is receiving a lot of positive feedback

Incentives work.  That is why so many NBA teams are trying to lose as many games as possible down the home stretch to receive the top draft pick this summer.

Here’s an excellent idea receiving a lot of support.

Each of the NBA’s 14 non-playoff teams would still be assured of receiving a pick from #1-14.  However, the draft order for those first 14 selections would be based on the number of WINS which each team collects over the second half of the NBA season.

That would incentivize every NBA team to try to win every game during the second half of the season.  The upper tier of teams will be positioning for a better playoff seed.  All of the bottom tier of teams would be battling to enhance their own draft position.

The biggest complainers about this proposal are teams which may have lost star players to injuries and cannot compete as effectively through season’s end.

To that, I say, “Tough luck!”

Do it, Commissioner Silver!

Have you heard…the current #1 college basketball player may be tanking, too!

The #14-ranked Kansas Jayhawks put months of effort and doled out millions in NIL loot into the recruitment of talented 6’6” freshman guard Darryn Peterson.

Kansas coach Bill Self’s top recruit has been exceptional – at times.  He has also been mysteriously invisible for several games this season, too.

Darryn Peterson has missed several games with a lingering hamstring injury early in the season.  Since then, he has claimed to suffer from cramps after playing a certain number of minutes in KU basketball games.  More recently, the highly touted Peterson sat out a few more games with a mysterious illness.

Teammates, fans, and the media have wondered if the freshman was, effectively, self-tanking to avoid injury ahead of the NBA draft.

NBA scouts have been whispering to Darryn Peterson’s family that the freshman player is likely to become this year’s top selection.

Peterson’s not-so-humble father, Darryl, provided this quote Monday, “We embrace what comes with this journey.  The good and the bad.  It has taught us so many life lessons to prepare Darryn and our family for what he’s about to go through being the #1 pick and future face of someone’s franchise and the league.”

The young basketball player transferred away from his primary high school in Canton, Ohio to play his junior year at Huntington Prep School in West Virginia.  For his senior year, Darryn Peterson transferred to play high school basketball in California for Pacific Prep.

How many high school kids would be willing to do that – just to market himself better for college and pro basketball?

Thankfully, not very many (yet).

Darryn Peterson has not helped to dispel the growing concerns of his teammates and loyal Kansas basketball fans. They are questioning the freshman’s commitment to the program’s success and whether the team is better off without him.

Kansas (now 21-7) has gone 9-2 in the games where Peterson was absent.  The Jayhawks are 12-5 in the games Peterson has played.

An increasing number of Jayhawks supporters would prefer for the freshman prima donna to hit the road right now and wait by the telephone for his name to be called by the NBA.

Tanking (whether as a team or by an individual) should never be a winning strategy.

The post Tanks for Nothing appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Many of you have already cut the cord from your longtime cable television provider. 

I wrote about my evaluation of doing this back in 2023.

Giving up a security blanket called cable television has been hard to do.  In 2023, I successfully negotiated a cheaper overall rate by agreeing to a multi-year fixed price deal with our cable television and internet service provider.

We could have opted to switch to an internet-based television provider at the time.  The price difference came out to less than $10/month to switch. 

My wife and I agreed that the hassles probably weren’t worth $10 per month – yet.

Three years later, it was time to go to bat with the same large cable television and internet service provider.  This time, the outcome would be different.

We have enjoyed a three decade love/hate business relationship

You may have seen a number of advertisements for our current cable/internet provider during the Winter Olympic games.  While watching the women’s US Olympic curling team lose the Bronze medal to the evil Canucks the other night, my wife and I saw the company’s promotional ad several times.

It proudly proclaimed, “$50/month for 5 years of 1 GB internet service.  No price increases.  No contract required!”

That’s funny.  The same company has been charging us $99 per month for the same level of service.  Why are they offering such a deep discount to newbies?

Talk about bad timing.  The cable/internet company had just mailed the February bill to us late last week.

It contained a big 20% surprise!

The company raised our bill by $36.17 per month for our combined cable television/internet package (125 TV channels plus their “Superspeed” internet service).

Our former bill was $182.33 per month.

The new bill amounted to $218.50 per month.  There were no added services.

Hey, that’s almost 20% more?  What is going on here?!!!

Our cable television package has zero add-ons for premium movies or sports packages.  Just the 125+ channel tier has been fine for us.

The menu of cable television services offered by this national provider has relatively few (five as of today) bundled packages at various price points.

Their so-called basic package isn’t cheap and generally provides an assortment of local channels.

No, thanks!  That’s why I bought my $29 Phillips plug-in antenna (for use as a back-up to watch local TV stations when needed).

The next price level had been our current 125-channel line-up.  My wife was happy with her favorite channels like Food Network, HGTV, and a few movie options such as USA, Freeform, and AMC.  Her sports-nut husband generally watches ESPN, Golf Channel, and a few others from his 10′ x 10′ SwampSwami SportsCave in the back portion of the house.

It’s OK to laugh and call me cheap.  I prefer being called “fiscally prudent” with respect to our monthly entertainment expenditures.

We played this same game exactly three years ago

We took a hard look at our options in 2023 after a similar price hike surprised us by the same folks. Here’s a link to that story.

First, we decided to get rid of one of the two cable “boxes” and saved $14/month.  A $49 Roku stick on the TV back in my SportsCave allowed me to watch the same cable television offerings via our wireless internet.

We had already purchased our own internet modem ($150) to jettison another of their monthly rental fees. It paid out in less than a year.

When I was finally able to bargain to lock-in a multi-year pricing deal in 2023, the net price increase came to less than $10 month.

We opted to stick around – and watch.

Your cable company will pass along the higher prices of ESPN and others

Some television pirates like ESPN have spent billions in the past decade bidding-up the cost of sports to maintain a dominant market position.

They are quite aware that the vast majority of us sports-addicted viewers are likely to pay the higher tab.

I get it.  You must also step back and evaluate your purchasing habits at times, too.

Economics 201 would define this as the Elasticity of Demand. 

At some price point, people will reject your product and walk away.

Grocery and utility prices have gone up.  They are passing along the incremental costs of doing business.  Customers have to make some hard choices.

Watching your wife shiver on the sofa during winter because her cheapskate husband wants to keep the thermostat at 68 degrees is not easy.

Are those tears or icicles coming from her eyes?

I no longer purchase as much of the now-$9/pound lean hamburger or my favorite hot chocolate mix anymore to save a few bucks.

Tonight, it’s red beans and rice Monday at our house.

Anyone from New Orleans knows that the dish is a local tradition borne out of economic necessity.

We used to add smoked sausage to our Monday mixture years ago.  Alas, not anymore.

Perhaps my waistline should send a thank-you note to our local grocer for pricing us out of few items which I loved to consume.

Time for the latest big negotiation with the cable TV and internet provider!

This weekend, I prepared myself for the upcoming discussion with a “Customer Retention” representative.  You have to be willing to walk away when arriving at this level.  That negotiating tactic had saved us hundreds of dollars in previous years.

I updated my 2023 spreadsheet this weekend to affirm the TV channels we most heavily watch. Then, I looked-up the top internet-based television providers to see which one best satisfies our desires at a competitive price.

By the way, here is my updated analysis of product offerings and prices for various providers as of February, 2026:

My big telephone negotiation with our giant cable television/internet provider was not centered on the rising costs charged by ESPN, the local TV stations, and our overpriced regional sports channel.

I wanted the company to defend its Winter Olympic offering a $50/month internet price to new customers while having the gall to charge us $99/month for the same speed and service level.

Since the internet arrives at our house via their own lines installed years ago, that leaves only one party responsible for the $50 monthly internet price disparity.

How did the call go?

The cable television/internet provider’s customer service rep was quite skilled at defending his company’s $36+/month rate increase.

I countered by asking how they can justify raising our home prices $36+/month while offering new customers a $50 lower internet monthly rate than this long-time customer is being charged.

He said, “We’re probably losing money on that deal, sir.  To grow our customer base, we need to entice new customers to come onboard by offering something of value to them.”

I responded, “So, you’re willing to raise the rates of a long-time customer like me who quietly pays his bill on time in order to lure others with a discount.  It seems like it should be the other way around.”

He didn’t argue that point.

Instead, he quickly deflected to asking about our cell phone provider!  The same cable/internet rep who raised the rates now wanted to discuss our cell phone business?  He was quite sure they could offer a lower price than Ma Bell was likely charging us.

I told him that I was quite aware there were cheaper cell phone providers, but this call was about his company’s television and internet rates.  Please stay on topic.

The representative mentioned their relatively new “Sports and News” TV package which is $15 per month less than our current service level.  Already aware of the option, I said the service tier also contained significantly fewer channels – including several of my wife’s favorite channels.

The old axiom “Prior preparation prevents poor performance” is still valid.

Ultimately, the cable TV/internet rep failed to offer a lower price for our current level of service.  He mentioned that we could save $10 month.  That was only if we would allow their company to directly bill us via credit card instead of having them prepare and mail a rather environmentally unfriendly monthly bill to us.

I reminded him that their paper bill was how we noticed the significant rate increase like this one. We do utilize e-payments with business partners who do not unilaterally attempt to charge higher prices without a providing a higher level of service to go with it.  No, thanks.

It was actually a rather civil conversation with an extremely knowledgeable representative who boldly held the company line.

Here’s a good rule to remember about customer service interactions.  An unhappy customer will tell an average of 20-25 people about their bad experience with a company.  A happy customer will only mention their positive experience to, perhaps, four or five others on the average. 

Bad news travels fast, too.  

Ask Cracker Barrel. Their stock price dropped by 50% in a matter of weeks last year and still hasn’t recovered.

And the winner is…???

We signed-up for and started using YouTube TV today.  It was very simple and took about ten minutes.  

It comes with a five-day free trial.  Then the rate begins at a discounted $59.99/month level for two months.  The price will convert to the current standard $82.99/month after that.

I will now receive the Big Ten Network, ACC Network, and CBS Sports Network in this package.  My wife (who felt uncomfortable about making this big change) seems pleased, too.

We’ll both learn more about new internet-based TV product this week.  I will plan to return the cable TV box back to those other guys soon.

For now, we are still utilizing the current provider’s internet service. Other fiber-optic providers have sent cards and letters for months wanting our business. That will be a much trickier business decision to make. I’ll be dialing for dollars to learn more soon.

There is just one negative. 

We will lose MeTV (one of our favorite channels) as part of this switch.  However, I just verified that we can receive MeTV via our local UHF channel in the SwampSwami Sports Cave utilizing my little ol’ $29 Phillips plug-in digital antenna.

Our “exciting” Saturday nights watching classic TV favorites (Svengoolie, Batman, Star Trek, and Superman) has been rescued!  

Victory is sweet!!!

The post Cutting the Cord – for good appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

News of this week’s passing of former University of Southwestern Louisiana (now UL-Lafayette) basketball star Dwight “Bo” Lamar sparked a lot of memories. 

Lamar was 74 and passed away at a nursing home in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

College basketball in Louisiana when Lamar played during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s was filled with dominant scorers and very little defense.  The word “defense” seemed to have been banned during this period.

Explosive offense had become the name of the game.

This brief period was defined by expert marksmanship and crowd-pleasing showmanship.  The high scoring antics of college basketball players like LSU’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich and the University of Houston’s “Big E” Elvin Hayes (born in Rayville, Louisiana) captured the imagination of fans.

Less than an hour west of Pistol Pete Maravich and LSU, Bo Lamar and the USL Ragin’ Cajuns were entertaining fans in front of packed basketball arenas, too.

Lamar was a virtual basketball scoring machine for the Ragin’ Cajuns from 1969-1973.  He averaged 31.2 points per game over his entire four-year college basketball career.  A first-team All-American as a senior, he was joined on that squad by future basketball Hall-of-Famers Bill Walton of UCLA and David Thompson of North Carolina State.

The 6’2” Bo Lamar had one of the best jump shots I have ever seen.

He elevated off the floor with ease and then lofted up a high arcing shot from long-distance.  This came nearly 20 years before college basketball would adopt the three-point shot. 

He would have averaged over 40 points per game with today’s three-point line.

Bo Lamar glided down the basketball court with ease in leading USL’s frantic fast breaks.  He bombed-in a school-record 62 points during a game against Northeast Louisiana University (now UL-Monroe).

Scoreboards routinely registered more than 100 points during Ragin’ Cajun basketball games in this era.

A 1984 Louisiana Sports Hall-of-Fame inductee, Bo Lamar opted to play professional basketball for the ABA’s San Diego Conquistadors in 1973.  He scored 50 points in one game during his rookie year while averaging nearly 21 points per game.

After several years in the pro ranks, Lamar later became part of the radio broadcast team for Ragin’ Cajuns basketball games.

Mike Green at Louisiana Tech became one of Bo Lamar’s biggest foes

If you have watched current NBA star Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets, he looks and plays like a modern version of former Louisiana Tech basketball star, Mike Green.  The 6’10” Green played for the Bulldogs from 1969-1974.

Mike Green was listed as a center but possessed an incredible outside shooting touch to stretch the opposing defenses.

Like Bo Lamar at USL, Green was a prolific college basketball scorer.  He averaged 31 points per game as a senior at Louisiana Tech.  Add a 15.4 rebounds per game career average, and you understand why Mike Green earned the AP’s Small College Player of the Year award in 1973.

He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall-of-Fame in 1996.

A friend of mine attended Louisiana Tech in 1971 during the Mike Green basketball era.

He recalled a highly anticipated home game against high-scoring Bo Lamar and the nationally ranked Ragin’ Cajuns.  Fans lined up for hours hoping to gain entrance to watch this game.  Mike Green scored 22 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked numerous shots as the Bulldogs raced to 103-94 win at Tech’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Future Louisiana Tech Hall-of-Fame women’s basketball coach Leon Barmore also witnessed that encounter.  He recalled, “It was the greatest game ever at Louisiana Tech – bar none!”

While he was a sophomore, Mike Green’s Louisiana Tech team averaged 101 points per game for the entire season. Defense?  What defense?

Mike Green passed away in 2018 at the age of 67.

Time to celebrate Centenary College center Robert Parish!

Shreveport’s 7’1” center Robert Parish took Louisiana’s top college basketball player baton from Bo Lamar and Mike Green during the early 1970’s.

Robert Parish played high school basketball in the late 1960’s during a difficult time when federal integration mandates forced some schools to close.  Parish and his fellow Union High School students suddenly found themselves being bussed to nearby Woodlawn High School.

Though this period caused angst for both students and teachers, Woodlawn’s basketball team morphed into a state powerhouse with the addition of talented center Robert Parish.

He led Shreveport’s Woodlawn High School to the Class 4A state basketball title as a senior in 1972.  Parish was named a national high school All-American.

To the dismay of national college recruiters, Robert Parish chose to stay in Shreveport and attend Centenary College.  As a freshman, Parish lined-up to play in one game against Louisiana Tech’s talented senior big man Mike Green.

Green dazzled the crowd by scoring 40 points on the young Robert Parish.

Robert Parish continued to work and improve his game every year.  He collected a school record 33 rebounds in one game.  Parish’ gifted shooting touch produced 25 points per game for Centenary.  His dominant offensive and defensive play as a senior led to a first-team college basketball All-America selection.

Parish became a first round draft choice of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

Traded four years later to the Boston Celtics, Robert Parish (along with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale) won three NBA titles and played 21 seasons in the NBA.  Parish was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Fame in 2003.

Have you heard of Olympic gold medal winner Glynn Saulters?

Today’s story about talented Louisiana college basketball stars of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s wouldn’t be complete without mentioning an Olympic gold medal winner.

In the year 1968, Northeast Louisiana University (now ULM) basketball star Grady Glynn Saulters was nearly invisible on the national college basketball stage.

The Lisbon, Louisiana native didn’t possess the blazing court speed of Southwestern Louisiana’s Bo Lamar or the shot-blocking skills of Louisiana Tech’s Mike Green.

Oh, but Glynn Saulters could shoot a basketball with the best of them.

He became a prolific college scorer. Saulters averaged a nifty 31 points per game as a senior in 1968 to lead the Gulf States Conference in scoring.  Not too shabby.

The Olympics games were being held in Mexico City a few months following Saulters’ senior season.  The year 1968 was an extremely politically charged period as Dr. Martin Luther King and presidential candidate Bobby Kennedy were assassinated.  Several top college basketball players such as Lew Alcindor and Elvin Hayes decided not to even try-out for the US Olympic team in 1968.

That opened the door for NLU’s 6’2” guard Glynn Saulters to qualify for the Olympic basketball team.

His competition included stars like high-scoring Pistol Pete Maravich of LSU and Niagara guard Calvin Murphy.  Surprisingly, neither Maravich nor Murphy made the final cut.  Ditto for Kentucky’s Dan Issel and Purdue sharpshooter Rick Mount.

But Glynn Saulters from tiny Class “C” Lisbon High School in north Louisiana made the US team.

Legendary college basketball coach Hank Iba’s “No Name” US Olympic basketball squad was comprised of several small college role players and just a few top college stars.

Future NBA Hall-of-Fame forward Spencer Haywood and guard JoJo White led the US team in scoring.  Glynn Saulters and the US Olympic team went a perfect 9-0 in Mexico City to bring home the gold medal.

Glynn Saulters was inducted into the ULM Sports Hall-of-Fame in 1978 and into the Louisiana Sports Hall-of-Fame in 1981.

Don’t forget “AJ from the Parking Lot!”

New Orleans’ Cohen High School basketball player Aaron James journeyed northward from the Crescent City to Grambling State University to begin a memorable college basketball career. 

The 6’8” sharpshooting forward poured in more than 32 points per game as a senior at Grambling to become the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year in ’73-74.  He earned the nickname “AJ from the Parking Lot” for his uncanny accuracy on long-distance shots.  Aaron James was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.

Minden and Webster High School product Louis “Sweet Lou” Dunbar was another prolific high school scoring sensation.  This 6’9” big man also possessed a sweet jump shot.  Dunbar received numerous college scholarship offers and left his home state to play for the University of Houston in the early 1970’s.  He averaged 22 points and eight rebounds over his career with the Cougars.

Louis Dunbar would join the Harlem Globetrotters and play for the next 27 years!  “Sweet Lou” is one of only eight Globetrotters to have his jersey (#41) retired.  Dunbar was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.  

Let’s not forget Shreveport Valencia High School basketball star Roosevelt Fuller.  This silky-smooth high-scoring guard torched the nets for 64 points in a Shreveport high school basketball game in the late 1960’s.  Fuller averaged an incredible 44 points per game one season at Valencia High. He played college hoops from 1970-1972 at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, TX.

He still holds the school scoring record of 53 points and posted a 28 points per game average as a sophomore.  Roosevelt Fuller was inducted into the Trinity Valley Sports Hall of Fame in 2025.

No, it wasn’t just Pistol Pete Maravich exciting Louisiana’s basketball fans during the late 1960’s into the early 70’s.

This week’s passing of Dwight “Bo” Lamar served as a reminder of just how special his era of basketball was in the Pelican State.

The post Remembering Dwight “Bo” Lamar and Louisiana’s High Scoring Basketball Era appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Last weekend featured several of professional golf’s “Welcome back!” celebrations.

PGA Tour star Collin Morikawa braved 30 mph winds at the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links in California on Sunday to earn his first title in 2 ½ years.  It was Morikawa’s seventh career PGA Tour victory.

Shreveport’s 59-year old David Toms won for the first time in nearly three years at the PGA Champions Tour event in lovely (but windy) Naples, Florida.

It was DT’s fifth win on the senior circuit to go with his 13 wins on the PGA Tour.

But neither of these two stories can compare with what LIV Golf’s Anthony Kim accomplished over the weekend.  Kim had not won a professional golf tournament in nearly 16 years since capturing the Shell Houston Open on April 4, 2010.

The magic returned…5,976 days later

After literally giving up professional golf for more than a decade, Anthony Kim’s wife and young daughter Bella have served as his inspiration to give the game one more try.

LIV Golf’s then-chief Greg Norman invited Anthony Kim back to compete for a permanent spot on the LIV Golf tour in 2024.  His comeback didn’t go well at first.

Kim finished 56th out of 59 golfers at season’s end. His best tournament finish was in 36th place.  That wasn’t exactly a stellar return for the three-time PGA title holder.

Anthony Kim had to win a spot in LIV’s 2025 field by placing high enough in the tour’s qualifying tournament.  After making the tour again in 2025, Kim finished the year as #55 of the 61 LIV golfers. His best finish was a tie for 25th place.

For a second straight year, Anthony Kim had to earn his 2026 spot in LIV Golf by performing well in the qualifying tournament.

He did.

The first LIV Golf event in 2026 was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  Anthony Kim posted his best finish in his two seasons on the LIV Golf tour with a tie for 22nd place.

His final round six-under par 66 In Saudi Arabia may have lit the fuse on what was going to happen the following week in Australia.

LIV Golf’s second stop was the very popular annual event in Adelaide.  As Aussie golf fans cheered for countryman Cam Smith and his Ripper GC golf team, unheralded Anthony Kim came out the gate with opening rounds of -5, -5, and -4 to move into third place going into the final round.

If that wasn’t enough pressure to make 40-year old Anthony Kim nervous, he was paired in the final round with former World #1 golfer Jon Rahm and long-hitting two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

Anthony Kim knew that it would take a terrific final round to beat these two young golf phenoms.  After opening with three straight pars, Kim then birdied nine of the next 14 holes to zoom past his two competitors and take the tournament lead.

He would finish at 23-under par to win by three shots over Spain’s Jon Rahm.

The 9-under par closing round of 63 earned Anthony Kim his first professional golf victory since April, 2010.

Why has it taken nearly 16 years for Anthony Kim to win again?

Success came early and often for talented young golfer Anthony Kim.  After three successful years playing college golf at the University of Oklahoma, Kim qualified to play on the PGA Tour in 2006 at age 21.

Two years later, he won two PGA events in 2008 and earned a spot on the victorious US Ryder Cup team.

Anthony Kim would add a third PGA victory in April, 2010 at the Shell Houston Open.  He wasn’t quite 25 years of age and was already ranked among the world’s top 20 golfers.

Kim injured one of his thumbs and had surgery one month after his 2010 victory in Houston.  He was unable to play golf for several months.  An Achilles tendon injury then put Anthony Kim on the shelf for much of the year 2012.  He received a medical exemption from the PGA Tour in 2013 during his physical rehabilitation period.

The year 2014 brought the surprising announcement from Anthony Kim that he was no longer playing golf – even for fun.

Golf fans were perplexed as to how one of the game’s brightest young stars could literally fall off the map so quickly. 

The rumor mill added dark stories about Anthony Kim’s off-the-course personal issues.  Another circled about Kim trying to collect upwards of $20 million from a disability insurance policy after his run of significant injuries.

Kim would later say that he had been victimized by some “bad people” during this time of his life.  He also admitted to having an addictive personality and sought professional counseling.  He claims to be sober for three years as of February, 2026.

Anthony Kim’s wife Emily has been at the center of the golfer’s return to the top

There’s nothing like having your wife suggest that she wants to learn how to play golf to inspire Anthony Kim to give the game another go himself.

While mentoring wife Emily Kim, the process rekindled a renewed interest in playing golf by the talented husband.  

After more than ten years without golf in his life, Anthony Kim said that he discovered that he was falling in love with playing the sport for the very first time.

During an insightful interview two years ago with LIV Golf’s David Feherty, Anthony Kim claimed to have felt extra pressure from his family and friends to excel at golf entering college.

Feherty, a recovering alcoholic, encouraged Kim to share that how easy it was to fall prey to bad influences away from the golf course.  Kim acknowledged that he developed an alcohol and drug problem to go with his mental health struggles.

The pro golfer also revealed that 98% of his former friends are no longer a part of his new life.

Anthony Kim acknowledges that the game of golf is very hard.  His mantra is to “get 1% better every day” in golf and, now, in his role as a husband and father.

Introducing the star of this week’s show – 4-year old daughter Bella Kim

Anthony Kim’s incredible golf comeback has paralleled his time after becoming a first-time father four years ago.  Bella was born three months prematurely and experienced a number of early struggles.

Upon receiving an offer from Greg Norman to return to professional golf with LIV Golf two years ago in 2024, Anthony Kim made a significant modification to his golf ball.  “Papa” Kim drew a “B” onto his golf ball.  It was to remind him that he was now playing on behalf of his young daughter, too.

“I had no self worth until I became a father”, said the now 40-year old Anthony Kim.

“Now I have a duty, a responsibility of taking care of my family and being the best role model for my daughter as I could be. That gives me purpose every morning, and I just didn’t have that before.”

Welcome back into the winner’s circle in golf and life, Anthony Kim!

The post 1% Better Every Day! Anthony Kim’s Miraculous LIV Victory appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

***Special thanks to KEEL Radio’s Erin McCarty and Mike Martindale; to Tony Taglavore (shreveportbossierjournal.com) for his excellent 2024 feature story about Larry Ryan, and to Twin Blends: Northwest Louisiana History Hunters’ Facebook page for a few photos in today’s story.  I had the pleasure of working as a part-time announcer for Larry Ryan nearly 50 years ago.

During the early 1960’s, Larry Ryan may have heard the phrase “You’re fired!” more times than cartoon’s George Jetson did from his boss, Mr. Spacely.

The young radio announcer had bounced around from one radio market to another in search of a few extra dollars per week.

This 26-year old disk jockey was offered a $25/week raise to move to Shreveport, Louisiana and begin working the evening shift at Top 40 radio station KEEL 710AM in 1964.

For more than 60 years, Shreveport, Bossier City and Ark-La-Tex region have embraced “Lovable” Larry Ryan and his immense radio creativity and talent.

Last Friday, Ryan’s most recent Shreveport radio station employer (which played “The Greatest Hits of All Time” oldies format) abruptly advised him and his morning crew that their long-time popular morning show was being canceled.

Effective immediately.

The FM station was recently acquired by a new owner.  They wanted to go in a different direction with their 6-9AM morning show.

Though it had been awhile, Larry Ryan was quite familiar with hearing that line again.

Today, Larry Ryan’s first radio station employer in Shreveport brought him back on the air to provide him with a very dignified way to say, “Good bye” to his legions of loyal radio listeners.

The final hour of Wednesday’s News/Talk 710 KEEL morning show featuring Erin McCarty and Mike Martindale was filled with tributes to the area’s radio broadcasting legend.

Shreveport mayor Tom Arceneaux and Bossier City mayor Tommy Chandler each read proclamations making it “Larry Ryan Day” in both cities (February 11, 2026).

How did Iowa native Larry Ryan become so beloved in Shreveport, LA?

Larry Ryan is a native of Marshalltown, Iowa – just northeast of Des Moines.  After a one year stint at what is now Northern Iowa University, he joined the Air Force. If he thought it was cold in Iowa during the winter, Larry Ryan found himself stationed in frigid Minot, North Dakota.  That’s when he knew it was time to leave the Air Force and find a real job.

He would become a radio announcer (DJ, if you prefer) who worked at stations in Iowa, Arkansas, Alabama, and Virginia prior to receiving an offer to work the evening shift at AM powerhouse KEEL Radio in Shreveport.  Larry reminded listeners today that he also brought along his long-time girlfriend, Suzy.

They were married in Marshall, Texas upon his arrival in Shreveport.  More about Suzy Ryan in a bit.

Larry Ryan’s evening show became a huge hit with the younger audience.

He interacted with callers, had fun doing creative “live” spots for sponsors, and even created funny comedy song features such as “Hide The Booze” (performed to the instrumental version of “The Can-Can Song”).

It wasn’t long before Larry Ryan was promoted to become KEEL’s morning show host.

The 50,000 watt daytime signal of KEEL AM stretches from Texarkana to the north and southward through northeastern Texas and western and central Louisiana down I-49 to Lafayette.

“Lovable” Larry Ryan’s morning show beginning in the mid-1960’s featured Top 40 rock and roll hits along with topics of local interest.  Talented radio newsmen like Ken Booth and Scott Hodges, syndicated commentator Paul Harvey, and a very unlikely local weatherman added more flavor to this increasingly popular show.

This morning, Larry recounted that KEEL’s morning newsman Ken Booth did not like being asked to read the weather at the end of his local newscasts.  KEEL’s co-located FM affiliate KMBQ was playing automated reel-to-reel tapes of beautiful music.  Larry quickly grabbed the FM station’s young audio operator named Ralph Montgomery and said, “Get in here!  I want you to come read the weather on the air for me – now!”

Ryan introduced his nervous and totally unprepared 6:05AM weather man to KEEL’s massive audience.

“And now…the effervescent…Mr. Weather!”  Ralph Montgomery somehow made it through that first weather forecast and won a 50+year radio co-hosting role alongside of Larry Ryan.

Mr. Weather’s unique sense of humor always seemed to tickle Larry’s funny bone.

It was pure radio magic

Larry Ryan & Mr. Weather became the foundation for KEEL’s incredible radio ratings success for the next decade.  KEEL’s morning show captured an unheard-of 50% of the total radio audience as both youngsters and their parents were fans of the show.

Larry became KEEL’s program director and hired a number of extremely talented on-air personalities to work at other times of the day.  Howard Clark, Steve Kelly, Tommy Kramer, Ronald F. Montgomery (no relation to Ralph “Mr. Weather” Montgomery) and many others graduated to work at major market radio stations after being mentored by Larry Ryan at KEEL in Shreveport.

Producing a top-notch commercial for clients is very important for radio stations. The creative voice and production talents of Larry Ryan and his team of announcers was in high demand for producing effective commercials on behalf of local, regional and national ad agencies.

Larry’s wife, Suzy, became involved in selling radio advertising for KEEL. 

She possessed a sincere belief in the effectiveness of the station’s primary product – especially her husband’s top-rated radio show.  Suzy remained laser-focused on business and supported Larry’s creative talent behind the microphone.  The duo’s business acumen translated into solid income for their soon-to-be growing family.

After Suzy became pregnant with each of the couple’s two children (Corey and Casey), Larry frequently brought Suzy on the air to talk about how she had been feeling.  Their willingness to share such personal details over the air further endeared the couple to thousands of KEEL’s adult listeners.

Larry Ryan played sports in high school and brought his love of sports to Shreveport

Ryan formed the KEEL “Dirty Dribblers” basketball team and the KEEL “Nasty Nine” softball team.  The basketball team featured a few of the radio announcers but included legitimate sports talent such as former Northwestern State University basketball player-turned-media advertising specialist Al LeGrand. 

The KEEL Dirty Dribblers and Nasty Nine softball teams played dozens of fund-raising games against the teachers and coaches at area schools.

The goodwill resulting from those charity games served to reinforce the personal bond between the radio station’s listeners and “Lovable” Larry Ryan’s radio team.

By 1974, the World Football League had started a new pro football league.  This came a few years after the American Football League had successfully merged with the NFL in 1970.

The new WFL franchise located in Houston was already failing in Year #1.

Larry Ryan took to the air expressing his firm belief that Shreveport and Bossier City (with about 350,000 residents) was quite capable of supporting the Houston WFL franchise – assuming it could be moved to Shreveport.

Within weeks of Ryan’s daily on-air encouragement to local businesses and governmental leaders, the WFL’s Houston Texans (that was their name!) moved the franchise to Shreveport midway through the initial football season.

The Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League was born.  A local crowd of more than 21,000 attended the Steamer’s first home game against Memphis in September, 1974.  Though Shreveport’s attendance remained solid, the WFL folded midway through its second season in 1975 under mounting financial pressures.

Around this time, Larry and Suzy Ryan were offered a chance to buy another local radio station in Shreveport.  Unlike KEEL’s 50,000 watt signal, local station KBCL’s signal was just 250 watts and operated on a daytime-only frequency.

The duo took the plunge anyway.

They built a top-notch on-air and sales staff and pursued FCC approval to relocate the radio station onto a frequency with 24-hour capability.  Talented on-air personalities like Randy Davis (who enjoyed a long career in New York City), K.C. Daniels, Howard Jennings Hart, and Larry “Charlie” Monk joined the staff.

Current FOX Sports football and basketball broadcaster Tim Brando also worked for Larry Ryan at KBCL prior to moving to a larger radio market and into his future television career.

Though this under-powered AM radio station’s ratings were quite impressive, the inability to obtain a 24-hour operating frequency from the FCC, a declining local employment market, and the rise of FM competition forced the Ryans to return to their radio roots in the early 1980’s.

Bringing it forward

Larry Ryan would work for another 40 years (!) in the Shreveport area at various radio stations. He spent most of the past few decades playing 70’s and 80’s music formats for his faithful listeners.

Ralph “Mr. Weather” Montgomery began a career in another field, but his employer allowed him to work early mornings with his long-time partner, too.

Long-time friend and sales pro Al LeGrand stuck with Larry, too.  Al provided sports commentary for Ryan’s morning shows and enjoyed participating in some of the on-air hijinks until retiring several years ago.

LeGrand built a very successful media advertising agency in Shreveport.

Larry’s one-woman dynamo wife, Suzy Ryan, proudly formed her own media advertising agency.  She would (of course) provide sales support for Larry’s successful radio programs.  The Ryans’ two children would also enter the media business after completing their education.

Sadly, Larry Ryan’s beloved wife and life partner, Suzy, passed away in 2013.  Larry has (at least until last Friday) continued to work his morning radio show for a local FM station.

Interviewed two years ago, Larry Ryan (now in his 80’s) knew that his time behind the microphone would eventually come to an end.

In that print interview in 2024, Larry Ryan said, “I’ve done good.  I’ve been nationally recognized, which really doesn’t mean that much other than ego.  That has never been part of my being.  I had fun!”

And so have we!  Thank you for six decades of terrific memories, Lovable Larry!

The post Celebrating Lovable Larry Ryan’s 60-year Shreveport Radio Career appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

Watching Sunday’s NFL title game has become one of my least favorite major sports events of the year.

You must credit the NFL for making fans wait for two full weeks for the season finale to be played.  This brilliant marketing move allows word-of-mouth to spread to the once-per-year viewers who just show-up to watch the commercials and enjoy a party.

Those of us season-long football fans are ready to get this final game of the year over with.  The pro football season continues to be stretched out longer and longer.  Rest assured that football season will eventually shrink if demand falls.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots had exceptional regular seasons with identical 14-3 records. 

Unfortunately for Patriots fans, their favorite team’s offense was as cold as the weather back east in Boston last weekend.

Seattle toyed with New England throughout the first half like a kitten batting around a ball of yarn.  A 3-0 first quarter Seattle lead became an equally boring 9-0 halftime advantage for the Seahawks.

Sunday’s third quarter likely put many to sleep. 

Seattle’s kicker Jason Myers added his fourth field goal of the game.

Wowee!   It was 12-0 heading into the final 15 minutes of the NFL season.

At least New England punter Bryce Barringer had the chance to say “Hi, Mom!” as he punted an incredible eight times in the first three quarters.  This game was played in perfect weather conditions in Santa Clara, California.

Yawn.

Some of us tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists put forth that the NFL has exposed a rather interesting “fourth quarter” trend.  Nearly every playoff game played this season had an explosion of points coming in the fourth quarter of play.

Why has that been happening?

Sunday’s season finale was no exception.

This game’s final quarter produced (gasp!) 30 points between these two sleepy combatants.  Seattle was never in jeopardy of losing the lead during the final quarter.  The Seahawks completed a touchdown pass to open-up a 19-0 lead on the hapless Patriots.

New England’s passing game finally awakened long enough to produce two late touchdowns after this game was effectively over. 

Final score:  Seattle 29, New England 13

Seattle’s “Dark Side Defense” deserved the MVP

The Seahawks’ defense appeared to know New England’s offensive playbook as well as the Patriots did.  Blitz after blitz sacked New England’s 23-year old second year quarterback Drake Maye.  He was taken down six times, hurried on nearly every throw, had two interceptions, and lost a critical fumble.

Seattle’s defense literally threw the kitchen sink at Drake Maye on Sunday.  They suffocated New England’s running game, too.  The team’s quarterback ran for his life for 37 yards to lead all New England rushers Sunday evening.

Seahawks’ running back Kenneth Walker III had a tremendous game with 135 yards on the ground.

His backfield dance moves should earn him an invitation to the next season of “Dancing with the Stars”.

Walker’s running ability provided some of the only excitement during the first three quarters of this rather boring football game.  Walker received the game’s MVP award.  It’s a shame that the Seattle defense couldn’t receive this award as a group.

New England Patriots – Were they simply lucky to have made it this far?

Many are pointing out that New England’s 2025 regular season schedule was loaded with weaker teams.  The Patriots played 12 of their 17 regular season games against teams which would post a losing record in 2025.

New England finished with a stellar 14-3 record after going 4-13 just a year ago.  The Patriots’ excellent defense carried this team into the NFL title game.  New England allowed just three points (at home vs. the Chargers), 16 points (home vs. the Texans) and only seven at Denver in three playoff games leading up to Sunday’s NFL title game.

This year’s group of AFC playoff teams were, being generous, offensively-challenged.  Top-seeded Denver’s defense carried the Broncos all season long.  The Houston Texans had a terrific year – on defense.  Jacksonville’s surprising season was also led by a better-than-expected defense.

It didn’t matter which team emerged from the AFC to face Seattle on Sunday.  The Seahawks had a defense capable of clobbering any AFC contender this year and just enough offense to win.

That was Seattle’s simple recipe for victory all season long.

Is Seattle a dynasty in the making or was this just one great season?

Don’t forget that the Los Angeles Rams gave the Seattle Seahawks a run for the NFC West title all year long.  The banged-up San Francisco 49ers also gave the Seahawks and the Rams a run for the money.  All three NFC West competitors made it into the second round of the playoffs.

Seattle finished 14-3 in the regular season.  They played just eight teams with losing records this year. The Seahawks’ defense was already considered top notch.  The offense, though, surprised many with an improved performance in 2025.

Seattle scored less than 20 points in only three of 20 total games this season. The Seahawks’ eighth-ranked offense developed into a perfect complement to the NFL’s top-rated defense.

A number of Seahawks players will want more money to stick around for next season. Assuming they will lose a few to players to free agency, the nucleus of this team is still young and talented.

Coach Mike Macdonald’s magic with this team is much like college football’s Indiana Hoosiers under coach Curt Cignetti. 

Macdonald’s Seattle Seahawks always seemed better prepared for games than their opponents.

Yes, Seattle should be a force in the NFL again next season – assuming that they remain relatively injury free.

Sunday’s commercials didn’t move my meter.  How about you?

The commercials for Sunday’s game ran $8 million per 30-second ad.  I challenge you to point to one specific commercial which will move you to purchase that company’s product this week.

A national newspaper just published its annual ranking of these expensive ads.

The beer commercial featuring a horse saving a baby bird (which turned out to be an American eagle) flew into the top spot.  Will it sell any more beer this week or simply convince 100 million people that this particular beer maker is more patriotic than its competitors?

A potato chip maker’s tearjerker ad showing an aging farmer handing over the keys of his farm equipment to his daughter captured second place.  It was a very nice spot, but I doubt millions will drop an extra bag of the company’s $5 potato chips into their grocery cart this week.

The bronze medal winner featured an iconic polar bear (long representing the top cola maker) coming to grips that his major competitor’s new sugar-free cola actually tastes better.  Will millions now check-out the taste of the polar bear’s new favorite soft drink?  Doubtful.

I wanted to like the Neil Diamond imitator singing a knock-off of “Sweet Caroline” as he sprayed mayo onto sandwiches inside of a cafe.  The commercial’s ending was just a bit weird.

My “creepy-but-effective” commercials award went to an AI developer. 

Their commercials all began with a person asking AI for advice.  A computer generated character then provided a cringy answer and suddenly morphed into an unexpected product sales pitch.  Effective, but who’s buying their product?

My thoughts on the 30-minute halftime show?  I haven’t watched it in decades

Did you know that the NFL’s “big game” primarily featured college marching bands beginning in 1967 for ten years until mid-1970’s?  A wholesome singing group known as “Up with People” was featured five times over the next ten years as the primary halftime entertainment.

Even us younger viewers (at the time) cringed.

The year 1991 brought “New Kids on the Block” as the first pop-oriented group performing at halftime.  Michael Jackson’s 1993 appearance officially solidified the change to one primary performer for future halftime shows.  Major popular artists like Diana Ross, Aerosmith, Paul McCartney, and the Rolling Stones would appear over the next ten years.

The last 20 years has produced younger artists to help attract that demographic to the annual football extravaganza.

This year’s halftime show featured a polarizing performer who became the first to sing a halftime show entirely in Spanish. 

Many liked the show.  Some didn’t and changed the channel.

I didn’t watch the halftime show (as usual) in order to grab a snack and check my email.

Happy trails to you, football!

Adios to college and pro football for another season.  The Indiana Hoosiers and Seattle Seahawks were deserving champions this year.

Though some of us will be tempted to watch a game or two of spring football in a few months, America’s most popular sport needs to hibernate until next fall.

Less truly is best.

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Earlier this week, Pennsylvania’s resident rodent Punxatawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter.  According to my calendar, we were already slated for six more weeks of winter prior to the official arrival of spring!

For sports fans, there are just a few days left until the end of traditional football season.  We’ll discuss the big game coming up on Sunday in just a bit.

Pro football (like the other major sports) has slowly stretched-out its regular season.  The NFL went from 14 games to 16 back in 1978.  A 17th regular season game became a reality after the franchise owners wisely trimmed the pre-season from a ludicrously long four games down to three in 2021.

It isn’t a secret that the NFL owners now want to expand to an 18th regular season game in a few years.

They are reportedly offering to cut the preseason from three meaningless games to two.  However, the NFL has telegraphed a desire to have each of the league’s 32 teams play one international game per year after expanding to 18 games.

The NFL doesn’t do anything without a keen eye on profits.  They have calculated the value of international television rights and global merchandising.  It apparently makes financial sense.

On Thursday, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees named to the NFL Hall-of-Fame!

Saints fans are rejoicing today knowing that the greatest player in franchise history was voted into the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame Thursday in his first year of eligibility.

Drew Brees received only two major college scholarship offers coming out of high school in Austin, Texas.  After three terrific seasons as the starting quarterback at Purdue, Brees also excelled in the classroom by earning a degree in Industrial Management.

It’s hard to believe that the (cough) 6′ Drew Brees was not a first round NFL selection in 2001.  He was drafted on the first pick of the second round by the San Diego Chargers.

Did you know that Drew Brees spent his first five NFL seasons playing for the Chargers?

Fortunately for New Orleans Saints fans, Drew Brees was acquired by Louisiana’s Black and Gold team in 2006.  His arrival in the Crescent City coincided with the hiring of offensive-minded first-year head coach Sean Payton.

The Saints’ new dynamic duo provided a much-needed shot of optimism into the region following the devastation caused by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints eventually won the Saints’ first and only Super Bowl title on February 7, 2010 with a 31-17 win over Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts.

Has it really been 16 years since that game was played?

Brees and the Saints should have earned a second Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2018 season.  The NFC Championship game played in New Orleans featured the all-time worst “non-call” by NFL referees on a quite obvious pass interference penalty late in overtime. 

The visiting Los Angeles Rams won 26-23 but lost to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots two weeks later in the NFL title game.

After a 21-year NFL career, Drew Brees retired at the end of the 2020 season.  The Saints legend set numerous NFL passing records including his incredible 54-game streak of throwing at least one touchdown pass.

Drew Brees was an intense leader on the football field, an inspiring community leader off the field and is a proud father of four children. He has invested in several business ventures following his retirement from pro football.  Brees also returned to television in 2025 to cover regional NFL games for FOX Sports.

Only 1.5% of NFL players will ever be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame.   Drew Brees deserved this honor and was voted-in during his first year of eligibility!

Why is there even Pro Bowl game anymore?

I don’t know.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl game was played on Tuesday night. If I had known about it, it wouldn’t have mattered. My wife and I were fixated on the final night of the Westminster Dog Show (won by Penny the incredlble Doberman Pinscher).

The top canines provided more compelling viewing than the NFL’s cringeworthy post-season fare.

Tuesday night’s NFL Pro Bowl drew an embarrassing 1.9 million viewers.  That is down from last year’s slightly-less embarrassing 4.7 million Pro Bowl viewers.

Historically, the Pro Bowl game would pit the NFL’s most talented players from the teams which had been eliminated from playoff competition.  The game (played in full pads and helmets) was held from 1980 and for more than three decades in lovely Honolulu, Hawaii on the weekend prior to the NFL’s title game.

That tropical setting was once considered a big enticement for players to participate and bring their families along for a week-long vacation.  Those of us watching on television at home could enjoy a mental warm-up watching football being played in the toasty sunshine featuring nearby beaches.

Not anymore.  Football players who are making millions of dollars per year don’t seem to value a fully-paid vacation week in Hawaii like they once did.

In 2023, the Pro Bowl morphed into today’s goofy assortment of skills challenges and a 7-on-7 flag football game.  The venue was also scaled down.  This year’s game was played on Tuesday night in a 4,000-seat convention center arena in San Francisco.

In case you cared, the NFC All-Stars rallied for a (cough) thrilling 66-52 flag football win over the AFC All-Stars.

Zzz.

The NFL’s championship game kicks-off Sunday at 5:30 PM CST on NBC

This year’s season finale pits the AFC’s New England Patriots against the NFC Seattle Seahawks.

Before the 2025 NFL season kicked-off, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas had last year’s champion Philadelphia Eagles plus the AFC’s Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills as the most likely teams to reach the championship game.

Seattle and New England were significantly further down that list. Both teams missed the playoffs after the 2024 season.  The Seahawks at least finished 10-7, but New England was a dismal 4-13 just one year ago.

Only the 1999 St. Louis Rams had won just four games in a season (going 4-12) prior to returning the following year to win the NFL title.  Rams’ quarterback Kurt Warner’s led the “Greatest Show on Turf” to an NFL championship.  

What caused such a terrific turnaround for this year’s New England Patriots?

Last season’s 4-13 record by New England resulted in the team firing head coach Jerod Mayo.  Former Patriots’ linebacker Mike Vrabel was given the chance to coach his former team beginning this season.

Adding a talented coach like Vrabel certainly helped, but it doesn’t fully explain the Patriots’ turnaround story this season.

The coach would replace 13 of the 22 starting players from last season.  Every one of New England’s 11 NFL draft selections last spring made the cut and is still playing on the team as of this week.  Add several financially prudent free agent signings, and the New England Patriots entered this season with a new team and a winning attitude.

Coach Vrabel wanted “tough” minded players as he evaluate players being drafted or signed via free agency.

A three-time NFL champion as a linebacker, Mike Vrabel played for legendary coach Bill Belichick and alongside quarterback Tom Brady for several years.  He saw what type of mindset won titles in New England over the past quarter century.

The Patriots steamrolled to a 14-3 record and won the AFC East title during the regular season.  They beat the Houston Texans 28-16 in the divisional round and downed the #1 playoff seed Denver Broncos 10-7 in the AFC championship to earn a title shot this week.

Seattle Seahawks traded their Pro Bowl quarterback and still improved in 2025

Gino Smith had been Seattle’s starting quarterback for two seasons through the end of the 2024 campaign.  Smith had been named to the NFL’s Pro Bowl for two consecutive years.

Surprisingly, the Seahawks traded Gino Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders during the offseason and were left without a starting quarterback.

Seattle then hit the free agent jackpot by signing journeyman Sam Darnold to a three-year contract.  Darnold is playing for his fifth NFL team in eight seasons and struggled for his first six years in the league.  His breakout 2024 season with the Minnesota Vikings helped Sam Darnold gain a more permanent home in Seattle.

The Seahawks’ stingy defense was rated #1 in the NFL allowing just 17 points per game in leading Seattle to a sterling 14-3 regular season.  The Seattle offense also scored 28 points per game which was eighth best in the league.

Coach Mike MacDonald was a successful high school football player who suffered a serious injury in his final game.  He attended the University of Georgia and didn’t play football. However, he started coaching a high school football team while still in college.

A summa cum laude graduate in Finance, Mike MacDonald jumped into coaching upon graduating from college.  He would eventually become the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.  The youthful 38-year old coach then accepted the head coaching job in Seattle two years ago.

The Seahawks, like their head coach, play fundamentally sound football and rely on their top-rated defense to win games.

You won’t find many familiar stars in this Sunday’s NFL title game

Can you name the starting running backs for either Seattle or New England?  I can’t.

America is going to get a chance to learn a lot about these two unheralded competitors and their coaches on Sunday night in Santa Clara, California.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots quietly did the weekly work to climb the standings and finish with identical 14-3 regular season marks.

The two starting quarterbacks aren’t flashy but both passed for more than 4,000 yards in the regular season.  New England’s Drake Maye tossed 31 touchdowns but only had eight intercepted.  Seattle’s Sam Darnold had 25 touchdowns but was picked-off 14 times (third highest in the NFL this year).

These two teams have identical season records, great defenses, and effective quarterbacks.  The biggest surprise to me is that New England is considered a 4 ½ point underdog in Sunday’s game.

Enjoy watching those very expensive $8 million per 30-second commercials and, perhaps, the game itself!

The post It’s Football Friday! appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.

The fifth season of upstart LIV Golf teed-off today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  This year’s season opener is being played in the home country of the league’s $1 trillion owner, the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

LIV Golf will feature some of golf’s top names like Americans Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, Spain’s Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, and Australia’s Cam Smith.  Each is a major championship winner.

Differentiating themselves from the PGA Tour, LIV Golf starts each round at the same time for all players.  With 57 golfers in the field, they are positioned at each of the 18 tee boxes as a shotgun start begins play.  The daily playing conditions are identical for all golfers.  I really do like that concept.

You’ll still find LIV Golf’s unique 4-player team concept this season, too.

A significant pool of prize money is paid to the top three golf teams which have the lowest composite scores at the conclusion of each tournament.  This encourages every golfer – from first to last place – to try harder to help their team’s score.

You will continue to hear music being played over loud speakers around the course during play. It doesn’t seem to affect the players one way or the other.  LIV Golf seems to think the music turns their golf tournament into a party for the fans.

SwampSwami Rant ALERT!  LIV Golf’s US TV viewers must play “FOX Sports Whack-a-Mole” to watch the action this season

The 14 LIV Golf events in 2026 (with only four being played in the US) will be televised again by FOX Sports.  Good luck trying to find the action on television from day to day.

Today’s first round in Saudi Arabia began on FS1.  Two hours later, viewers were told to migrate over to FS2 to continue watching the golf action.

Note to LIV Golf.  Not many US cable providers carry FS2 unless you pay for the highest price option.  I don’t. 

To watch LIV Golf on television again this year, you will need a combination of the following channel options from day-to-day during their tournaments:

Your local FOX TV affiliate

FS1

FS2

Fox Business Network

Fox Sports App (internet)

The same issues occurred last year.  Sadly, it is being repeated in 2026.

The US channel-surfing options might be more tolerable if LIV would simply offer a simulcast of the entire televised round via an internet (perhaps on a LIV Golf app?) as a service to viewers.

LIV Golf needs the ratings support, so please make viewing as easy as possible. This maddening game of “Fox Sports Whack-a-Mole” is a major pain for American golf fans.  This should have been addressed and resolved during the lengthy off-season.

These golfers said “Goodbye to LIV”

In late December, it was five-time golf major champion Brooks Koepka walking out of LIV Golf’s door as he has announced a decision to rejoin the PGA Tour.

Last week, former Masters champion Patrick Reed announced that he was no longer under contract with LIV Golf for 2026. 

He wants to return to the PGA Tour just like Brooks Koepka.

Keep in mind that LIV Golf doled out over $150 million in signing bonuses – just to snare both Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed less than four years ago.

Koepka worked a deal with the PGA Tour and competed at last week’s stop in San Diego.

Patrick Reed’s defection from LIV Golf came just one week before his former LIV Golf four-player team called the 4 Aces was set to start the 2026 golf season.

That left LIV Golf’s 4 Aces a card short today.

Team captain Dustin Johnson and Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters scrambled to find a sub to take Patrick Reed’s spot in this week’s season opening event.

Reed pocketed over $42 million in tournament earnings over his four seasons with LIV Golf starting in 2022.  That money was in addition to his initial signing bonus.

The PGA Tour will not allow Patrick Reed to return for at least 12 months after his last appearance in a LIV Golf event (August, 2025).

In the meantime, Patrick Reed quickly scored a victory ten days ago while playing on the DP World (formerly European) Tour.  He plans to enter several more European events this spring and summer until he is cleared to return to the PGA Tour in late summer.

Na, Na, Na, Na…Hey, Hey, Hey…The LIV story…of Kevin Na

Five-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Na also took the leap to LIV Golf in June, 2022.  The 42-year old Na had quietly amassed $38 million in PGA Tour earnings over his 17-year career.

Kevin Na was made team captain of LIV Golf’s Iron Heads Golf Club four-man team in 2022.  He did not win a tournament at LIV Golf but still managed to pocketed more than $11 million in four seasons.

Surprisingly, South Korean-born Kevin Na was recently booted off of his own LIV golf team!

He was replaced with journeyman PGA golfer Ben An.  The LIV Golf team then renamed itself the “Korean Golf Club” for 2026.

Ironically, one of the team’s current players is New Zealand citizen Danny Lee.

Lee was born in South Korea.  His family moved to New Zealand when he was eight years old.

Upon getting booted from LIV Golf, Kevin Na has also requested to be allowed back onto the PGA Tour.  His reinstatement status has not been announced.

Pat Perez packed-up his LIV Golf bag, too

Former LIV golfer Pat Perez (a three-time PGA Tour winner) is also seeking his PGA Tour reinstatement.  The 49-year old Perez was cut by LIV Golf after a dismal 2024 season but returned as their on-course television announcer in 2025.

Like Kevin Na, Pat Perez is waiting to hear when he will be allowed to tee-it up again on the PGA Tour.  Perez will turn 50 in March and may opt to play on the PGA Champions (senior) Tour at some point.

The biggest question remains – Will LIV’s top draw Bryson DeChambeau stay or go after this season?

The charismatic 32-year old Bryson DeChambeau won the US Amateur title and later added two US Open major championships to his trophy case.

In 2022, DeChambeau pocketed a reported $125 million signing bonus from LIV Golf to join the fledgling golf tour.  He has earned another $50 million in tournament winnings during his four seasons playing for LIV Golf.

Bryson DeChambeau has worked hard to build his own personal brand.  His YouTube channel attracts millions of mostly younger viewers.

DeChambeau’s popularity has been one of the few bright spots for the LIV Golf brand.  His four-man LIV Golf team called the Crushers is a fan favorite, too.

Bryson DeChambeau’s contract with LIV Golf will expire at the end of the tour’s 2026 golf season this August.

Word has it that he is asking for upwards of $500 million to sign a contract extension to remain with the Saudi-backed golf group.

LIV Golf didn’t help matters if they wanted DeChambeau to stick around

One recent change for the 2026 LIV Golf season has not set well with the popular Bryson DeChambeau.

LIV (which is “54” in Roman numerals) played 54-hole golf tournaments over three days in previous years.  This helped to differentiate the league from the PGA Tour’s 72-hole four-day events.

A stodgy organization calling itself “Official World Golf Rankings” assigns numerical rankings to professional golfers.  Their board of directors was unwilling to grant any points to top finishers for the LIV Golf for the past four years due to its 54-hole events.

That issue has been a sore spot for LIV golfers since the league’s first season in 2022.

The OWGR rankings are used to determine which golfers receive invitations to play in some of golf’s four major events.

The LIV golfers have earned zero ranking points the past four years.  Top players keep falling down the world rankings list.

LIV’s Jon Rahm was ranked #1 at the time he signed with LIV Golf three years ago. 

Despite winning twice over the past three seasons and rarely finishing out of the top ten, Jon Rahm had dropped all the way to #96 in World Golf Rankings this week.

To appease the overlords of rankings, LIV Golf will start playing 72-hole events this season.

The World Ranking body announced Tuesday that LIV Golf’s top ten weekly finishers will now be awarded points for the new 72-hole events.

Bryson DeChambeau spoke up recently that the initial premise for LIV Golf was to be different than the PGA Tour.  He had been in favor of maintaining the 54-hole tournaments to bring more focus and urgency to golfers on the course each day.

“It’s definitely changed away from what we had been initially told it was going to be,” said DeChambeau.  He added, “We didn’t sign-up to play 72 (holes).”

What happens if Bryson DeChambeau decides to leave LIV Golf after this season?

DeChambeau is one of the league’s biggest draws.  His enthusiastic personality and famous length off the tee has been a fan magnet for LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour won’t admit it publicly, but they would love to see Bryson DeChambeau return to help put the proverbial nail into LIV Golf’s coffin.

Yes, LIV Golf would still have former World #1 golfer Jon Rahm under contract as its best player.  Australia’s Cam Smith and 53-year old Phil Mickelson still have plenty of LIV fans, too.

Though LIV Golf has lost an estimated $2 billion during its first four seasons, the Saudi Public Investment Fund seems quite proud of simply owning a worldwide golf league.  

Oil money literally flows out of the ground and right into their bank to replace the massive losses of LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour has started to lure several of its more popular golfers by offering a more family-friendly US-based tour.  LIV Golf’s far-flung worldwide events have made it difficult on golfers with young families like Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.

The reputation of LIV Golf is starting to sink as more top golfers bail-out and return to the PGA Tour.

The loss of Bryson DeChambeau after the 2026 LIV Golf season would be quite difficult to overcome.

This would seem to be a great time for LIV Golf to broker a peace deal with the PGA Tour.  Allow golfers on both pro tours a chance to participate in a limited number of events on either tour every year.

While you’re at it, please fix the “Fox Sports Whack-a-Mole” LIV Golf TV coverage, too! 

The post Season 5 Begins – Is this Goodbye to LIV? appeared first on SwampSwamiSports.com.